Chapter 13: Emotion
I. Theories of Emotion
A. James-Lange and Cannon-Bard Theories
James-Lange : experience of emotion results from awareness of the
physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli.# Ex. You are fearful, so
your heart pounds. You know that you are in love when your heart beats fast
and you experience that unique trembling feeling inside.
Cannon-Bard: an emotion arousing stimulus is simultaneously routed to the
cortex which causes the subjective experience of emotion, and to the
sympathetic nervous system which causes the body?s physiological arousal.
Ex. Your heart begins pounding as you experience fear.
B. Cognition and Emotion
1. Schachter?s Two-Factor Theory of Emotion
Emotions have two components: physical arousal and cognitive label.
Schacter found that physically aroused subjects told than an injection would
cause arousal did not become emotional in response to an accomplice?s
aroused behavior. Physically aroused subjects not expecting arousal did
become emotional in response to an accomplice?s behavior.
Like the James-Lange Theory, the two-factor theory presumes that our
experience of emotion stems from our awareness of physical arousal.
Like the Cannon-Bard Theory, the two-factor theory presumes that emotions
are physiologically similar and require a conscious interpretation of the
arousal. SEE FIGURE 13.1
2. Robert Zajonc View
Feeling of emotion can precede our cognitive labeling of that emotion. This
was based on the evidence that people can develop an emotional preference
for stimuli to which they have been unknowingly exposed .
Richard Lazrus disagreed with Zajonc.# He believed that most emotions
require cognitive processing. Emotions arise when we appraise an event as
beneficial or harmful to our well-being.
3. Conclusions
It seems that some emotional responses-especially simple likes, dislikes, and
fears-involve no conscious thinking. Other emotions are greatly affected by
our interpretations and expectations.
C. Two Dimensions of Emotion
Throughout the world people place emotions along two dimensions: valence,
which refers to whether a feeling is of pleasant (positive valence) or
unpleasant (negative valence) and arousal high versus low arousal.
Ex. , anger is characterized by negative valence and high arousal
Ex. While completing an exam, Karen labels her arousal as energizing,
whereas Mike labels his arousal as threatening. The emotional experience of
the two test takers are likely to differ the most with respect to valence.
II. Embodied Emotion
A. Emotion and Physiology
Physiological arousal occurs when the sympathetic nervous system directs the
adrenal glands to release epinephrine and norepinephrine. These hormones
trigger increased heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels.
Our performance on a task is usually best when arousal is moderate.
However the difficulty of the task affects optimum arousal level. A relatively
high level of arousal is best on easy or well-learned tasks; a relatively low
level of arousal is best on difficult or unrehearsed tasks. Ex. A relatively high
level of arousal would most likely interfere with solving a crossword puzzle or
repeating the alphabet.
III. Expressed Emotion
A. Nonverbal Communication
We can communicate emotions in words or nonverbally.
1. Gender
Women are generally better than men at detecting nonverbal signs of
emotions.
Women are also more likely to express empathy when observing someone in
distress.
Women are better at conveying happiness, whereas men surpass women in
conveying their anger.
2. Detecting and Computing Emotion
Unless trained in detecting lying, most people are not very accurate in
spotting subtle facial indicators of deception.
US Secret Service agents, federal law officers, and clinical psychologists
interested in lying research are more skilled lie-catchers.
General public very good at detecting facial expressions of anger.
What about email?: absence of nonverbal cues to emotion is easy to misread.
IV. Experienced Emotion
A. Fear
Carroll Izard believed that there are 10 basic emotions, most of which are
present in infancy. SEE FIGURE 13.15.
Fear is an adaptive response that prepares the body to flee from danger,
protects us from harm, and constrains us from harming other people.
1. Learning Fear
Most human fears are acquired through learning E.G., acquired by observing
parents and friends.
Ex., most children are afraid of bees although they have never been stung by
one.
Ex. Can we be scared to death? The answer may surprise you---YES!!!
2. The Biology of Fear
The fact that humans quickly learn and slowly unlearn to fear snakes, spiders,
and cliffs, suggest that these are biologically predisposed fears that develop
with little or no learning.
The amygdala in the brain plays an important role in associating various
emotions with certain situations.
Following fear conditioning, subjects who have suffered amygdala damage will
remember the conditioning but no longer show the emotional reaction. Fail to
react with fear.
If the hippocampus is damaged, however, subjects will show the emotional
reaction but won?t remember the conditioning trials.
B. Anger
The catharsis hypothesis maintains that expressing emotion results in
emotional release.
Advantages of expressing anger: Research shows that the cathartic
expression of anger is most likely to reduce anger temporarily when it is
specifically directed against the provoker, when it is justifiable, and when the
provoker is not intimidating.
Disadvantages with expressing anger: openly expressing anger can have the
opposite effect and amplify underlying hostility and anger outbursts may also
be habit forming if they temporarily calm the individual.
Ex. Does viewing of aggression prove cathartic? Can seeing a murder on
television prove to be good therapy. Spectators of football, wrestling, and
hockey exhibit more hostility after watching the event than before. After a war
a nation?s murder rate tends to increase, not decrease.
Anger management: Anger experts recommend that the best way to handle
anger is to first bring down the level of physiological arousal by waiting, then
deal with the anger in a civil way that promotes reconciliation rather than
retaliation. involves (neither being chronically angry nor passively sulking )
C. Happiness
Happy people tend to perceive the world as safer, make decisions more
easily, rate job applicants more favorably, report greater satisfaction with
their lives, and are more willing to help others, which is called the feel-good,
do-good phenomenon.
Most people will overestimate the long term consequences of very bad news.
After experiencing tragedy or dramatically positive events, people generally
do regain their previous degree of happiness.
Levels of happiness do not mirror differences in standards of living. During the
last 4 decades spendable income in the US has more than doubled; personal
happiness has remained unchanged.
1. Adaptation Level Principle
Happiness is relative to one?s recent or previous experience
This principle helps explain why for some people, material desires can never
be satisfied: If we acquire new possessions, we feel an initial surge of
pleasure. But we then adapt to having these new possessions, come to see
them as normal, and require other things to give us another surge of
happiness.
Ex. This theory would help explain why million dollar lottery winners and
paraplegics report similar levels of happiness.
2. Relative Deprivation Principle: Happiness is relative to others? attainments
Tendency for our personal happiness to be influenced by others? attainments.
One is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself
Ex. Mary just received a used bicycle for her birthday., She was thrilled until
she found out her best friend received a brand new bicycle for her birthday.
3. Predictors of Happiness
Factors that predict happiness include having high self-esteem, a close
friendship or a satisfying marriage, a meaningful religious faith, being
optimistic and outgoing, sleeping well, exercising, and engaging in
challenging work and leisure activities.
Factors that do not predict happiness: age, race, gender, education,
parenthood
People are happier when they engage in challenging tasks or active leisure
