Emotion

Let’s think about this: zTake out a scrap sheet of paper zMake a list of all of the emotions you can think of in 2 minutes zOn your mark…get set…go zNow group similar emotions into categories

Emotion zEmotion ya response of the whole organism xphysiological arousal xexpressive behaviors xconscious experience

Basic Emotions Primary emotion Secondary emotion Tertiary emotions Love Affection Adoration, affection, love, fondness, liking, attraction, caring, tenderness, compassion, sentimentality LustArousal, desire, lust, passion, infatuation Longing Joy Cheerfulness Amusement, bliss, cheerfulness, gaiety, glee, jolliness, joviality, joy, delight, enjoyment, gladness, happiness, jubilation, elation, satisfaction, ecstasy, euphoria ZestEnthusiasm, zeal, zest, excitement, thrill, exhilaration ContentmentContentment, pleasure PridePride, triumph OptimismEagerness, hope, optimism EnthrallmentEnthrallment, rapture Relief

More Basic Emotions Surprise Amazement, surprise, astonishment Anger Irritation Aggravation, irritation, agitation, annoyance, grouchiness, grumpiness ExasperationExasperation, frustration Rage Anger, rage, outrage, fury, wrath, hostility, ferocity, bitterness, hate, loathing, scorn, spite, vengefulness, dislike, resentment DisgustDisgust, revulsion, contempt EnvyEnvy, jealousy Torment

More Basic Emotions Sadness SufferingAgony, suffering, hurt, anguish Sadness Depression, despair, hopelessness, gloom, glumness, sadness, unhappiness, grief, sorrow, woe, misery, melancholy DisappointmentDismay, disappointment, displeasure ShameGuilt, shame, regret, remorse Neglect Alienation, isolation, neglect, loneliness, rejection, homesickness, defeat, dejection, insecurity, embarrassment, humiliation, insult SympathyPity, sympathy Fear Horror Alarm, shock, fear, fright, horror, terror, panic, hysteria, mortification Nervousness Anxiety, nervousness, tenseness, uneasiness, apprehension, worry, distress, dread

Theories of Emotion Emotions are a mix of 1) physiological activation, 2) expressive behaviors, and 3) conscious experience.

Theories of Emotion  Does your heart pound because you are afraid... or are you afraid because you feel your heart pounding?

Controversy zDoes physiological arousal precede or follow your emotional experience? zDoes cognition (thinking) precede emotion (feeling)?

When you become happy, your heart starts beating faster. First comes conscious awareness, then comes physiological activity. Bob Sacha Common Sense View

James-Lange Theory of Emotion  Experience of emotion is awareness of physiological responses to emotion- arousing stimuli Fear (emotion) Pounding heart (arousal) Sight of oncoming car (perception of stimulus)

Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion  Emotion-arousing stimuli simultaneously trigger:  physiological responses  subjective experience of emotion Sight of oncoming car (perception of stimulus) Pounding heart (arousal) Fear (emotion)

Schachter-Singer Two- Factor Theory of Emotion  To experience emotion one must:  be physically aroused  cognitively label the arousal Cognitive label “I’m afraid” Fear (emotion) Sight of oncoming car (perception of stimulus) Pounding heart (arousal)

Opponent-Process Theory of Emotion Strong Neutral Strong First experience (a) Strong Neutral Strong After repeated experiences (b)

Embodied Emotion We know that emotions involve bodily responses. Some of these responses are very noticeable (butterflies in our stomach when fear arises), but others are more difficult to discern (neurons activated in the brain).

Emotion and Physiology Autonomic nervous system controls physiological arousal Sympathetic division (arousing) Pupils dilate Decreases Perspires Increases Accelerates Inhibits Secrete stress hormones Parasympathetic division (calming) Pupils contract Increases Dries Decreases Slows Activates Decreases secretion of stress hormones EYES SALIVATION SKIN RESPIRATION HEART DIGESTION ADRENAL GLANDS

Arousal and Performance  Performance peaks at lower levels of arousal for difficult tasks, and at higher levels for easy or well- learned tasks Compare to motivation

Physiological Similarities Physiological responses related to the emotions of fear, anger, love, and boredom are very similar. Excitement and fear involve a similar physiological arousal. M. Grecco/ Stock Boston

Physiological Differences Physical responses, like finger temperature and movement of facial muscles, change during fear, rage, and joy. The amygdala shows differences in activation during the emotions of anger and rage. Activity of the left hemisphere (happy) is different from the right (depressed) for emotions. More dopamine receptors: nucleus accumbens

Cognition and Emotion What is the connection between how we think (cognition) and how we feel (emotion)? Can we change our emotions by changing our thinking?

Cognition Can Define Emotion An arousal response to one event spills over into our response to the next event. Arousal from a soccer match can fuel anger, which may lead to rioting. AP Photo/ Nati Harnik Reuters/ Corbis

Cognition and Emotion  The brain’s shortcut for emotions Sensory input may be routed directly to the amygdala (via the thalamus) for an instant emotional reaction or to the cortex for analysis

Cognition and Emotion zEmotion and cognition feed on each other Experienced emotion Cognition

Emotion: Lie Detectors  Polygraph  machine commonly used in attempts to detect lies  measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotion  perspiration  cardiovascular  breathing changes

Emotion--A Polygraph Examination

Emotion— Lie Detectors  Control Question  Aim to make anyone nervous (baseline)  Up to age 18, did you ever physically harm anyone?  Relevant Question  Did [the deceased] threaten to harm you in any way?  Relevant response greater than control response  Lie

Emotion-- Lie Detectors Control question Relevant question Control question Relevant question (a)(b) Respiration Perspiration Heart rate

Emotion-- Lie Detectors  50 Innocents  50 Theives  1/3 of innocent declared guilty  1/4 of guilty declared innocent (from Kleinmuntz & Szucko, 1984) Percentage Innocent people Guilty people Judged innocent by polygraph Judged guilty by polygraph

Emotion-- Lie Detectors  Is 70% accuracy good?  Assume 5% of 1000 employees actually guilty  test all employees  285 will be wrongly accused  What about 95% accuracy?  Assume 1 in 1000 employees actually guilty  test all employees (including 999 innocents)  50 wrongly declared guilty  1 of 51 testing positive are guilty Lab

Expressed Emotion zHow do we decipher people’s emotions? ybody language y tone of voice y facial expressions zAre these behaviors culture, gender bound? zHow good are we in detecting true or false emotions?

Expressing Emotion Smiles can show different emotions: A) Mask anger B) Overly polite C) Soften criticism D) Reluctant compliance

Nonverbal Communication  People more speedily detect an angry face than a happy one

Nonverbal Communication z We read fear and anger mostly from eyes, happiness from the mouth z Experience influences how we perceive emotions y physically abused children are quicker to pick out the angry face than non abused children z At what point does the person morph into fear?

Gender Differences zWomen generally surpass men at reading people’s emotional cue ySpotting lies yGreater emotional literacy yGreater emotional responsiveness to positive and negative situations yMore empathic…more likely to express empathy

Expressed Emotion: Gender Differences  Gender and expressiveness Men Women Sad Happy Scary Film Type Number of expressions

UNIVERSAL FACIAL EXPRESSIONS zDefinition ynumber of specific inherited facial patterns or expressions that signal inherited facial patterns or expressions that show specific feelings or emotional states, such as a smile signaling a happy state zNumber of expressions (seven) zCross culture yAnger, sadness yHappiness, fear ySurprise, disgust yContempt

Detecting Emotions zFacial muscles reveal signs of emotion. yDifficult to detect expression of deceit yAbsence of verbal or emotional cues makes detection difficult Which smile is feigned, which is natural? How can you tell?

Expressed Emotion  Culturally universal expressions

Emotions are Adaptive Darwin speculated that our ancestors communicated with facial expressions in the absence of language. Nonverbal facial expressions led to our ancestor’s survival. Charles Darwin ( )

Analyzing Emotion Analysis of emotions are carried on different levels.

Feedback Hypotheses zFacial feedback hypothesis yExpressions amplify our emotions by activating muscles associated with specific states xIf we smile, we’ll feel happier zBehavior feedback hypothesis yIf we move our body as we would when expressing some emotion we are likely to feel that emotion to some degree xShuffling feet with downcast eyes  feel sad

Experienced Emotion  Infants’ naturally occurring emotions a.Joy b.Anger c.Interest d.Disgust e.Surprise f.Sadness g.Fear

Dimensions of Emotion People generally divide emotions into two dimensions.

Experienced Emotions: Fear zWe learn specific fears through conditioning and observational learning zBiologically prepared to learn certain fears but not others ySnakes, spiders, heights  Self preservation  shared with prehistoric ancestors yFast driving, bombs, electricity  not conditioned in “genetic” makeup  future generations??

Experienced Emotion  The Amygdala- -a neural key to fear learning

Experienced Emotion: Anger  Frustrations, insults…evoke anger  Catharsis  emotional release  catharsis hypothesis  “releasing”, or venting, aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges  Temporary relief  may actually amplify anger  Reconciliation better than retaliation in reducing anger and its symptoms

Experienced Emotions: Happiness  Feel-good, do-good phenomenon  people’s tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood  More helpful to strangers, give money and time

Experienced Emotion  Subjective Well-Being  self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life  used along with measures of objective well-being  physical and economic indicators to evaluate people’s quality of life

Experienced Emotion  Moods across the day

Experienced Emotion  Changing materialism

Experienced Emotion  Does money buy happiness? Year 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Average per-person after-tax income in 1995 dollars Percentage describing themselves as very happy $20,000 $19,000 $18,000 $17,000 $16,000 $15,000 $14,000 $13,000 $12,000 $11,000 $10,000 $9,000 $8,000 $7,000 $6,000 $5,000 $4, Percentage very happy Personal income

Experienced Emotion  Values and life satisfaction Money Love Life satisfaction Importance scores

Experienced Emotion  Adaptation-Level Phenomenon  tendency to form judgments relative to a “neutral” level  brightness of lights  volume of sound  level of income  defined by our prior experience  Current level of happiness/satisfaction after awhile may not be enough  May want to increase level so strive to do something a little more challenging (tied in with motivation)  Relative Deprivation  perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself

Happiness is... Researchers Have Found That Happy People Tend to Have high self-esteem (in individualistic countries) Be optimistic, outgoing, and agreeable Have close friendships or a satisfying marriage Have work and leisure that engage their skills Have a meaningful religious faith Sleep well and exercise However, Happiness Seems Not Much Related to Other Factors, Such as Age Gender (women are more often depressed, but also more often joyful) Education levels Parenthood (having children or not) Physical attractiveness