Chapter 3 Flashcards
What is Affect?
Feelings we experience as part of our everyday lives
Umbrella term for mood, emotions and everything related
What is emotion?
How we define the affect we are experiencing
• Have a cause
• Occur instantaneously or short after an event
• Relatively short lived
• Accompanied by facial expression/body language
What is mood?
Positive or negative feelings in the background of our everyday activities
Harder than emotions to establish a cause (can occur long after the triggering event)
How do we express our emotions?
- Social behaviour
- Facial expressions
- Touch, voice
- Art, poetry, music
Which of the SNS or the PNS accompanies strong emotions and why?
SNS - activation is perceived as arousal
What is the most important part of the limbic system in the regulation of emotions?
The amygdala (responsible for our regulation and our perceptions of aggression and fear)
What is the limbic system composed of?
hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala and pituitary gland
What is the pattern from stimulus to emotion according to the common sense theory?
Stimulus > emotion > physiological response
What is the pattern from stimulus to emotion according to James Lange’s theory?
Stimulus > physiological response > emotion
What is the pattern from stimulus to emotion according to Cannon Bard’s theory?
Stimulus > physiological responses AND emotions (simultaneously)
What is the pattern from stimulus to emotion according to Schacter-Signer’s Two Factor theory?
Stimulus > physiological arousal > cognition (Searching for the cause of arousal) > emotion
What is the pattern from stimulus to emotion according to Lazarus’ Cognitive Mediational Theory?
Stimulus > appraisal (automatic, unconscious, mediates the emotional response) > cognition > physiological response AND emotion
Who believed that emotions are universal?
Darwin
What is encoding emotions?
express/emit nonverbal behaviour
What is decoding emotions?
Interpret the meaning of the nonverbal behaviour expressed by others
What are basic emotions?
Based primarily on the arousal produced by the SNS: Do not require a lot of cognitive processing
Examples of basic emotions
Anger, contempt, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise
What are secondary emotions?
Provide us with more complex feelings
More cognitively based
Examples of secondary emotions
Guilt, shame, embarrassment
What are display rules?
culturally determined rules about which behaviours are appropriate to display
What are the differences in display rules in individualistic VS collectivistic cultures?
- Individualistic cultures tend to show self-enhancing emotions (pride/anger)
- Collectivistic cultures may find this inappropriate and show other-oriented emotions (friendliness/shame)
What are the main differences in gender and emotional responses?
Women are more open to feelings overall, more likely to express their emotions in public, more able to identify emotions in others
What information can our mood provide about our social world?
- Indicators of our current situation
- Influencers of cognition and behaviour
- Indicators of current well-being
What are emotions composed of?
Emotion = arousal + cognition
What is misattributing arousal?
Happens when people incorrectly label the source of their arousal
What is stress?
Physical and psychological reactions that occur whenever we believe that the demands of a situation threaten our ability to respond to the threat
What is PTSD?
Medical syndrome that includes symptoms of anxiety, sleeplessness, nightmares and social withdrawal
What is the HPA Axis?
Physiological response to stress involving an interaction between the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal glands
Leads to the secretion of cortisol (stress hormone)
What is the general adaptation syndrome?
Response to long term stress exposure
What are the 3 phases of the General Adaptation Syndrome?
- Phase 1: alarm state (1st reaction to stressor): fight or flight response is activated, body releases hormones
- Phase 2: resistance phase (cope with the stressor) depends on our ability and on the intensity of the stressor (not a natural stress from any organisms)
- Phase 3: exhaustion (reserves depleted) our immune system becomes lower and therefore make us more vulnerable (illness or death occurs)
What are daily hassles?
(everyday stressors) everyday interactions with the environment that are essentially negative
Those who react strongly to daily hassles are more likely to develop stress-related illnesses (ex: study in married couples and men who got more chances of developing heart illness)
What are the general tendencies of response to stress in men?
• In general, for men: Fight or flight, HPA Axis, problem solving (self-concern)
What are the general tendencies of response to stress in women?
• In general, for women: Tend and Befriend, oxytocin, affiliation (other-concern)
What is depression?
affective disorder in which people experience sadness, low self-esteem, negative thoughts, pessimism, and apathy
What is anxiety?
psychological disorder that may be accompanied by unpleasant feelings of fear and apprehension and a number of physical symptoms
What is the circle (loophole) that people suffering from depression and anxiety often go through regarding their social situations?
Negative emotions > negative behaviours (avoiding others) > others avoid you, (negative experiences) > negative cognitions (I do not have friends)
What does NOT work for coping with negative emotions?
distortion and suppression of negative outcomes
What works for coping with negative outcomes?
appropriate optimism, self-regulation, self-efficacy, social support, knowing what makes you happy
What is well-being?
Sense of satisfaction with our everyday experience
