EMOTION
Emotion: positive or negative state of arousal in reaction to a perceived or remembered event or object.
Theories of Emotion
- James-Lange Theory: behavioral response comes first which predetermines the emotion
o Ex:
 See bear  shaking  fear
 Death  cry  sad
o Criticisms
 Diff emotions are associated w/identical psychophysiological states. Fear &
Excitement  same adrenaline rush
 Organs of the body not very sensitive; cannot make subtle differentiation between
emotions & react slowly
 Artificial stimulation of body changes in absence of normal provoking stimuli = no
feeling of emotion
 Onions  cry  no sadness
-
Cannon-Bard Theory (Thalamic Theory): behavior & emotional response occur at same time.
o Thalamus sends info to motor cortex & emotional structure at the same time
-
Two-Component Theory of Emotion/Two Factor Theory (Schachter): physiological arousal and
cognitive labeling result in emotional response. Behavior/Event + Memory of Event = emotion
o Spillover effect: arousal response carries over into another event
o Criticism:
 Theory doesn’t explain how emotional reactions occur faster than interpretation of
situation
Temporal-Sequence Theories
- Robert Zajonc: humans often know how they feel long before they know what they think about a
situation; cognition not always needed
o Some neural pathways bypass cortical thinking areas
o Eye/ear  thalamus  amygdala
 Amygdala sends more info to cortical areas than vice versa = highly emotional
thinking
-
Richard Lazarus: some appraisal is required; done in stages; each appraisal determines the
experienced emotion
o Primary appraisal: determine the potential consequences of what is about to happen
o Secondary appraisal: decide what to do based on primary appraisal
o Reappraisal: may need to continually reevaluate as events develop
Expressed Emotions
- Nonverbal Communication
o Body language
o Faces of Emotion
 Universally similar expressions: disgust, anger, fear, happiness, sadness, surprise
 Perhaps innate part of physiological makeup
 Interpret faces in particular context
 Some basic survival benefits
Miscellaneous Info.
FACES OF EMOTION:
Ekman & Friesen – six fundamental, pan-cultural facial expression of emotion: fear, happiness, sadness,
anger, surprise, disgust
 “facial feedback” effect - change in facial muscles  subtle, but detectable, change in emotion/posture &
walking have similar effects on emotion too
UNIVERSAILTY OF EMOTION:
Carol Izard (1977) isolated 10 basic emotions: joy, interest-excitement, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust,
contempt, fear, shame, & guilt (love is a combination of happiness & excitement)
FEAR:
adaptive: alarm system for our body (prepare to flee or flight or focus on an immediate problem)
we can learn to fear almost anything – conditioning, observation (monkeys fear snakes by watching their
peers & adults refuse interaction with snakes – especially food)
biologically prepared to learn some fears more quickly than others – those that helped our ancestors survive
–
fear-learning – amygdala (center of limbic system) – associate various emotions with certain situations – no
fear learning if destroyed or paralyzed temporarily – connected to other areas of body that experience fear –
even if hippocampus is damaged, still react with fear even if they don’t remember why – amygdala pathways
become active
genes influence our temperament/emotional reactivity – shorter gene (recently discovered) = less of a
protein that speeds reuptake of serotonin – more serotonin activates amygdala neurons
ANGER:
mildly angry several times a week – response to loved one’s/friends actions – misperceptions or unjustified
actions
small blameless annoyances make us angry too
controlled expressions of anger are more adaptive than hostile outbursts or pent-up angry feelings  talking
& trying to understand to lessen aggravation
vent our rage – catharsis – “vent our anger” in Western cultures – which gives us a way (like daydreaming)
to release it through action/fantasy – violent movies, violent talk, etc. – emotional expression provides
emotional release
more often, expressing anger breeds anger – magnify anger or encourage retaliation
reduce anger: #1: wait – emotional arousal will calm if you give it time; #2: deal with anger in a way that
involves neither being chronically angry over or holding it in too long b/c then you might overreact –
communicate important and most immediate feelings of anger
forgiveness helps heal hurt feelings
HAPPINESS:
happy people are more favorable toward life – job, success, family, relaxation, healthier, energized,
cooperative, self-image, relationships, etc.
when we feel happy, we are more willing to help others – feel-good, do-good phenomenon –
rather than focus on negative emotions – psychologists are becoming interested in subjective well-being –
satisfaction & happiness w/ life
positive emotion rises over early part of most days and dissipates during the day’s last several hours –
stressful events get in the way, but by the next day the mood is often dramatically improved – even the worst
situations (blind/paralyzed/major surgery or health concerns) – recover to normal levels of day-to-day
happiness
overestimate the duration of emotions – dramatically positive events are often as temporary as negative
events –
affluence hardly affects happiness – increasing monetary power does not increase happiness
Adaptation level phenomenon & Relative deprivation principle:
1. Tendency to judge various stimuli relative to those situations we have most recently experienced –
we adjust “neutral” levels – a current condition increases, we feel a surge of satisfaction, but then we
want more…more…more – million-dollar lottery winners & paralysis victims report similar levels of
happiness
2. Sense that we are worse off than others with whom we compare ourselves – expectations can soar
above attainment and then disappointment is overwhelming – compare ourselves with those less welloff boosts our contentment (self-esteem matters more to individualistic cultures)