PowerPoint Presentation to accompany
Looking Out, Looking In, Tenth Edition
Chapter 4: Emotions: Thinking, Feeling,
and Acting
Presentation prepared by
Dr. Michael Pearson, Gretchen Gill, and Tim
Scanlon of West Chester University
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is a trademark used herein under license.
For permission to use material from this text, contact us by:
Phone: 1-800-730-2214 Fax: 1-800-730-2215
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CHAPTER 4
Emotions:Thinking,
Feeling, and
Acting
Copyright © 2002 Thomson Learning, Inc.
Emotions: Thinking, Feeling, and
Acting
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What are Emotions?
Verbal Expression
Types of Emotions
Influences on Emotional Expression
Guidelines for Expressing Emotions
Managing Difficult Emotions
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What are Emotions?
Physiological Changes
• When a person has strong emotions, many bodily
changes occur.
• Proprioceptive stimuli: they are activated by the
movement of internal tissues
• Increased heartbeat
• Rise in blood pressure
• Dilation of the pupils
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What are Emotions?
Nonverbal Reactions
• Observable changes
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blushing
sweating
distinctive facial expression
posture
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What are Emotions?
Cognitive Interpretations
• The mind plays an important role in
determining how we feel.
Verbal Expression
• Labeling our emotions can be very difficult:
• e.g. Is someone trembling because of fear or
because of excitement?
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Types of Emotions
Primary and Mixed Emotions
• Primary Emotions- basic emotions (inside the
perimeter of the wheel)
• Mixed Emotions- a combination of primary
emotions (outside the wheel)
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Types of Emotions
Intense and Mild Emotions
• This model shows the
importance not only of
choosing the right
emotional family when
expressing yourself, but
also of describing the
strength of the feeling.
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Influences on Emotional
Expression
Culture
• People from all over have the same emotions. No
matter where they’re from, people feel happy, sad,
surprised, angry, and disgusted. However, the same
events do not always bring out the same emotions.
• Individualistic cultures: people feel comfortable
revealing their feelings to others who are close to them
(e.g. United States & Canada)
• Collectivistic cultures: discourage expression of any
negative emotions that might upset relationships among
people who belong to the in-group (e.g. Japan and
India)
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Influences on Emotional
Expression
Gender
• Females - express positive emotions and feelings
of vulnerability
• Males - rarely express their feelings but might
reveal strengths
• Factors in expressing feelings - gender,
being familiar with the partner, and
difference in power.
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Influences on Emotional
Expression
Social Conventions and
Social Rules
• In the US, the unwritten rule is the discouragement of
showing your emotions in public.
• Emotions that are shared are usually positive (however,
never too much positive emotion).
• Teachers and managers are expected to keep their
emotions under control.
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Influences on Emotional
Expression
Emotional Contagion
• Emotional Contagion: the process by which
emotions are transferred from one person to
another.
• Emotions are “infectious”
e.g. If we hang out with a grouch, then we
ourselves get put into a bad mood
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Influences on Emotional
Expression
Fear of Self-Disclosure
• Revealing your emotions can seem risky
• A person who musters up enough courage to share his
or her feelings runs the risk of an unpleasant
consequence. For example:
• a wink and smile – unwanted romance
• confession of uncertainty – weakness
• emotional honesty – people feel uncomfortable
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Guidelines for Expressing
Emotions
Recognize Your Feelings
• Answer this question, “How do you feel?”
• Monitor your nonverbal behavior.
• Monitor your thoughts as well as your actions.
Think About How to Describe Feelings
• Use single words: “excited” or “depressed”
• What’s happening to you: “I’m on top of the world”
• What you’d like to do: “I feel like giving up”
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Guidelines for Expressing
Emotions
Share Multiple Feelings
• “I’m mad at you for not showing up. I’m also disappointed
I didn’t see you.”
• “I get mad when you flirt. I care about you a lot, and I hate
to think that you don’t feel the same.”
Recognize the Difference Between
Feeling, Talking, and Acting
• Feeling something, talking about it, and then acting on that
feeling can sometimes be disastrous or liberating
• Understand the consequences of your actions
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Guidelines for Expressing
Emotions
Accept responsibility for your feelings
• Instead of, “You make me so angry” say, “I am feeling
angry”
Consider when and where to express
your feelings
• Wait until you have thought out carefully how
you might express your feelings in a way that
would be most likely to be heard.
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Managing Difficult Emotions
Facilitative and Debilitative Emotions
• Facilitative Emotions - emotions that contribute to
effective functioning
• Debilitative Emotions - emotions that prevent a person
from functioning effectively
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Managing Difficult Emotions
Thoughts Cause Feelings
• It is not events such as meeting strangers or being
jilted by a lover that cause people to feel bad, but rather
the beliefs they hold about these events.
• Interpretations that people make of an event, during
the process of self-talk, determine feelings.
Event
Being called names
Being called names
Thought
“ I’ve done something wrong”
“My friend must
be sick”
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Feeling
hurt, upset
concern,
sympathy
Managing Difficult Emotions
Irrational Thinking and Debilitative Emotions
Many debilitative emotions come from accepting
irrational thoughts:
1. The Fallacy of Perfection
2. The Fallacy of Approval
3. The Fallacy of Shoulds
4. The Fallacy of Overgeneralization
5. The Fallacy of Causation
6. The Fallacy of Helplessness
7. The Fallacy of Catastrophic Expectations
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Managing Difficult Emotions
Minimizing Debilitative Emotions
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4.
Monitor your emotional reactions.
Note the activating event.
Record your self-talk.
Dispute your irrational beliefs.
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