Understanding Emotions and Motives

Emotion

• Emotion is defined as a complex, multi-component response to changes in how people interpret or appraise their current circumstances.
• There's a vital relationship between present and past experience.
• Emotions are often described as arising from both internal (motivations) and external (situational) factors, but some distinctions are debatable.
• Emotions and moods are frequently contrasted based on duration and specific cause.
• Appraisals, or interpretations of the situation, are a central element of emotion. Different interpretations lead to different emotional responses.
• Emotions can arise as a result of physical physiological arousal and cognitive interpretations of that arousal.
• A two-factor theory of emotions was proposed by Schachter and Singer in 1962 (emotions are the result of a combination of an initial state of unexplained arousal and cognitive explanation).
• Misattribution of arousal can occur, where physiological arousal is incorrectly connected to an unrelated event, intensifying the emotional response to that new event.
• Cognitive appraisals are important because they differentiate among emotions.
• The core relational themes, as well as dimensional aspects, of appraisals are described separately in the lectures.
• Cognitive appraisals precede and cause the components of emotions, leading to the subjective experience of the emotion and associated arousal.
• Minimalist appraisal theories reduce the number of appraisal dimensions.
• Dimensional appraisal theories identify a range of appraisal dimensions relevant to the differences among emotions.
• Emotions involve multiple components, including subjective experience, thought-action tendencies, bodily changes, facial expression, responses to emotion, and a person-environment relationship.

Bodily Changes

• Intense negative emotions activate the sympathetic nervous system, leading to physiological changes (e.g. increased heart rate, respiration).
• People's perceptions of their own physiological arousal intensifies emotional responses (visceral perception).
• The James-Lange theory suggests that autonomic arousal is responsible for differentiating emotions.
• Cannon (1927) critiqued the James-Lange theory, suggesting internal changes occur too slowly to be the primary source of feelings, while also pointing out that artificially inducing bodily changes doesn't always produce an emotion.

Facial Expression

• Facial expressions communicate emotions, often evoking similar emotions in others.
• Darwin's work on emotional expression highlights the survival value of communicating emotions.
• Display rules are culturally determined norms that influence how emotions are expressed.
• The facial feedback hypothesis states that facial expressions can directly influence emotional experience.

Cognitive Appraisal

• Cognitive appraisals are conscious and unconscious processes.
• The amygdala plays a key role in automatic appraisals, supporting the idea that appraisals can occur outside of conscious awareness.
• Cognitive appraisals in emotions are similar to other types of cognition.
• An emotion is more than just the feeling, it's also a product of a process, where subsequent components unfold and change over time.

Subjective Experiences

• Subjective experiences of emotion are within awareness.
• Affective states influence personal experience.
• Feelings serve as feedback about the personal relevance of current circumstances, guiding behavior.
• Current feelings influence attention and learning.
• Feelings affect evaluations and judgment of risk.

Thought & Action Tendencies

• Thought-action tendencies are the cognitive and behavioral responses spurred by emotions.
• Negative emotions typically trigger specific, narrow thought-action tendencies related to survival.
• Positive emotions involve broad, more open thought-action tendencies, promoting actions that support ongoing goals and survival.

Emotion Regulation

• Emotion regulation involves a person's responses to their own emotions, including efforts to intensify or minimize emotions.
• Successful emotion regulation is linked to social success.
• Antecedent-focused strategies and response-focused strategies are common ways to regulate emotions, based on when they are implemented.
• Strategies to regulate emotions (diversion and engagement) have different effects on various components of the emotional response, cognitive function, and the autonomic nervous system.
• Reappraisal, or changing one's perspective, is an effective strategy for regulating emotions.

Emotions, Gender & Culture

• Gender and cultural differences may influence emotion in various ways.
• The way people's emotions are expressed and when differs across cultures.
• Gender and cultural beliefs affect appraisals (expectations and interpretations of events) of emotions and emotional responses and expressions.

Positive Psychology

• Positive psychology explores human flourishing and potential, rather than dysfunction.
• Studies reveal that positive emotions have diverse positive outcomes, from boosting health to improving cognitive processes like attention.
• The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions links positive emotions to psychological growth, survival, and increased resilience. This theory proposes that positive emotions broaden the scope of people's attention, thought-action patterns, and relationships.