EMOTIONS

Emotions Emotions are our affective responses to changing relationships between ourselves and our environment.

Emotion involves: The physiological component: bodily arousal The cognitive component: a subjective conscious experience/feeling The behavioral component: characteristic overt expressions

Physiological Changes  Bodily changes occur  Increased heartbeat  Rise in blood pressure  Increase in adrenaline  Elevated blood sugar level  Slowing of digestion

Cognitive Interpretations  The mind impacts how we feel  Bodily components of most emotions are similar

Verbal expression  In our low-context culture, we can’t rely on perceptiveness to ensure understanding.  We use specific emotion words to represent intensity.

The chicken/egg question The emotion we feel causes such bodily symptoms as racing heart or sweaty palms. OR The nervous system reacting to an external stimulus produces physical symptoms, and our perception of them is what we call an emotion.

James-Lange theory claims that the emotion we feel is not what causes such bodily symptoms as racing heart or sweaty palms. It is the nervous system reacting to an external stimulus produces physical symptoms, and our perception of them is what we call an emotion.

Theories compared 1. I feel afraid of a dog because I tremble (James-Lange) 2. I label my trembling as fear because I appraise the situation as dangerous 3. I tremble because I feel afraid of a dog (common sense) 4. The dog makes me tremble and feel afraid

Identifying emotions Dutton and Aron experiment

Primary emotions ANGERDISGUST FEAR/FRIGHTSADNESS JOY/HAPPINESSACCEPTANCE SURPRISEANTICIPATION

Mixed emotions AWELOVE SUBMISSION DISAPPOINTMENT REMORSECONTEMPT AGGRESSIVENESS

Influences on experiencing and showing emotions. CULTURE GENDER SOCIAL CONVENTIONS MORAL CONVENTIONS SOCIAL ROLES FEAR OF SELF-DISCLOSURE FEAR OF SHOWING WEAKNESS

Culture  Same events generate different feelings in different culture.  People from Southern part of countries are more emotionally expressive than northerners.  Ethnicity impacts how others’ emotional states and appropriate rules for expressing emotions.  Individualistic-collective dynamics impact behavior within in-groups and out-groups.

Social conventions / Roles  U.S.: Unwritten rules of communication discourage direct expressions of most emotions.  Social rules even discourage too much expression of positive feelings.  Reluctance that threaten the “face” of others.  Limited to the requirements of social roles, that is, line of work.  Capacity to recognize and act on certain emotions decreases without practice.

Fear of Self-Disclosure  Emotional self-disclosure feels risky.  Others might misunderstand.  Emotional honesty might make others uncomfortable.  Emotional honesty can be used against us.

IRRATIONAL THINKING AND DEBILITATIVE EMOTIONS All fallacies are based on the principle of our expectations and the reality or the ability to fulfill these expectations.

Fallacies 1…of Perfection Expecting to handle all situations with complete confidence and skill

Fallacies 2…of Approval Expecting acceptance from all

Fallacies 3…of “Should” Wishing for things to be different (according to our preferences)

Fallacies 4…of Causation (or Consequences) Being afraid of the consequences of our actions

Fallacies 5…of Overgeneralization Hasty Generalizations “Jumping to conclusions”

Fallacies 6…of Helplessness Lack of confidence in one’s ability to control events Believing in unknown/superstition/etc.

Fallacies 7…of catastrophic expectations If something bad can happen, it probably will (similar to Murphy’s Law).