Download Theories of Emotion

Theories of Emotion
Emotion: a response of the whole organism, involving physiological arousal, expressive
behaviors, and conscious experience
James-Lange Theory (William James and Carl Lange): the theory that our experience
of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli


Arousal causes emotion
Ex. You see a bear. Your heart races and muscles tense. You feel afraid.
Cannon-Bard Theory (Walter Cannon and Phillip Bard): the theory that an emotionarousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the
subjective experience of emotion



Physiological arousal and experience of emotion happen at the same time (one
does not cause the other)
Brain’s cortex and sympathetic nervous system are simultaneously activated
Ex. You see a bear. Your simultaneously experience arousal and feeling of fear
Two-Factor Theory (Stanley Shachter): theory that to experience emotion on must (1)
be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label that arousal


Emotion comes from cognitive interpretation of our physiological arousal
Emotions are fueled by arousal, and directed by cognition
Other Relevant Theories:



Cognitive Appraisal Theory (Richard Lararus): focused on cognitive
interpretation of events themselves
o If you don’t see the event as being relevant to your well being that you are
not likely to experience much emotion
o If you do, then you have positive or negative responses based on if it
advances or obstructs your goals
Robert Zajonc: some emotions can be experienced automatically, without
conscious processing
Some neural pathways run from sensory organs through the thalamus, directly to
amygdale
Polygraph: a machine, commonly used in attempts to detect lies, that measures several
of the physiological responses accompanying emotion
Expressed Emotion

Robert Kestenbaum found that we read fear and anger from the eyes and
happiness from the mouth.











Rosenthal and Hall found that introverts are better at reading others’ emotions and
extroverts are easier to read.
Women are better at reading nonverbal cues.
Facial muscles reveal signs of emotions you may be trying to conceal.
Paul Ekman found that teaching researchers to watch for telltale signs of lying
could boost accuracy rates.
Experience and training can help people catch micro-expressions of guilt, despair,
and fear.
Cultures have different definitions of gestures.
Paul Ekman found that all cultures show the same facial expressions.
Even a blind child who has never seen a facial expression still shows the same
face.
Charles Darwin speculated that in prehistoric times, they used facial expressions
to determine if other people were a threat or not.
Expressions amplify the felt emotion and signal the body to respond accordingly.
Emotions arise from cognition, physiology, and expressive behaviors.
Experienced Emotion







Carroll Izard isolated 10 basic emotions- joy, interest-excitement/surprise,
sadness, anger, disgust, acontempt, fear, shame, and guilt
Fear
It is adaptive, meant to alarm and prepare our bodies to flee danger
People can fear and learn to fear almost anything.
An infant can learn to fear falling after having many painful falls, and research
shows that we can learn fear just from observation al well.
A key to fear learning is in the amygdala, that limbic system neural center deep
in the brain. It plays a key role in associating various emotions.
Biology is why animals learn to fear dangerous things like snakes more easily
than other things like flowers.
Anger



Catharsis- emotional release. In psychology, the catharsis hypothesis maintains
that “releasing” aggressive energy relieves aggressive urges.
“Blowing off steam” may temporarily calm us, but it may also amplify the
underlying hostility.
The best way to handle anger is by calming yourself in a healthy way like
exercising, playing an instruments, or confiding in a friend.
Happiness

Feel-good, do-good phenomenon- people’s tendency to do good when they are
already in a good mood.

Subjective well-being- self- perceived happiness or satisfaction with life. Used
along with measures of objective well- being to evaluate people’s quality of life.
Adaption-level Phenomenon

Our tendency to form judgments relative to a neutral level defined by our prior
experience.
The Relative Deprivation Principle: Happiness is relative to Others’ Attainments

Relative Deprivation- the sense that we are worse off than others with whom we
compare ourselves.
Predictors of Happiness


Self-esteem seems to matter more to individualistic Westerners, acceptance by
others matters more to those in communal cultures.
Satisfying tasks and relationships affect our happiness, but always within the
limits imposed by our genetic leash.
Emotion and Stress Unit Stress and Illness:








behavioral medicine: an interdisciplinary field that integrates behavioral and
medical knowledge and applies that knowledge to health and disease
health psychology: a sub-field of psychology that provides psychology’s
contribution to behavioral medicine
stress: the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called
stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging
stress can either be positive by giving us a challenge, or negative by threatening
us
general adaptation syndrome (GAS): Selye’s concept of the body’s adaptive
response to stress in three stages- alarm, resistance, exhaustion
o alarm reaction: activation of sympathetic nervous system
o resistance: outpouring of hormones, temp, blood pressure, respiration
remain high
o exhaustion: depletion of body resources, more vulnerable to illness and
death
stressors including catastrophes, significant life changes, & daily hassles can
cause health issues especially when coupled with loss of control
poverty ad inequality lead to premature death and health problems
optimism helps people cope with stress and makes them healthier









coronary hearth disease: the clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart muscle;
leading cause of death in many developed countries
Friedman and Rosenman found people with lots of stress more likely to have
heart disease
o Type A: term for competitive, hard-driving impatient, verbally aggressive
and anger-prone people; more likely to have heart disease
o Type B: term for easygoing, relaxed people
Stress and Susceptibility to Disease and Promoting Health
Psychophysiological illness - “Mind-body” illness: any stress-related physical
illness such as hypertension and some headaches.
Immune system - A complex surveillance system that defends your body by
destroying bacteria, viruses, and other foreign substances.
-stress weakens the immune system, it diverts energy from the disease-fighting
system, rendering us more vulnerable to illness
Lymphocytes - Two types of white blood cells that are apart of the body’s
immune system.
Stress and negative emotions have been linked to AIDS and cancer progression.
Stress is not the only psychological influence on the body’s ailments; classical
condition may be an added influence.
The mind and body interact - everything psychological is simultaneously
psychological.
Aerobic Exercise - Sustained exercise that increases heart and lung fitness. May
also alleviate depression and anxiety.
Biofeedback - A system for electronically amplifying and feeding back info.
regarding a subtle physiological state, such as blood pressure and muscle tension.
There is a correlation between religious involvement and health.
Kristina Johnson-Theories of Emotion
Calvin Eichinger-Expressed Emotion
Kelsey Nelson- Experienced Emotion
Ali Stroeing- Stress and Illness
Tanae Swenson- Stress and Susceptibility to Disease, Promoting Health