Paul Ekman: Expressiveness and Culture However, facial expressions for various expressions are universal. (Ekman) For instance, Japanese rarely show self-aggrandizing and negative emotions but likely to show happiness, as means of social glue. Display rules – difference between understanding expressions and what’s behind them…

Who is the best at displaying naturally occurring emotions?

Concealing emotions Humans are good at intentionally concealing emotions.

Polygraphs Detect physiological arousal. Traditionally not admissible, because innocent are often found guilty. The Guilty Knowledge Test: more useful in court Brain fingerprinting is admissible

Different part of brain lights up for lying https://www. youtube

How does personal experience relate to the telling of expressions?

Experiencing emotion Emotions can be categorized in three different ways: Pleasant vs. unpleasant Intense vs. sleepy Long-lasting vs. brief

Arousal vs. Valence

Experienced Emotion: Fear Controlled by the amygdala located at the ends of the hippocampus in the Limbic system of the lower brain. Fear is adaptive to fight/flee from dangerous events. We can learn to fear just about anything, we fear some things easier than others: heights, spiders, snakes. Stress is fear gone wild: too much, too often.

Fear Examples Humans can learn to fear embarrassment and social situations Chronic anxiety (fear) of social events can have devastating effects on your immune system and other mood systems (depression/anxiety disorders). Type D personality Extreme fear of a specific trigger is called a phobia.

Thresholds of Fear Peoples’ triggers for fear vary. Some are not easily fearful test pilots, serial killers, Type B personalities Some are anxious/nervous almost all the time. Type A personalities Tranquilizers operate on this brain/body system by calming the SNS or blocking adrenaline (epinephrine) receivers in the brain.

Experienced Emotion: Happiness One’s mood colors everything else memories, assessments of relationships, relative well-being Happiness defined as subjective well being how happy to you think you are Feel Good, Do Good Phenomena: The happier you are the more likely you are to help others.

Subjective well-being (self-perception)

Happiness Examples happiness set point (50% heritable). happiness hovers in a range around that point independent of life circumstances. If something extremely bad happens or extremely good , you eventually rebound back to your range. Ex: Two years later, the relative happiness of accident paraplegics and lottery winners is the same.

Money and Happiness Money does not buy happiness. There is no relationship between money and happiness, with the exception of the desperately poor in impoverished countries (basic needs?) Money only buys a temporary surge of happiness – remember set point

Changing materialism of entering collegians

Gen X vs. Millenials What do you want to be when you grow up? Firefighter 1. ?????????? Police Officer 2. ?????????? President 3. ??????????

Adaptation-level Principle Is the tendency to judge various stimuli relative to our own previous experiences. If circumstances change, within months you recalibrate your level and then emotionally judge experiences relative to the new circumstance.

Adaptation-level Principle For material wealth to increase, relative-well being would require an ever increasing abundance. Think about the Amish, never had, never missed.

Relative Deprivation Principle We compare ourselves to others just above and just below us. So, if everyone gets an A, we’re not as happy as if we got the only A. If you’re GPA is 3.0, you’ll be happier comparing yourself to 2.0s than 4.0s. basically someone is always above and always below.

Get Happiness!!!! (within your inherited range) flow. Form close meaningful relationships internal-locus of control report being happier. faith in something larger than themselves. Optimism: look on sunny side.

Opponent Process Theory of Emotion When you feel one emotion, you will feel the opposite feeling when resolved Fear of public speaking, feeling elated after But when the first emotion is repeated, it is less intense and the opponent feeling becomes stronger. Less scared the next time you speak, stronger feelings of elation when finished Opponent Process Theory of Emotion

Opponent Process Theory of Emotion Examples: Do drugs, feel good, come down, get depressed. Do more drugs, not as high, come down harder. Exercise? Studying?

Experienced Emotion: Anger Generally triggers are perceived misdeeds of friends and loved ones. anger-provoking deeds are ones that tend to be willful, unjustified and avoidable. “It doesn’t have to be this way!”

Anger adaptive for arousing protective reactions maladaptive when it fuels behaviors we later regret.

Anger and Catharsis Displaying anger is not cathartic (cleansing), it increases anger. How so? (OC) The immediate soothing effect it causes becomes positively reinforcing, building anger as habitual response.

Type A vs Type B vs Type D Type A: hard driving success oriented people. Type A with ANGER highly correlated with heart Disease. Type B: relaxed easy going, not nearly as likely to get heart Disease. Type D: anxious, nervous always waiting for something bad to happen, reduced disease fighting mechanisms.

Dealing with Anger Calm down first!!! Remember the fuel of emotion is physical arousal, so when you come back to homeostasis, you’ll be more rational. Deal with issues, quickly and directly (after calming down), so as not to rehearse the anger-provoking incident.