Chapter 13 Emotion

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

Emotion  Willam James and Carl Lange came up with the James-Lange Theory of Emotion.  We feel emotion because of biological changes caused by stress.  The body changes and our mind recognizes the feeling.

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)‏

James-Lange (cont.)  Subjects report feeling more sad when viewing scenes of war, sickness, and starvation if their “sad face” muscles are activated.  They also find comic strips funnier if their “happy face” muscles are activated.

Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion  The physiological change and cognitive awareness must occur simultaneously.  They believed it was the thalamus that helped this happen.

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)‏

Two-Factor Theory of Emotion 3:50 3:50  Stanley Schachter explains emotions more completely that the other two theories.  They happen at the same time but…  People who are already physiologically aroused experience more intense emotions than unaroused people when both groups are exposed to the same stimuli.  Biology and Cognition interact with each other to increase the experience.

Schachter’s 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)‏

Schachter’s Two-Factor InjectionToldEmotion Group 1 EpinephrineWill increase arousal Mild Group 2 EpinephrineWill have no effect / other side effects Strong Epinephrine Study:

Emotional 8:02 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

Experienced Emotion - Fear LLearning Fear OObservation / Experience GGenetic / Evolutionary Predispositions? BBiology of Fear AAmygdala – emotions of fear HHippocampus – memory of fear

Expressed Emotion  People more speedily detect an angry face than a happy one (Ohman, 2001a)

Expressing Emotion How good are you at detecting emotions? How good are you at detecting emotions?  Culturally universal expressions

emotion 1 - surprise

emotion 2 - fear

emotion 3 - disgust

emotion 4 - anger

emotion 5 - happiness

emotion 6 - sadness

emotion 7 - fear

emotion 8 - disgust

emotion 9 - anger

emotion 10 - sadness

Experiencing Emotion  Catharsis  emotional release  catharsis hypothesis “releasing” aggressive energy (through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges  Feel-good, do-good phenomenon  people’s tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood

Experiencing 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

Experiencing Emotion  Adaptation-Level Phenomenon  tendency to form judgements relative to a “neutral” level  Relative Deprivation  perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself  Is Happines Relative (8 min) Is Happines Relative (8 min)

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

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

How do Emotions Affect Behavior?  Positive Effect  help us organize our behavior  energize our motivation to act  help us get “in tune” with others  Negative Effect  cause behavior to be unorganized or socially disapproved  create barriers to behavior

Theories of Emotions Review