Hoorcollege - Using Media week 5 Emotion & media Hoorcollege - Using Media week 5

Agenda Learning goals Looking back Types of emotion How emotions work The purpose of emotions Summary: emotion and media

Learning goals By the end of this hoorcollege you should: Know the difference between basic emotions and complex emotions Be aware of some theories of emotion Understand the roles that emotion plays in our life Understand the importance of emotion in decision making Know how emotion can affect a person’s reaction to persuasive messages

Looking back

Types of emotion

Activity Discuss with your neighbour what type of emotions you can think of For each emotion you identify try to demonstrate it Write each one down

Basic emotions

6 Basic emotions

6 Basic emotions (robot version)

Basic emotions It is argued that at least the 6 basic emotions are universal in humans (and some animals) Research tends to back this up Tribes in Samoa can recognize these emotional expressions on western faces However, human emotional life is more complex

Complex emotions

Complex emotions One theory suggests that complex emotions are mixtures of basic emotions They rely on our ability to (self-)reflect on ourselves and others as persons in time and circumstance Pity is based on our assessment of how a person came to be in the situation they are in If a friend fails an exam Because they were ill all term Because they were out partying the night before Embarrassment is created when you reflect on a “failure” that is not expected of you given your status and social role Complex emotions are often seen as essentially human Research suggests that animals do not share these emotions (although there is much debate here)

How emotions work

Activity: imagine this situation What is the emotion you feel? Why do you feel it? Discuss this with your neighbour

How emotions work: common sense You see danger You feel fear You run

James-Lange theory of emotions This seems totally against common sense and our experience of emotion, but some research has suggested that it is correct (e.g. heart-rate playback in response to pictures of attractive females). But overall it is not accepted today. You see danger You run  increased heart-rate You are aware of the physical response Therefore you feel fear

Schachter-Singer theory of emotions Here the important element of emotion is our cognitive evaluation of our response - we examine and attribute an emotion to it, this can vary. Again like memory and attention, it is our consciousness that gives meaning to things and decides what we do. Emotion is an active process too. You see danger You run  increased heart-rate You evaluate this response in your cognitive system You assign an emotional feeling

Culture and emotions This theory suggests that there is a cognitive element to emotion and this means that emotion may be affected by culture: Accida was a recognized complex emotion before 1400, but disappeared Individualist cultures (e.g. USA) experience more ego-focused emotions (anger, frustration, pride), Collectivist cultures (e.g. Japan) experience more other-focused emotions (shame, belonging, sympathy) German schadenfreude Gezelligheid? Accida - a mixture of boredom with one’s religious duties, putting them of and sadness at one’s religious failings Schadenfreude - an enjoyment of another misfortune

Emotion as an automatic / active process The Schachter-Singer theory suggests that the emotions we feel as a result of a stimulus are actively chosen by our cognitive system However, this does not mean that we can choose not to react on a physical (visceral) level We respond to some stimuli (esp. danger) immediately and then we assign an emotion

Snake or stick? What happens here is that your Amygdala takes over and gets your visceral system to react immediately - this is known as the low road. The attribution of the emotion depends on your evaluation in your cognitive system of what it is you see, this takes around 10 times longer, which might mean you have been bitten.

Stick or snake?: how it works This model supports the Schachter-Singer theory

The purpose of emotions

Activity: what purpose do emotions serve? Discuss this question with your neighbour Based on what we have seen so far what is the purpose of emotion? What other purposes do you think they might have?

The purpose of emotions Evolutionary - survival Fight / flight mechanism (stick or snake?) Social bonding Making our lives meaningful Help us to make decisions

Imagine life without emotion

Damasio’s theory of emotion Neurologist Antonio Damasio studied people with damage to their ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPC) These people still had the visceral response to stimuli, but they did not assign emotional feeling to it This suggests that the VMPFC is where we assign feelings to stimuli People with certain types of VMPFC damage have problems acting in social situations and making decisions

Emotion and decision making The experience of patient EVR Damasio has suggested that emotion is not the opposite to rationality - it is essential to it Emotion gives choices meaning and this meaning helps us make decisions Imagine trying to choose a car based only on rational criteria

The purpose of emotions Evolutionary - survival Fight / flight mechanism (stick or snake?) Social bonding Making our lives meaningful Allowing us to make decisions Emotion is a powerful motivator of action

Emotion as a motivator

Summary: emotion and media The aim of using media to deliver persuasive messages is to change behaviour We have seen that emotion is a very powerful (perhaps the most powerful) motivator of action Engaging the receiver’s emotions can help you achieve the desired behavioural change Positive emotions can make them more open to your message and more likely to decide to act (decision making) Negative emotions can also work (fear / jealousy appeals) if used carefully and ethically But creating negative emotions can work against your message As with all tools of persuasion they must be used ethically Indeed given the power of emotions to motivate, we have to be very careful