Psychology of Emotions Department of Psychology Post Graduate Govt. College Sector-11, Chandigarh Prepared by: Dr. Sudhir K Samantaray

Overall Course Outline Section I: General Background Section II: Historical Perspectives Section III: Types of Emotions Section VI: Changes during Emotions Section VII: Theories of Emotions Section VIII: Models of Emotions Section IV: Summary & Conclusions

Detailed Course Outline Continuing….. Approaches to understanding emotions Evolution of emotions Culture and emotions Defining emotion Development and emotion Physiology of emotion

Detailed Course Outline Continuing….. Emotions and health Emotions and learning and memory Emotions and reasoning Emotions and social judgment Empathy Emotions and gender

Detailed Course Outline Continuing….. Positive emotions Love and passion Anger and hostility Fear and anxiety Emotions and Perception Disgust Managing Emotions Traumatic events Emotional Broadcaster

Historical Perspectives Neglect of Emotions in Psychology 25 yrs ago, experimental psychology silent on emotions Emotions addressed in early days, but then disappear Psych wants to be a science, emotions too flakey Mesmerism Freud – cigars, sex, bad mommies Emotions make people nervous: Taboo impulses: sex, anger, desire Reminds people of animal natures How do you even study emotion?

Rediscovery of Emotions Dominance of Behaviorism (1950-1975-ish) BF Skinner: Humans do no have minds Cognitive revolution (1970-1990) R. Sheppard: Humans have minds! Minds affect behavior. Emotional revolution (1990 – and ongoing) R. Zajonc: Humans have emotions! Emotions affect thinking and behavior.

Darwin’s Taxonomy of Emotions

Darwin’s Approach to Emotions Not interested in Emotions, per se. Uses Emotions to show humans evolved from more primitive critters. Human emotions are VESTIGIAL Human emotions reflect animal signals Sneering – revealing teeth – bite threat Eye raise – forehead pulled back – flat ears on dogs Uselessness of emotions … phone call hand gestures Darwin a Victorian.

Definitions A complex pattern of changes, including physiological arousal, feelings, cognitive processes, and behavioral reactions, made in response to a situation perceived to be personally significant. The mainstream definition of emotion refers to a feeling state involving thoughts, physiological changes, and an outward expression or behavior. 

Emotions: Types & Nature ‘Official’ classification Emotion: Anger, sadness, fear, joy etc. Mood: Cheerful, gloomy, irritable, listless, depressed, etc. Interpersonal stance: Distant, cold, warm, supportive, contemptuous etc. Attitudes: Liking, loving, hating, desiring etc. Personality traits: Reckless, nervous, anxious, hostile etc.

Changes during Emotions Physiological arousal Motor expression Conscious feelings Action tendencies Cognitive processing All of these components may be important (and defining) elements of an emotional episode

What is emotion? A feeling? Then what is a feeling? Difficult to define and even more difficult to understand completely.  People have been attempting to understand this phenomenon for thousands of years, and will most likely debate for a thousand more.  This section will present the various theories related to the acquisition of emotion.

Psychological Models of Emotion Aims and Objectives To understand Psychological Models of Emotion Intended learning outcomes To define what constitutes emotions and other affect states Know the historical roots of current emotion debates Know the main features of current emotion models

Current Models Dimensional models Categories determined by valence dimensions Discrete emotion models A number of discrete emotions are represented in the brain Meaning oriented models Emotions are socio-cultural Componential models Components are important, but emotion eliciting depends on cognitive appraisal

Continuing….. Dimensional Models Emotions can be displayed along some dimension, they can be determined by: Pleasantness -unpleasantness dimension Rest-activation dimension Relaxation-attention dimension Discrete Emotion Models Discrete emotion circuits exist in the brain e.g. fear circuit Meaning Oriented Models Meaning of emotion is generally constructed by socio-culturally determined behaviour and value pattern.

Continuing….. Componential Models Basic assumption: Emotions are elicited by a cognitive (but not necessarily conscious or controlled) evaluation of the situation. This evaluation determines how the different components (Physiological arousal, Motor expression, Conscious feelings, Action tendencies, Cognitive processing) are affected.

Emotions in Simpler Way General agreement exists that: Emotions are of episodic nature They are triggered by some event (external or internal) They last for a while and then gradually fade away time

Theories of Emotions James-Lange Theory Cannon-Bard Theory Schachter-Singer Theory Lazarus Theory Facial Feedback Theory

Continuing…. But what comes first?  The thought?  The physiological arousal?  The behavior?  Or does emotion exist in a vacuum, whether or not these other components are present?  There are five theories which attempt to understand why we experience emotion.

James-Lange Theory The James-Lange theory of emotion argues that an event causes physiological arousal first and then we interpret this arousal.  Only after our interpretation of the arousal can we experience emotion.  If the arousal is not noticed or is not given any thought, then we will not experience any emotion based on this event.

Continuing….. Exciting event  bodily response  emotion Ties emotions to bodily states Our bodies “know” meaning of events, automatically Greater intensity of feeling state (bodily arousal) more intense is the felt emotion. Emotions give color, warmth to experience But, emotions still passive

Example You are walking down a dark alley late at night.  You hear footsteps behind you and you begin to tremble, your heart beats faster, and your breathing deepens.  You notice these physiological changes and interpret them as your body's preparation for a fearful situation.  You then experience fear.  Event—Arousal—Interpretation—Emotion  

Cannon-Bard Theory The Cannon-Bard theory argues that we experience physiological arousal and emotional at the same time, but gives no attention to the role of thoughts or outward behavior.  

Example You are walking down a dark alley late at night.  You hear footsteps behind you and you begin to tremble, your heart beats faster, and your breathing deepens.  At the same time as these physiological changes occur you also experience the emotion of fear. Event---Arousal ---Emotion

Schachter-Singer Theory According to this theory, an event causes physiological arousal first.  You must then identify a reason for this arousal and then you are able to experience and label the emotion.

Example You are walking down a dark alley late at night.  You hear footsteps behind you and you begin to tremble, your heart beats faster, and your breathing deepens.  Upon noticing this arousal you realize that is comes from the fact that you are walking down a dark alley by yourself.  This behavior is dangerous and therefore you feel the emotion of fear. Event—Arousal—Reasoning—Emotion

Lazarus Theory Lazarus Theory states that a thought must come before any emotion or physiological arousal.  In other words, you must first think about your situation before you can experience an emotion.

Example You are walking down a dark alley late at night.  You hear footsteps behind you and you think it may be a mugger so you begin to tremble, your heart beats faster, and your breathing deepens and at the same time experience fear. Event—Thought—Emotion Arousal

Facial Feedback Theory According to the facial feedback theory, emotion is the experience of changes in our facial muscles.  In other words, when we smile, we then experience pleasure, or happiness.  When we frown, we then experience sadness.  it is the changes in our facial muscles that cue our brains and provide the basis of our emotions.  Just as there are an unlimited number of muscle configurations in our face, so to are there a seemingly unlimited number of emotions.

Example You are walking down a dark alley late at night.  You hear footsteps behind you and your eyes widen, your teeth clench and your brain interprets these facial changes as the expression of fear.  Therefore you experience the emotion of fear. Event—Facial Changes—Emotion

Conclusions Emotions play very significant role in the life of humans. With our emotions life is just like with out motions.

Summary Emotions: episodic, external/internal trigger, reaction triad, relevance detectors. Emotions vs. Moods, intra-personal stance, attitudes etc. Theories: •James-Lange •Cannon-Bard• Schacter etc.

Readings Understanding Emotions, Oately & Jenkins, 2004