1. Social Constructivist View of Emotion

2. Social Constructivist Theory Emotion is “a transitory social role (a socially constituted syndrome) that includes an individual’s appraisal of the situation and that is interpreted as a passion rather than as an action” (James Averill, 1980, p. 312)

3. Social Constructivist Theory 1.The pieces of Emotion 2.Rules of Emotion 3.Culture of Emotion 4.Action of Emotion

4. Syndrome Not all emotions contain the same (or all) components in all incidents of emotion

5. Social Role A socially prescribed set of responses to be followed by a person in a given situation

6. Appraisal & Culture Social constructivists view appraisal as a key component of the theory, but argues that appraisal is shaped by cultural norms

7. Emotions as Passions Emotions are action, but experienced as passion

8. Social Coordination Social constructivists see emotion as “social tools”

9. Anger … …parades itself; it shows on the face; the greater it is, the more obviously it seethes out …is a ‘burning desire to avenge a wrong’ …may be the enemy of reason …anger [is not] in accordance with the nature of man

10. Anger is… … a socially constituted response which helps regulate interpersonal relations through the threat of retaliation for perceived wrongs, and which is interpreted as a passion rather than as an action so as not to violate the a general cultural proscription against deliberately harming another James Averilll (1979)

11. Anger is Social? Anger is only experienced by humans Anger regulates human behavior – Norm of Retribution vs. Norm of Conciliation