EMOTION: 1. Introduction: The source of our emotions remains elusive. No one knows exactly where emotions come from, what makes us feel the way we do, or whether we can fully control the way we feel. Emotion is intimately related to cognition and culture, and it affects us physically: our bodies react to different emotional states, and we often show emotion physically. Researchers have proposed many theories about the source, purpose, and expression of emotion. In many ways, our emotions define our existence—without them, most of us would not feel truly alive. We’ve all felt fear of a lurking stranger, pride at scoring well on a test, love, sadness, and loneliness. And between emotional extremes are the ups and downs of everyday life: frustration in a traffic jam, contentment over a satisfying lunch, amusement at a cartoon. We have much to learn about emotion—but we have also learned simply by being human and feeling things every day. 2. Theories of Emotion: Emotion is a complex, subjective experience accompanied by biological and behavioral changes. Emotion involves feeling, thinking, activation of the nervous system, physiological changes, and behavioral changes such as facial expressions. Different theories exist regarding how and why people experience emotion. These include evolutionary theories, the James-Lange theory, the Cannon-Bard theory, Schacter and Singer’s two-factor theory, and cognitive appraisal. 2.1. Evolutionary Theories: More than a century ago, in the 1870s, Charles Darwin proposed that emotions evolved because they had adaptive value. For example, fear evolved because it helped people to act in ways that enhanced their chances of survival. Darwin believed that facial expressions of emotion are innate (hard-wired). He pointed out that facial expressions allow people to quickly judge someone’s hostility or friendliness and to communicate intentions to others. Recent evolutionary theories of emotion also consider emotions to be innate responses to stimuli. Evolutionary theorists tend to downplay the influence of thought and learning on emotion, although they acknowledge that both can have an effect. Evolutionary theorists believe that all human cultures share several primary emotions, including happiness, contempt, surprise, disgust, anger, fear, and sadness. They believe that all other emotions result from blends and different intensities of these primary emotions. For example, terror is a more intense form of the primary emotion of fear. 2.2. The James-Lange Theory: In the 1880s, two theorists, psychologist William James and physiologist Carl Lange, independently proposed an idea that challenged commonsense beliefs about emotion. This idea, which came to be known as the James-Lange theory, is that people experience emotion because they perceive their bodies’ physiological responses to external events. According to this theory, people don’t cry because they feel sad. Rather, people feel sad because they cry, and, likewise, they feel happy because they smile. This theory suggests that different physiological states correspond to different experiences of emotion. 2.3. The Cannon-Bard Theory The physiologist Walter Cannon disagreed with the James-Lange theory, posing three main arguments against it: People can experience physiological arousal without experiencing emotion, such as when they have been running. (The racing heart in this case is not an indication of fear.) Physiological reactions happen too slowly to cause experiences of emotion, which occur very rapidly. For example, when someone is in a dark alley alone, a sudden sound usually provokes an immediate experience of fear, while the physical “symptoms” of fear generally follow that feeling. People can experience very different emotions even when they have the same pattern of physiological arousal. For example, a person may have a racing heart and rapid breathing both when he is angry and when he is afraid. Cannon proposed his own theory of emotion in the 1920s, which was extended by another physiologist, Philip Bard, in the 1930s. The resulting Cannon-Bard theory states that the experience of emotion happens at the same time that physiological arousal happens. Neither one causes the other. The brain gets a message that causes the experience of emotion at the same time that the autonomic nervous system gets a message that causes physiological arousal. 2.4. Schachter and Singer’s Two-Factor Theory: In the 1960s, Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer proposed a different theory to explain emotion. They said that people’s experience of emotion depends on two factors: physiological arousal and the cognitive interpretation of that arousal. When people perceive physiological symptoms of arousal, they look for an environmental explanation of this arousal. The label people give an emotion depends on what they find in their environment. Example: If a person finds herself near an angry mob of people when she is physiologically aroused, she might label that arousal “anger.” On the other hand, if she experiences the same pattern of physiological arousal at a music concert, she might label the arousal “excitement.” Schachter and Singer agree with the James-Lange theory that people infer emotions when they experience physiological arousal. But they also agree with the Cannon-Bard theory that the same pattern of physiological arousal can give rise to different emotions. 2.5. Cognitive Appraisal The psychologist Richard Lazarus’s research has shown that people’s experience of emotion depends on the way they appraise or evaluate the events around them. Example: If Tracy is driving on a winding road by the edge of a high cliff, she may be concerned about the danger of the road. Her passenger, on the other hand, thinks about the beauty of the view. Tracy will probably feel frightened, while her passenger may feel exhilarated. 3. The Biological Bases of Emotion: The experience of emotion is accompanied by activation of two major areas of the nervous system: the brain and the autonomic nervous system. 3.1. Activation of Brain Regions: The area of the brain known as the limbic system is highly involved in emotion. One structure in the limbic system, called the amygdala, plays a particularly important role in regulating emotion. Researchers believe that sensory information about emotion-evoking events moves along two pathways in the brain. The information goes first to the thalamus and from there moves simultaneously to the amygdala and the cortex of the brain. The amygdala processes the information quickly and sends signals to the hypothalamus, which in turn activates the autonomic nervous system. The cortex, on the other hand, processes the information more slowly, allowing people to appraise or evaluate the event. Example: When information travels from the sense organs to the thalamus to the amygdala, people respond instantaneously, without thinking, to events in their environment. A parent may snatch her child away from a curb without thinking if she hears the sound of squealing tires coming toward them. 3.2. The Amygdala: Damage to the amygdala results in an inability to appropriately process fear. Animals with damaged amygdalas cannot develop conditioned fear responses. People with damaged amygdalas can’t recognize fear in other people, though they may be able to experience fear themselves. 3.3. Activation of the Autonomic Nervous System: The autonomic nervous system controls all the automatic functions in the body. When an emotion-evoking event happens, the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system, which prepares the body for action, begins to work. It sends signals to the adrenal gland, which secretes the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine. These hormones in turn prepare a person to face the challenges of the event. The following physical responses are indicative signs in a man or woman: 3.3.1. Blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate, and blood sugar levels increase and prepare a person for action. 3.3.2. Pupils dilate to let in more light for vision. 3.3.3. The digestive processes slow down so that energy can be directed to the crisis at hand. 3.4. Autonomic Nervous System: The autonomic nervous system is made up of two parts: the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. Unlike the sympathetic nervous system, which prepares the body for action, the parasympathetic nervous system keeps the body still. The sympathetic nervous system involves expending energy, while the parasympathetic nervous system works to keep energy in the body. 3.5. Measuring Emotion: Researchers often use autonomic responses to measure emotion. One frequently used autonomic response is called the galvanic skin response. The galvanic skin response is an increase in the skin’s rate of electrical conductivity, which occurs when subjects sweat during emotional states. Researchers also use indicators such as blood pressure, muscle tension, heart rate, and respiration rate to measure emotion. 3.6. Polygraph Tests: The polygraph, or lie detector, is a device used to detect deception. In reality, the polygraph cannot detect deception. Instead, it measures autonomic indices of emotion. A subject is hooked up to the device and asked a series of neutral questions such as What is your name? Where do you live? and so on. The polygraph records the autonomic responses as the subject answers these questions, establishing the baseline, or normal pattern of autonomic activation. Then the subject answers other questions that can determine guilt or innocence, such as Where were you on the night of the murder? In theory, when lying, the subject feels emotions such as nervousness or anxiety, and the polygraph records accompanying changes in autonomic activation. In practice, the polygraph is not very effective. Polygraph tests have a high error rate for two main reasons: 3.6.1. Many people who are not engaging in deception feel nervous or anxious when asked questions concerning their guilt or innocence. 3.6.2. People who are engaging in deception can often “trick” the polygraph by acting tense during neutral questions so that their baseline responses resemble their responses during the critical period of questioning. 3.7. Differences Among Emotions: The release of the hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine accompanies many emotional states, but emotions differ at the biological level: 3.7.1. Different emotions have different patterns of brain activation. 3.7.2. Different neurotransmitters are involved in different emotions. 3.7.3. Different emotions have different patterns of autonomic nervous system activity. 4. Expression of Emotion: People express emotions not only through speech but also through nonverbal behavior, or body language. Nonverbal behavior includes facial expressions, postures, and gestures. 4.1. The Basic Emotions: The psychologist Paul Ekman and his colleagues have identified six basic emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust. Worldwide, most people can identify the facial expressions that correspond to these emotions. 4.2. The Catharsis Hypothesis: The catharsis hypothesis suggests that anger can be decreased by releasing it through aggressive actions or fantasies. However, although catharsis helps in some cases, researchers have generally found that catharsis does not decrease anger in the long term. In fact, aggressive actions or fantasies can sometimes increase anger. 4.3. The Facial-Feedback Hypothesis: Some researchers have proposed that the brain uses feedback from facial muscles to recognize emotions that are being experienced. This idea is known as the facial-feedback hypothesis. It follows from this hypothesis that making the facial expression corresponding to a particular emotion can make a person feel that emotion. Studies have shown that this phenomenon does indeed occur. For example, if people smile and try to look happy, they will feel happiness to some degree. 4.4. Gender Differences: Some research suggests that the genders differ in how much emotion they express. In North America, women appear to display more emotion than men. Anger is an exception—men tend to express anger more than women, particularly toward strangers. This gender difference in expressiveness is not absolute. It depends on gender roles, cultural norms, and context: 4.4.1. For both men and women, having a nontraditional gender role leads to increased emotional expressiveness. 4.4.2. In some cultures, women and men are equally expressive. 4.4.3. In some contexts, men and women do not differ in expressiveness. For example, neither men nor women are likely to express anger toward someone more powerful than themselves. 5. Emotion and Culture: Some aspects of emotion are universal to all cultures, while other aspects differ across cultures. 5.1. Similarities Among Cultures: Ekman and his colleagues have found that people in different cultures can identify the six basic emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust. The physiological indicators of emotion are similar in people from different cultures. 5.2. Facial Expressions Are Innate: Both people who can see and people who have been blind since birth have similar facial expressions of emotions. This observation suggests that facial expressions are innate, since blind people could not have learned these expressions by observing others. 5.3. Differences Among Cultures: Although many emotions and expressions of emotions are universal, some differences exist among cultures: 5.3.1. Categories of emotions: People in different cultures categorize emotions differently. Some languages have labels for emotions that are not labeled in other languages. Example: Tahitians do not have a word for sadness. Germans have a word, schadenfreude, indicating joy at someone else’s misfortune, that has no equivalent in English. 5.3.2. Prioritization of emotions: Different cultures consider different emotions to be primary. Example: Shame is considered a key emotion in some non-Western cultures, but it is less likely to be considered a primary emotion in many Western cultures. 5.3.3. Different emotions evoked: The same situation may evoke different emotions in different cultures. Example: A pork chop served for dinner might evoke disgust in the majority of people in Saudi Arabia, while it’s likely to provoke happiness in many people in the United States. 5.3.4. Differences in nonverbal expressions: Nonverbal expressions of emotion differ across cultures, due partly to the fact that different cultures have different display rules. Display rules are norms that tell people whether, which, how, and when emotions should be displayed. Example: In the United States, male friends usually do not embrace and kiss each other as a form of greeting. Such behavior would make most American men uncomfortable or even angry. In many European countries, however, acquaintances normally embrace and kiss each other on both cheeks, and avoiding this greeting would seem unfriendly. 5.3.5. Power of cultural norms: Cultural norms determine how and when to show emotions that are not actually felt. Acting out an emotion that is not felt is called emotion work. Example: In some cultures, it is appropriate for people who attend a funeral to show extreme grief. In others, it is appropriate to appear stoic. 6. Happiness: Happiness is a basic human emotion, but people often make assumptions about happiness that empirical research does not support. For example, people often assume that most people feel unhappy and dissatisfied with their lives, but research shows this is not true. Most people describe themselves as fairly happy even if they are in less than ideal circumstances. Surprisingly, researchers have not found a consistent positive correlation between happiness and factors such as wealth, age, intelligence, physical attractiveness, or parenthood—factors that many people commonly associate with happiness. Although circumstances do not reliably predict happiness, some circumstances do correlate with increased happiness. These include having a good social network, being married, having a satisfying job, and having strong religious convictions. These circumstances, however, are only correlated with happiness. As explained on page 10, correlation does not necessarily mean causation. Research also shows that happiness tends to depend on people’s expectations of life and on how people compare themselves to their peers. 6.1. Subjective Well-being: Rather than focusing only on negative reactions to unfavorable circumstances, researchers today have begun to study subjective well-being. Subjective well-being is the perception people have about their happiness and satisfaction with life. Subjective well-being depends more on attitudes to external circumstances than on the circumstances themselves. That is, factors such as wealth or employment don’t matter as much as how we feel about our wealth or employment. 7. Quick Review: 7.1. Theories of Emotion: Emotion is a complex, subjective experience that is accompanied by biological and behavioral changes. Charles Darwin proposed that emotional expressions are hard-wired and that emotions evolved because they had adaptive value. Current evolutionary theorists believe that emotions are innate. The James-Lange theory states that people experience emotion because they perceive their bodies’ physiological responses to external events. The Cannon-Bard theory states that the experience of emotion and the accompanying physiological arousal happen at the same time. Schachter and Singer’s two-factor theory states that people’s experience of emotion depends on physiological arousal and the cognitive interpretation of that arousal. People’s experience of emotion depends on how they evaluate their environment. 7.2. The Biological Bases of Emotion: Emotion involves activation of the brain and the autonomic nervous system. Information about emotion-evoking events moves along two pathways in the brain. The pathway that goes to the amygdala allows people to respond rapidly to events. The pathway that goes to the cortex allows people to appraise events more slowly. Researchers use autonomic responses to measure emotion. The polygraph, or lie detector, is a device that detects changes in autonomic arousal. It is often inaccurate in determining whether or not a person is lying. Different emotions differ in pattern of brain activation, neurotransmitters released, and autonomic nervous system activity. 7.3. Expression of Emotion: People worldwide can identify six primary emotions: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise, and disgust. The facial-feedback hypothesis states that the brain uses feedback from facial muscles to recognize emotions that are being experienced. The two genders express different amounts of emotion. This difference depends on gender roles, culture, and context. 7.4. Emotion and Culture: People in different cultures can identify six basic emotions. There are universal physiological indicators of emotion. People in different cultures categorize emotions differently. Different cultures consider different emotions to be primary. The same situation may evoke different emotions in different cultures. Nonverbal expressions of emotion differ across cultures. Cultural norms determine how and when to display emotions that are not actually felt. 7.5. Happiness: Subjective well-being depends more on attitudes toward circumstances than on the circumstances themselves. Circumstances such as social support, marriage, job satisfaction, and religiosity are positively correlated with happiness. Happiness tends to depend on people’s expectations of life and on the way they compare themselves to others. [email protected]
Posted on: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 09:20:39 +0000
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