Ch 11: The Nature of Emotion

Question 1

Emotion

Answer 1

A state of arousal involving facial and bodily changes, brain activation, cognitive appraisals, subjective feelings, and tendencies toward action

Question 2

Primary emotions

Answer 2

Considered to be universal and biologically based

Ex: fear, anger, sadness, joy, surprise, disgust, shame, embarrassment, and contempt

Question 3

Secondary emotions

Answer 3

Variations and blends of emotions that vary from one culture to another, or emotions that depend on cognitive complexity

Question 4

Functions of facial expressions

Answer 4

1. They reflect our internal feelings and also influence them; facial feedback
2. They communicate our emotional states to others and provoke a response from them

Ex: infants 6-7 months old react to parents’ fear, as they cannot judge danger for themselves

Question 5

Facial feedback

Answer 5

Facial muscles send signals to the brain about the basic emotion being expressed

Question 6

Facial expressions and context

Answer 6

1. They can have different meanings depending on the situation

Ex: a smile can mean “I’m happy” or “I don’t want to make you angry when I tell you this”

2. Disgust can be misinterpreted as anger

Ex: a picture showing facial disgust that also includes an arm raised as if to strike will be interpreted as anger

Ex: children under 5 can’t identify disgust, so will interpret it as anger

3. Emotions exist without facial expressions and people can hide how they feel

Question 7

Right prefrontal region (emotion)

Answer 7

Controls the impulse to withdraw or escape; due to disgust or fear

Question 8

Left prefrontal region (emotion)

Answer 8

Controls the impulse to approach; due to happiness or anger

Question 9

Prefrontal cortex (emotion)

Answer 9

Used for the regulation of emotion

Question 10

Amygdala (emotion)

Answer 10

Evaluates sensory information, determines emotional importance, and the initial decision to approach or withdraw

Question 11

Cerebral cortex (emotion)

Answer 11

Generates a more complete picture of a situation; can override signals sent by the amygdala

Question 12

Mirror Neurons

Answer 12

Brain cells that fire when a person or animal observes others carrying out an action

Involved in empathy, language, comprehension, imitation, and reading emotions

Ex: mood contagion

Question 13

Energy of emotion

Answer 13

Once emotions are detected in the brain, it triggers the release of hormones to allow you to respond quickly

This process takes place through the sympathetic division of the autonomous nervous system

Question 14

Epinephrine and Norepinephrine

Answer 14

Epinephrine: adrenaline, a hormone produced by the adrenal glands

Norepinephrine: a chemical messenger which transmits signals across nerve endings in the body; produced by the adrenal glands

Together, they provide the energy of an emotion; the physiology of emotion is the same in all humans regardless of culture

Ex: tingle of excitement, increased heart rate and blood pressure

Question 15

Appraisals

Answer 15

A person’s perceptions, beliefs, attributions, and goals, that determine which emotion they will feel in a given circumstance

They are a central component of emotion and the emotional experience

Explains why 2 different people can have 2 different emotional reactions to the same situation

Question 16

Relationship between cognition and physiology

Answer 16

They are inextricably linked in the experience of emotions

Thoughts affect emotions, and emotional states influence thoughts

Question 17

Cognition of shame and guilt

Answer 17

Depend on the maturation of higher cognitive capacities and don’t occur until a child is 2-3 years old

These are self-conscious emotions and require a sense of self

Question 18

Display rules

Answer 18

Cultural norms for how, when, and where a person may express (or suppress) emotions; includes body language

Tells us what to do when feeling an emotion

Tells us how and when to show an emotion that we do not feel

Question 19

Emotion work

Answer 19

Expression of an emotion that a person does not really feel, often because of a role requirement

Question 20

Gender (emotion)

Answer 20

Gender roles can affect how a person expresses emotion, but gender itself does not impact emotional experience; both genders feel everyday emotions the same amount

Gender can also affect how men/women are perceived

Ex: in a work setting, if men cry they are seen as emotional; if women cry they are seen as less competent

Question 21

Emotion in western culture by gender

Answer 21

Women are associated with being happy, smiling, talking about emotions, gazing at listeners, and being more expressive through facial and body language

Ex: girls have face-to-face friendships based on shared feelings

Men are expected to control or mask negative emotions, but are associated with anger

Ex: boys have side-by-side friendships based on activities

Question 22

General adaptation syndrome

Answer 22

According to Hans Selye, a series of physiological reactions to stress occurring in 3 phases

1. The alarm phase:

The sympathetic nervous system is mobilized to meet immediate threat. Boosts energy, tenses muscles, reduces sensitivity to pain, shuts down digestion to increase blood flow to the limbs, and increases blood pressure

2. The resistance phase:

The body attempts to resist or cope with an unavoidable stressor. The physiological responses from the alarm phase make the body more vulnerable to other stressors; more irritable to minor frustrations

3. The exhaustion phase:

Persistent stress depletes the body of energy. The alarm and resistance phases are adaptive in the short term, but are unhealthy in the long term. Symptoms include prolonged headaches, neck pain, hypertension, and digestive disorders

Question 23

HPA axis (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal cortex axis)

Answer 23

A system activated to energize the body to respond to stressors. The hypothalamus sends chemical messengers to the pituitary gland, which in turn prompts the adrenal cortex to produce cortisol and other hormones

Question 24

Cortisol

Answer 24

A hormone secreted by the adrenal cortex that elevates blood sugar and protects the body’s tissues in case of injury.

If chronically elevated due to stress, it can lead to hypertension, immune disorders, and possibly depression

Question 25

Poverty and stress

Answer 25

Poverty can be thought of as a series of accumulated stressors that are intensified when living in an impoverished community.

Stressors can include: living in areas with high crime rates, fewer community services, exposure to hazards like chemical contamination, high-fat diet, obesity, lack of vitamins and nutrients, fewer trips to the doctor, fewer medications purchased

Chronic unemployment increases the chance of getting a common cold because work is central in most people’s lives

Question 26

Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)

Answer 26

The study of the relationship among psychology, the nervous systems, and the immune system

Anything that disrupts this loop of communication can weaken or suppress the immune system; drugs, surgery, chronic stress

Question 27

Telemere

Answer 27

A protein complex at the end of each chromosome that tells the cell how long it has to live (how long it has to continue dividing)

Can be shortened by stress; can be increased by meditation

Question 28

Optimism (stress)

Answer 28

The general expectation that things will go well in spite of occasional setbacks

To benefit from it, it must be grounded in reality, where people take better care of themselves and regard problems and bad news as difficulties they can overcome

Question 29

Conscientiousness and control

Answer 29

The ability to persist in pursuit of goals, get a good education, work hard, but also enjoy the work and its challenges, and be responsible

Conscientiousness is related to optimism and locus of control

Question 30

Locus of control

Answer 30

A general expectation about whether the results of your actions are under your own control (internal locus) or beyond your control (external locus)

External locus: people tend to believe their lives are controlled by luck, fate, or other people

Cortisol is elevated when people feel they are being judged negatively by others or have no control over the task at hand

Feeling in control positively affects the immune system, makes it more likely to take action to improve health when needed.

Ex: heart attack due to smoking and unhealthy habits can lead to a change of behaviour; whereas if it is perceived to be due to bad luck, then it can lead to no change in behaviour

Question 31

Primary control

Answer 31

When people try to influence events by attempting to exert direct control over them

Common in western cultures

Question 32

Secondary control

Answer 32

When people try to accommodate to a bad situation by changing their own aspirations and desires

Common in eastern cultures

Ex: Japanese proverbs about the importance of yielding to the inevitable

Question 33

Culture and control

Answer 33

Many problems require us to decide what we can change (primary control) and to accept what we cannot change (secondary control).

Perhaps the secret of healthy control lies in knowing the difference

Question 34

Cynical or antagonistic hostility and stress

Answer 34

Describes people who are mistrustful of others and always ready to provoke mean, furious arguments

Can increase risk of illness, such as heart disease

Proneness to anger is related to impairments of the immune system, elevated blood pressure, heart disease, and even slower healing of wounds

Question 35

Positive emotionality and stress

Answer 35

Study in nuns linked positive though (writings) with longer life expectancy, but happiness does not cause wellness, and sadness does not cause illness

Studies show that positive emotions and personality traits enhance well-being, health, and resilience

Positive emotions can:

1. Dispose people to think more creatively about opportunities and choices
2. Motivate them to take action to achieve their goals
3. Attract friends and social support, which is one of the most powerful contributors to good health

Question 36

Emotional inhibition and expression (stress)

Answer 36

Inhibition of thoughts and emotions requires physical effort that can be stressful to the body

Suppression of important feelings is linked to decreased levels of disease-fighting white blood cells

Lonely students trust others less, have more inconsistent eating patterns, and more harshly judge themselves and others, which discourages others from getting close to them

Question 37

Confession and stress

Answer 37

Divulging private thoughts and feelings of shame, worry, fear, or sadness can reduce the wear and tear of negative emotions that would otherwise be suppressed

Rather than suppress traumatic events, it is beneficial to write about them, because it can produce insight and understanding

Question 38

Benefits of letting grievances go

Answer 38

When people hold onto and rehearse grievances, blood pressure, heart rate, and skin conductance rise

Forgiving thoughts:

1. Promote empathy, the ability to see a situation from another’s perspective
2. Reduce signs of physiological arousal
3. Restore feelings of control

Question 39

Coping with stress (physical)

Answer 39

Physiological tension can be reduced by reducing the body’s physical arousal; activities that calm the body and focus the mind

Ex: massage, meditation, regular exercise, dance, prayer, music, cooking

Question 40

Solving the problem (stress)

Answer 40

Emotion-focused coping; people talk about emotions caused by tragedy or disaster in order to come to terms with it, make sense of it, and decide what to do about it

Problem-focused coping; problem is identified, coper learns as much as possible about the situation; feeling informed increases feeling of control and may speed recovery

Question 41

Rethinking the problem (stress)

Answer 41

1. Reappraise the situation; when you can’t get rid of a problem, then choose to think about it differently

Ex: can turn anger, worry, and loss into sympathy, determination, and opportunity

2. Learning from experience; those who draw lessons from tragedy and find meaning in them, and thrive as a result of adversity, rather than just survive
3. Making social comparisons; to others the coper feels is less fortunate (ex: list of diseases that are worse), or to others the coper feels is more fortunate

Comparisons are beneficial when they provide a person with information about ways of coping, managing an illness, or improving a stressful situation

Question 42

Social support (stress)

Answer 42

Reaching out to others and being involved in social networks and a close community is one of the most powerful predictors of having a long and healthy life

Friends, family, co-workers, and neighbours can:

1. Offer concern, affection, and resources (lend a hand)
2. Be sources of attachment and connection
3. Improve health (immune system), especially in the case of a loving partner
4. Help heart rate and stress hormones return to a normal state more quickly after a stressful event

Question 43

Factors that increase the risk of illness (stress)

Answer 43

1. Environmental; poverty, lack of access to healthcare, exposure to crime, discrimination
2. Experiential; childhood neglect, trauma, chronic job stress, unemployment
3. Biological; viral or bacterial infections, disease, genetic vulnerability, toxins
4. Psychological; hostility, chronic major depression, emotional inhibition, low levels of conscientiousness, external locus of control (fatalism), feeling powerless
5. Behavioural; smoking, poor diet, lack of exercise, abuse of alcohol or drugs, lack of sleep
6. Social; lack of supportive friends, low involvement in meaningful groups, being in a hostile or bitter relationship