Emotions Defined

Class 4

Grading Issues: Discuss Later

Emotional Event

You are talking with a friend as you walk. As you start to cross the street there is a screech of brakes. You stop your conversation, jump back onto the sidewalk. You find your heart pounding, thinking you could have been hurt, and you determine to be more careful, not to get so deeply involved in conversations. The event is evaluated as important, priorities are changed, interrupting your previous actions. You are shaken bodily, and you make plans about what to do.

Emotion Terms

Affect: Covers emotions, feelings, moods, and preferences.

Preferences: Mild subjective reactions of positive/negative directed toward specific objects.

Moods: General positive or negative states without a specific target.

Emotions: Specific states directed toward specific targets.

Feelings: Basically synonymous with emotions, but more direct reference to corresponding bodily sensation.

Ways of Defining EmotionDescriptive

1. What are types of emotions?

2. What events cause different types of emotions?

3. What do different types of emotion look like?

Functional

1. What do emotions do? What’s their purpose?

Causal

1. What circumstances give rise to emotions?

2. How are emotions evoked?

How Oatley and Jenkins define emotion

a. Emotion is caused by a person evaluating an event as relevant to an important goal; emotion is positive if event advances goal, negative if event impedes goal.

b. Core of emotion is readiness to act. Emotions give priority to action.

c. Emotions are experienced as distinctive mental states, sometimes accompanied by bodily changes, expressions, actions.

Goals and Appraisal Theory of Emotion

Appraisal: Recognition of an event as significant.

Significant events: Advance or impede personal goals.

Goal Relevance: Does event relate to goals?

Goal Congruence/Incongruence: Does event

advance or impede goals?

Ego Involvement: How does event affect one’s sense of self?

Appraisal vs. Separate Systems Theories of Emotion

Controversy: Do emotions always follow thought, or can emotion precede thinking? What comes first, thinking or feeling?

Appraisal Theory: Thinking comes first. Richard Lazarus, George Mandler.

Separate Systems: Emotions can come first. Robert Zajonc, Joseph LeDoux

Examples of Appraisal vs. Separate SystemsAppraisal: Cognition Emotion

I find lottery ticket, scratch it, win $10.00, feel ???

Eskimo finds lottery ticket, scratches if, finds $10,000, feels ???

Sep. Systems: Emotion Cognition

You leave school, have jittery, disturbed “something’s wrong” feeling, can’t find reason, get home, realize you missed important meeting.

Emotion is like radar—signaling something important happened.

Emotions Per Oatley & JenkinsGoal Relevance: I’m looking for parking space and:

Space suddenly opens, I feel: Euphorically, insanely happySomeone steals space, I feel: Bloodthirsty rage

Distinct mental states: Not only is my body aroused, I am aware of and can label my emotions.

Readiness to act: I’m from the South, and space stealer sneers and says “Sorry, Slick”. My body reacts by:

Fight mode, testosterone, cortisol, HR, etc.

EVENT Goal Relevant? Yes No

Emotion No Emotion

Goal Congruent?

Positive Emotion Negative Emotion

Ego

Involvement?Not Relevant Damages self esteem

Happiness Anger, Shame

Boosts self-esteem Threat to self

Pride Fear/Anxiety

Mutual Affection Loss to self

Love Sadness

Yes No

Thinking and Emotion

Emotions shift direction of thought: Mental radar

Emotions focus attention to emotion-relevant things

Emotions focus attention on un-solved problems

What was I supposed to mention before class ends?

Emotions can be changed by changes in thinking:

Wake up in panic; you’re late—no, its Saturday!

Emotions Shape ThoughtFrom Bang the Drum Slowly

…We filled up with antifreeze, the kid in the station saying, “this will last you a lifetime”. You would be surprised if you listen to the number of times a day people will tell you something will last a lifetime or tell you something killed them, or tell you they are dead. “I was simply dead” they say, “He killed me, “ I am dying,” which I never noticed before but now begun to notice more and more.

Appraisal Habits and Emotion

Event: Saw someone from school at market, but she didn’t acknowledge me.

Emotion: Hurt, sadness

Thought: Probably doesn’t like me.

Alternative appraisal: The person might not have even seen me. Or maybe she is shy, or maybe she is a stuck-up jerk.

Changing Emotions By Changing Cognitions in The Dain Curse

“I—” She sat down on the side of the bed close to me, elbows on knees, tortured white face between hands. “I’ve not ever been able to think clearly, as other people do, even the simplest thoughts. Everything is always so confused in my mind. No matter what I try to think about, there’s a fog that gets between me and it, and other thoughts get between us, so I can barely catch a glimpse of the thought I want before I lose it again, and have to hunt through the fog, and at last find it, only to have the same thing happen again and again and again. Can you understand how horrible that can become: going through life like that—year after year—knowing you’ll always be like that—or worse?”

Changing Emotions By Changing Cognitions in The Dain Curse

“It sounds normal as hell to me. Nobody thinks clearly, no matter what they pretend. Thinking is a dizzy business, a matter of catching as many of those foggy glimpses as you can and fitting them together as best you can. That’s why people hang on so tight to their beliefs and opinions; because compared to the haphazard way they’re arrived at, even the goofiest opinion seems wonderfully clear, sane, and self-evident. …”

She took her face out of her hands and smiled shyly at me saying: “it’s funny, I didn’t like you before.”

Emotions Promote Action Readiness

Ready to strike, hit, attack:

Wanting to flee, escape:

Wanting to join, touch, be with:

Anger

Fear

Love, Affection

Non Verbal Signals of Emotion

Non Verbal Signal Emotion

Emblems Thrust fist, extended middle

finger, thumbs up

Illustrators Accent/emphasis in voice, hand

waving, clenched fist

Affect Displays Smiling, frowning

Regulators Nods, eyebrow movement

Adaptors Self-touching, self grooming

“Pregnant” example of vocal expression of emotion.

Twee maander zwanger

“Three months pregnant”

James’s Peripheral Theory of Emotion

1. Every emotion accompanied by corresponding change in bodily sensation.

2. Emotions are the sensation of what is going on in the body, arise from the body.

3. Emotions and spinal-cord injured: Less emotion?

4. Zajonc blood-flow theory

a. Changing bodily state change in emotion

b. Face is primary source of emotional change

* Umlaut study: Über

* Pencil-in-mouth study * Facial pose/stories

Separate Systems Approach to Emotions a. Affective reactions are primary: Do you like asparagus?

b. Affect is basic: Can’t evaluate w/o emotion

c. Affect is inescapable: Can’t turn off emotion

d. Affective reactions tend to be irrevocable, in contrast to cognitive judgments: Plankton species vs. sweetheart loyalty

e. Affect implicates the self: cognitive judgments center on features of objects.

f. Emotions are not verbalizable: Duration of music vs. emotions from music.

g. Affective reactions may not depend on thinking

h. Affective reactions can be separated from the content knowledge

Cross-Cultural Analysis of Emotion

Different societies face different environments, histories, and current challenges.

The factors influence emotional emphases

Hypercognized: Emphasized, have special names, objects of discussion

Hypocognized: Underemphasized, not conceptualized.

Example: Anger vs contentment

Cultures Factors US vs. Japan

US Japan

Environ. Wide open continent Small Island

History Settled by rebels, 1000 yrs, little immigration

people willing to break ties

Values Distrust authority Respect authority

Independence Collectiveness

“I” self “We” self

Innovation Tradition

Emotions, US vs. Japan

Amae: Japanese positive emotion

Comfort in another’s complete acceptance

No US equivalent

Anger: Japan – OK between groups, not within group

US – OK to show anger to close others

Infant toy study: Baby approaches toy when mom shows

joy, fear, or anger, Japan vs. US

Saying “No” in US and Japan

US Japan

I don’t think this will work

No, we cannot do that

Are you out of your %$##%

mind???

That is interesting

We would like to think about that

We may have a problem

Circumstances of US and IfalukUS

Ifaluk

Unlimited land space Island size of 1/5th

Central Park

People stress self-reliance People stress interdependence

“Go West young man” Nowhere to go.

Society generally free of natural disaster

Typhoons can wipe out entire structures

Emotions of the Ifaluk

1. Ker = self-centered happiness, draw attn. to self, rowdiness

2. Maluwelu: gentle, quiet, calm pleasantness

3. Song: Dissatisfaction with another’s break of social decorum

4. Fago: Compassionate love/sadness. Most valued emotion