Processing Emotions
1
Processing Emotions
Frederick J. Brigham
University of Virginia
Michele M. Brigham
Western Albemarle high School, Crozet, VA
University of Virginia
School of Continuing Education and Professional Studies
February, 2004
Processing Emotions
2
Processing Emotions
Emotions are often discussed but are less often clearly defined. Few people would
dispute their existence and influence on human behavior. Teachers often speak of
individual students experiencing frustration in their schoolwork or as having depression
or as being excited as well as experiencing many other attributes that are considered to be
emotions. Sometimes, educators describe their own ability to communicate emotions and
maintain a positive climate in their classrooms, or of the influence of a particular student
or group of students. In this document, we discuss some of the problems that are
associated with research on emotions, the current definitions of emotions, the ways in
which emotions are communicated, and the ways that educators can employ knowledge
of emotional indicators to enhance their classroom management and instruction.
Research on Emotion in Education
Students with social behavior that is unusually and persistently dysfunctional are
considered to have disabilities under special education regulations. The currently
preferred tem for this condition is “emotional or behaviorally disordered” (E/BD).
Despite the clear linking of emotions to the disability condition in this term, the
identification and treatment of children and youths with E/BD tends to focus on the
behavioral rather than the emotional aspects of the condition.
The behavioral roots of most E/BD practitioners are partly responsible for the deemphasis of emotion in the field of E/BD. Behaviorists do not deny emotions, but they do
not believe that they can be studied with the present tools of science. Earlier attempts at
the study of emotion in psychology were primarily linked with Freud and the
psychodynamic schools of thought. By the later part of the 20th century, most scholars
Processing Emotions
3
had come to consider the psychodynamic explanations offered by Freud to have failed
(Dawes, 2001). Psychodynamic theories posit the existence of unseen operators within
the human mind. With the failure of Freudian theories to consistently explain emotions,
most psychologists turned away from the study of the unseen and inferential world of
emotion to the observable world of behavior. Clearly the observable world of behavior is
more compatible with most scientific research tools than is the subjective world of
emotion (Schutz & DeCuir, 2002).
Other reasons for the emphasis on behavior over emotion include the difficulty in
defining and studying emotions themselves and the ability of humans to suppress or
inhibit emotional displays (Dalgleish, Matthews, & Wood, 1999). Unlike behaviors that
are overt and, by definition, observable, emotions are most often covert and must be
inferred by interpretation of various cues that are not actually emotions.
Defining Emotion
There is currently no widely accepted definition of emotion (Shaver, Wu, &
Schwartz, 1992). Why should an aspect of human behavior be so commonly discussed
and remain so poorly defined? Part of the problem is that “Everyone knows what an
emotion is until asked to give a definition. Then it seems that no one knows” (Fehr &
Russell, 1984, p. 464). Another part of the problem is that most often, emotions are
defined in the same way as are colors. That is, emotions are characterized by prototypical
exemplars or central indicators that are surrounded by an acceptable, albeit fuzzy, range
of variability (Shaver et al., 1992).
Perhaps the best way to consider fuzzy categories is to liken them to the cards
with paint chips of differing shades that can be found in most building supply stores.
Processing Emotions
4
Almost everyone can identify the color blue but as one lightens the color blue, it becomes
more and more like white; as one darkens the color blue, it become more like black.
When, exactly, blue fades into white or to black is a more difficult to determine. By
analogy, emotional indicators are, like colors, best considered as being on continua
surrounding central indicators.
The Components of Emotional Expression
The expression of emotion is characterized by the various channels or tools that
humans use as cues. Common cues discussed in emotional expression include: facial
cues, vocal cues, body cues, verbal cues, physiological cues and so forth (Planalp, 1998).
The next sections provide a brief description of the research supporting each of the major
components.
Facial Cues
“In many people’s eyes emotional expression in nearly synonymous with facial
cues…” (Planalp, 1998, p. 31). Facial expression can be examined holistically (e.g.,
which face in an array of photographs shows a given emotion) or more systematically
using a variety of coding systems. The Facial Action Coding System (Ekman & Friesen,
1978) is probably the currently most popular of these systems. The FACS breaks facial
expression into 44 specific action units as well as several head and eye positions
(Rosenberg, 1997).
Facial expressions appear to be associated with universal affective states. People
across cultures are able to correctly identify expressions of sadness and glee although the
conditions that elicit such emotions are sometimes different between cultures.
Processing Emotions
5
Vocal Cues
Vocal cues are clearly part of emotional communication although they are not
recognized as such as consistently as are facial cues (Planalp, 1998). Interpretation of
most vocal cues is based on three dimensions: loudness, pitch, and time (Pittman &
Scheer, 1993). By analyzing the combination of these three dimensions, researchers have
found that five specific emotional dimensions: fear, disgust, joy, sadness, and anger can
be identified by vocal cues. The specific patterns of loudness, pitch and time appear to be
consistent for encoding or communicating emotion and for interpreting emotion. Most
people listening to a speaker whose voice becomes louder and higher pitched at the same
time that the tempo of the speech increases will interpret the speaker to be feeling anger.
Joy is also associated with higher pitch in the voice, faster tempo in speech, and an
increase in volume, but the interaction and relative intensity of these elements is what
differentiates the cues associated with the respective emotions,
Body Cues
If little research has been conducted on vocal cues, even less has been conducted
on the manifestation and interpretation of body cues to emotions (Planalp, 1998). Body
cues are clearly part of the repertoire of emotional communication. People who walk with
a rigid posture are rarely thought to be experiencing the same emotional states, as are
those who skip or dance. Likewise, drooping postures and shuffling gaits convey a very
different suggestion of emotion than an upright and swaggering posture. Body
movements also carry a great deal of meaning in ceremonial and hierarchical interactions
(Buck, 1984). The rules of parliamentary practice provide clear indications of when to
stand, sit, pray, sing and listen silently. Anyone with a military background is probably
Processing Emotions
6
well aware of the communicative value of body movement in hierarchical exchanges.
Nevertheless, little systematic research has been conducted by manipulating body
movements as target variables (Planalp, 1998).
Verbal Cues
Given the use of verbal tools thus far to describe nonverbal indicators of emotion,
it should come as little surprise that emotion can be conveyed directly through verbal
cues. Verbal cues can covey emotion directly through the meaning of the words chosen
as well as indirectly through the manner in which the words are stated. For example, the
statement “This is the most interesting discussion of this topic anywhere…” can be
inflected to be an affirmation of the words, a refutation of the words, or a question. The
use of varied vocal tones is one aspect of effective communication of emotion.
Another aspect of verbal cues is their ability to influence the perception of
emotion both by the individual and those who observe him or her. For example, using
euphemisms to minimize risks as do certain airline officials when they speak of
“incidents” rather than accidents or crashes (Hochschild, 1983) or teachers explaining a
child’s misbehavior as acting out of frustration carry different emotional loadings than a
statement that an airplane crashed killing all aboard or a student cursed and overturned a
desk. Unfavorable social situations can be altered with apologies that explain behavior
with intricate verbal inventions. Additionally, the perception of risk can be increased
through word choice (Showalter, 1997). Thus, in addition to content and tone, verbal cues
can serve different emotional purposes.
The possession of a large lexicon of words for labeling and managing emotional
states may be positively associated with more effective emotional communication.
Processing Emotions
7
Classroom teachers have long been advised to learn different forms of verbal praise to
support and affirm their students’ efforts. Students with E/BD, appear to have far more
limited lexicons in general than do many of their nondisabled peers. This limitation
appears in part to be associated with their identification as having E/BD (Hooper,
Roberts, Zeisel, & Poe, 2003).
Combinations
It is likely that only the most highly trained actors and mimes can isolate one
emotional channel for use while holding all others neutral. Most people express emotions
across combinations of the channels described above. Similarly, people rarely observe
only one emotional channel to understand the emotions being expressed by another.
Rather, most people consider information from more than one channel with the mode
being four (Planalp, 1998). The most common cues are vocal, verbal, facial, and body
movement with vocal being the most commonly reported cue. Most observers also report
the use of context cues. Context cues are composed of facts used to understand an
emotion (Planalp, 1998). For example, crying can have quite different meanings
depending on whether it was observed on a wedding day or on the day the person lost his
or her job.
Combinations of emotions are also employed frequently when observers attempt
to label the emotions being experienced by another. Rather than employing only one
word, most observers in Planalp’s research reported two or more. Sometimes the emotion
words selected were from different categories of emotion suggested by Shaver, Wu, and
Schwartz (1992) (e.g., fear, sadness, and anger). Choosing words from different
categories was usually associated with negative emotional states, rather than positive
Processing Emotions
8
emotional states. However, the choice of words from different emotional categories
suggests that most people, at least on occasion, experience “mixed emotions” that cannot
be adequately labeled with a single word.
Emotional Contagion
Thus far, this document has described emotions as individual responses to events
or interpretations of others’ responses. Emotions, however, can be spread among
occupants of a given environment. The term used to describe the spread of an emotional
state from one individual to another is emotional contagion. Emotional contagion is
defined as:
…the tendency to automatically mimic and synchronize facial expressions,
vocalizations, postures, and movements with those of another person and,
consequently, to converge emotionally (Hatfield, Cacioppo, & Rapson, 1992 pp.
153-154).
Hatfield, Cacioppo, and Rapson (1994) suggested that emotional contagion works
through the previously described channels such that during interactions people tend to
synchronize their facial expressions, vocal tones, body posture, etc. according to the
behaviors exhibited by the other participant(s). The subjective experience of emotion by
each individual is affected by the feedback from this mimicry that appears to be the basic
mechanism by which people “catch” emotions from others. Much of the influence of this
process is below the level of consciousness for most individuals. We tend to become
aware of our shifting emotions only after the shift is well underway. Studying the
processes of emotional contagion, however, may be a useful activity for educators who
are often exposed to unpleasant emotional behavior during the discharge of their duties.
Processing Emotions
9
By doing so, they may be better able to avoid acquiring negative emotions and also to
encourage positive emotions on the part of the others around them.
Proposed Mechanisms of Emotional Contagion
Research exists (e.g., Öhman, 1999; Schachter & Singer, 1962) demonstrating
that emotional interpretation of the same physiological states (e.g., rapid heartbeat and
deep breathing) can be influenced by cognitive suggestion. That is, suggestions of threat
or risk cause physical cues to be interpreted as fear or anxiety; however, suggestions that
something good is about to happen influences the same physical cues to be interpreted as
excited anticipation. It is believed that the physical, cognitive, and emotional systems
interact with each other such that changes in one set of cues can precipitate changes in
another. Emotional contagion appears to operate though this process. Further, the ability
to mimic another’s facial, vocal, and other emotional cues appears quite early in life.
Soon after birth, infants demonstrate the ability to reflect the facial expressions of other
people. Newborns are often noted to begin crying when they hear another child crying
(Simner, 1971). Hatfield, Cacioppo, & Rapson (1994) suggested that, through mimicking
the behaviors of others, individuals affect their own subjective experience of emotion
from moment to moment.
Mimicry of the emotional cues of another can occur in virtually any of the
channels described earlier in this discussion. Any channel that is vulnerable to mimicry
can influence the subjective experience of emotion. The more influential channels for
emotional contagion appear to be the face, vocal inflections, and body postures (Hatfield
et al., 1994). Thus, when one reflects the smile on another person’s face, one’s own mood
tends to be elevated. Similarly, when one mimics the rigid and tense posture of another
Processing Emotions
10
person, one’s own mood tends to become more tense and unpleasant. When researchers
(e.g., Bloch, Orthous, & Santibanez, 1987; Bull, 1951) asked participants to adopt
postures or hold various facial expressions, the participants began to report experiencing
emotions associated with those postures or expressions.
Some of the cues used in Bull’s (1951) research included the suggestions “You
are feeling heavy all over. There is a slumping feeling in your chest” for depression and
“There is a feeling of relaxation and lightness in your whole body” for joy (p. 79). Not
only did the subjects report the experience of the emotions associated with these postures,
they also reported great difficulty in complying with the instruction to experience
emotions incompatible with the postures while maintaining the posture. Thus, the
physical expression of emotion and the subjective experience of emotion appear to be
linked so that they influence each other.
Ability to “Infect” Others with Emotions
Clearly, some individuals are more adept at transmitting and influencing emotion
than others. Professional actors make their living doing so. Among the rest of the
population, the ability to influence the emotions of others appears to be unevenly
distributed. This section describes some of the characteristics that influence this ability.
It is useful to conceive of people who are better able to transmit emotions and
those who are less able to do so as being on a continuum between introversion and
extraversion. Extraverts are more likely than introverts to be carriers of emotional
contagion (Hatfield et al., 1994). The evidence amassed to date suggests that people who
are high in emotional expressiveness (particularly in the facial channel) are more likely to
transmit their emotions to others than those who are less expressive. According to
Processing Emotions
11
Hatfield, Cacioppo, & Rapson (1994), individuals who are emotionally contagious (a)
experience (or appear to experience) strong emotions, (b) express their emotions facially,
vocally, or posturally, and (c) are able to resist the influence of the emotions of others
when those emotions are incompatible with their own. That is, in addition to being
strongly emotional and expressive, they must be at least somewhat immune to emotional
transmission from others.
Susceptibility to Emotional Contagion
One of the reasons that people go to football games and sit in frigid weather
during rain and snowstorms is the excitement of being part of the crowd. Televised
games provide better views in more comfortable environments but the lack the element of
contagious emotion. It is easier to be, in fact quite a bit more difficult to resist being,
swept up by the emotional environment of a crowd than to be influenced by individuals
or small groups. Nevertheless, some individuals appear to be more highly susceptible to
emotional contagion.
Hatfield, Cacioppo, & Rapson (1994) summarize the conditions and
characteristics that render people susceptible to emotional contagion. They suggested that
people should be likely to catch others emotions if they:
1. rivet their attention on the others;
2. construe themselves in terms of their interrelatedness to the others;
3. are able to read others’ emotional expressions, voices, gestures, and
postures;
4. tend to mimic facial, vocal and postural expressions;
Processing Emotions
12
5. are aware of their own emotional responses; or are emotionally reactive (,
p. 94).
Hatfield, Cacioppo, & Rapson also suggested that the absence of these characteristics
would render the individual to be relatively immune to emotional contagion, further, they
noted that emotional contagion was most likely to occur in relationships involving love or
power though the conditions and mechanisms related to these features are poorly
understood.
Summary
Certain individuals are better able to express emotions than are others. Some
highly expressive individuals are able to influence the emotional experiences of many of
those around them. Emotionally contagious individuals, in addition to being expressive,
appear to experience emotions strongly and be somewhat resistant to the emotional
contagion of others. Individuals who are highly susceptible to emotional contagion
appear to be focused on others and the interrelation of individuals in the environment.
Additionally, they tend to be good mimics who read the emotional responses of others
and are sensitive to their own emotional states. =Teachers and students are likely to vary
in their emotional reactivity and expressiveness as are individuals in the rest of society.
Some Recent Research Examining Emotion in Education
Test Performance and Emotion
Perhaps, test anxiety has had more research regarding the impact of emotions and
performance than any other area or education (Schutz & Lanehart, 2002). Most
examinations of test anxiety have regarded anxiety as the sole emotional variable. While
anxiety is clearly a condition that fits within the existing definitions of emotion, it is
Processing Emotions
13
unlikely to be the only emotional state present in students experiencing high levels of test
anxiety, given the observation that negative emotions rarely exist alone.
Turner, Husman, and Schallert (2002) studied college students and suggested that
two groups of students were likely to experience shame. First, students who were
characterized as possessing low self-efficacy, high test anxiety and low self-esteem were
highly prone to experience shame in the face of disappointing and perceived failure
(though necessarily actual failure) outcomes and interpret the situation in terms of
personal failure and self-blame. The second group of students who are prone to
experience shame are students with high self-esteem who are caught off guard by an
instance of poor performance.
Turner, Husman, and Schallert reported that some students were resilient in the
face of perceived shameful failure. Resilient students, those who were able to “bounce
back” after, for example, failing a midterm examination were “(a) highly extrinsically
motivated, (b) had high certainty in their sense of academic competence, and (c)
perceived that a good course grade was instrumental to future academic goals” (Turner et
al., 2002, p. 84). Follow-up interviews with shame-resilient students suggested that their
resilience was also related to their belief in their own academic ability, their
unwillingness to disengage from personal goals that were related to their present
academic tasks and their possession of a repertoire of strategies that enabled them to
make changes in the way that they approached test preparation. Conversely, non-resilient
students were less clear about their future goals and therefore more willing to disengage,
less confident about their academic abilities and in possession of fewer strategies for
altering their own behavior.
Processing Emotions
14
The interaction of self-perception, goal-commitment, and strategic repertoire in
the situations described by Turner, Husman, & Schallert led students experiencing shame
as a result of test failure to respond quite differently. The group possessing confidence,
strong commitment to clear goals and a effective repertoire of self-management strategies
responded to failure with increased effort while the students lacking these characteristics
responded with task avoidance, thereby exacerbating their academic difficulties. It is
important to note, however, that both groups of students were attaining the same
immediate goal, escape from the shame and anxiety-producing situation.
Teacher Behavior
Brigham, Scruggs, and Mastropieri (1992) examined the effects of teacher
enthusiasm on the academic and behavioral performance of students with learning and
behavioral disorders enrolled in a middle school science class. Students received science
instruction from scripted lessons that were delivered in either an enthusiastic or an
unenthusiastic manner. They manipulated teacher enthusiasm by either maximizing or
suppressing eight variables that parallel the emotional expression channels described
earlier in this document. The teacher enthusiasm variables used in their study are
presented in Table 1.
The effects of enthusiastic teaching compared to delivery of the same content with
the same activities in a non-enthusiastic manner were dramatic. Students experiencing
enthusiastic teaching demonstrated double the achievement on end of unit classroom tests
while exhibiting only one-third the behavior problems of those receiving unenthusiastic
treatment. This particular study used a counter-balanced, crossover design so that each
student received both enthusiastic and unenthusiastic teaching, thereby serving as his or
Processing Emotions
15
her own control. Thus, the effects of enthusiastic teaching were immediate and resulted in
the alteration of student behavior within the same students indicating that it was the effect
of the teacher behavior and not the differential selection of students that was observed in
the study. The most likely mechanism for these results is emotional contagion. In short,
the students experiencing enthusiastic teaching tend to “catch” the enthusiasm of their
teachers while those experiencing unenthusiastic teaching catch the indifference of the
teacher toward the lesson.
The study of teacher enthusiasm by Brigham, Scruggs and Mastropieri examined
the impact of emotional contagion from the teacher to the students. Their results are
consistent with a large body of research conducted mostly with students without
disabilities in general education settings. Although Brigham, Scruggs, and Mastropieri
(1992) obtained positive results from enthusiastic teaching with students who have
disabilities, many students served in special education settings are more negatively
inclined toward their studies than are students without disabilities. Emotional contagion
effects are likely to run both from the teacher to the students as well as from the students
to the teacher. Less is known about the effects of student indifference on the affect of
their teachers. It is possible that student indifference is related to the high levels of
attrition observed in beginning special education teachers. Perhaps additional research in
this area could provide insights that would enable teachers to more positively influence
their students’ emotions while protecting them from the deleterious effects of student
indifference.
Processing Emotions
16
Variable
Enthusiastic Performance
Unenthusiastic Performance
Facial Expression
Varied, emotive facial
Minimal variation, ‘face like a
expressions
neutral mask”
“Wide-open, dancing eyes”,
Little expression in the eyes,
frequent eye-contact
infrequent eye-contact
Frequent, demonstrative
Minimal use of gestures during
gestures
instruction
Varied and dramatic
Minimal movement, teacher
Eyes
Gestures
Body Movement
seated during instruction
Vocal Delivery
Rapid and uplifting
Little variation in tone, slower
pace
Words Used
Strong attempt to use varied
Consistent use of small lexicon
words in descriptions,
commendations and reprimands
Acceptance of ideas
Overall energy level
Ready, animated acceptance of
Little interaction with students,
student ideas, frequent
avoidance of student responses
interaction with students
and ideas.
High-energy, exuberant
Low-energy, dull, non-
performance
exuberant.
Table 1 Teacher Enthusiasm Variables Employed by Brigham, Scruggs, and Mastropieri
(1992).
Processing Emotions
17
References
Bloch, S., Orthous, P., & Santibanez, H. (1987). Effector patterns of basic emotions: A
psychophysiological method for training actors. Journal of Social & Biological
Structures, 10(1), 1-19.
Brigham, F. J., Scruggs, T. E., & Mastropieri, M. A. (1992). Teacher enthusiasm in
learning disabilities classrooms: Effects on learning and behavior. Learning
Disabilities Research and Practice, 7, 68-73.
Buck, R. (1984). The communication of emotion. New York: Guilford Press.
Bull, N. (1951). The attitude theory of emotion (Vol. 81). New York: Coolidge
Foundation.
Dalgleish, T., Matthews, A., & Wood, J. (1999). Inhibition processes in cognition and
emotion: A Special case? In T. Dalgleish & M. J. Power (Eds.), Handbook of
cognition and emotion (pp. 243-265). New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Dawes, R. M. (2001). Everyday irrationality: How pseudo-scientists, lunatics, and the
rest of us systematically fail to think and act rationally. Boulder, CO: Westview
Press.
Ekman, P., & Friesen, W. V. (1978). The facial action coding system (FACS): A
technique for the measurement of facial action. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting
Psychologists Press.
Fehr, B., & Russell, J. A. (1984). Concept of emotion viewed from a prototype
perspective. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 113, 464-486.
Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J., & Rapson, R. L. (1992). Emotional contagion. In M. S. Clark
(Ed.), Review of Personality and Social Psychology (Vol. 14: Emotion and Social
Behavior, pp. 151-177). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Hatfield, E., Cacioppo, J. T., & Rapson, R. L. (1994). Emotional contagion: Studies in
emotion and social interaction. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Hochschild, A. R. (1983). The managed heart: Commercialization of human feeling.
Berkley, CA: The University of California Press.
Hooper, S. R., Roberts, J. E., Zeisel, S. A., & Poe, M. (2003). Core language predictors
of behavioral functioning in early elementary school children: Concurrent and
longitudinal findings. Behavioral Disorders, 29(1), 10-24.
Öhman, A. (1999). Unconscious emotional processes. In T. Dalgleish & M. J. Power
(Eds.), Handbook of cognition and emotion (pp. 321-352). New York: John Wiley
& Sons.
Pittman, J., & Scheer, K. R. (1993). Vocal expression and the communication of emotion.
In M. Lewis & J. M. Haviland (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (pp. 185-198). New
York: Guilford.
Planalp, S. (1998). Communicating emotion in everyday life: Cues, channels, and
processes. In P. A. Andersen & L. K. Guerro (Eds.), Handbook of communication
and emotion: Research, theory, applications, and contexts (pp. 29-48). San
Diego: Academic Press.
Rosenberg, E. L. (1997). The study of spontaneous facial expression in psychology. In P.
Ekman & E. L. Rosenberg (Eds.), What the face reveals: Basic and applied
studies of spontaneous expression using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS)
(pp. 3-17). New York: Oxford University Press.
Processing Emotions
18
Schachter, S., & Singer, J. E. (1962). Cognitive, social, and physiological determinants of
emotional state. Psychological Review, 69, 379-399.
Schutz, P. A., & DeCuir, J. T. (2002). Inquiry on emotions in education. Educational
Psychologist, 37(2), 125-135.
Schutz, P. A., & Lanehart, S. L. (2002). Introduction: Emotions in education.
Educational Psychologist, 37(2), 67-68.
Shaver, P. R., Wu, S., & Schwartz, J. C. (1992). Cross-cultural similarities and
differences in emotion and its representation. In M. S. Clark (Ed.), Emotion (Vol.
13, pp. 175-212). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Showalter, E. (1997). Hystories: Hysterical epidemics and modern culture. New York:
Columbia University Press.
Simner, M. L. (1971). Newborn's response to the cry of another infant. Developmental
Psychology, 5, 136-150.
Turner, J. E., Husman, J., & Schallert, D. L. (2002). The importance of students' goals in
their emotional experience of academic failure: Investigating the precursors and
consequences of shame. Educational Psychologist, 37(2), 79-90.