Chapter 4: Emotions Flashcards
The ability to understand and manage one’s own emotions and be sensitive to others’ feelings
Emotional intelligence
What are four components of emotions or feelings?
Physiological factors – strong emotions are generally accompanied by physiological changes. For example, fear increases heart rate, blood pressure, adrenaline secretions, and blood sugar but slows digestion and people dilation
Nonverbal reactions – observable ones such as blushing, sweating, or shaking. Or behaviour – a distinctive facial expression, posture, or gestures; modification in vocal tone or rate
Cognitive interpretations – the mind and our self-talk play a major role in how we feel. The label an individual applies to their physical symptoms determines whether symptoms will be experienced or interpreted as fright, joy, or anger
Verbal expression- while nonverbal actions are generally better at conveying emotions, sometimes it takes words to identify them
Rethinking the meaning of emotionally charged events in ways that alter their emotional impact
Reappraisal
Basic emotions such as anger, joy, fear, and sadness
Primary emotions
Feeling two or more conflicting emotions at the same time
Mixed emotions
What are six influences on emotional expression?
Personality – for example, extroverted people who tend to be upbeat, optimistic, and enjoy social contact report more positive emotions than do less extroverted individuals
Culture
similar events can generate different feelings.
There are differences in the degree to which people in various cultures display their feelings.
Collectivistic cultures prize harmony and discourage expression of negative emotion. Individualistic cultures are comfortable revealing their feelings.
Gender – research shows that there is at least some truth in the stereotypicaltypical unexpressive male and the more expressive female. Men are more likely than women to reveal their strengths and women are more likely to express positive emotions and feelings of vulnerability.
Whether the other person is of the same or different sex is another factor. Men are more likely to express feelings to woman then to a man.
Another factor is the person or people who we are communicating with. Dating and married couples are better at recognizing each other‘s emotional cues than are strangers.
Power – people who are less powerful learn to read more powerful person signals
Social conventions – refer to the notion of acting in ways that are acceptable within our society. For example, expressions of emotion that are shared with others are usually positive. We are reluctant to embarrass or threaten the face of others.
Fear of self-disclosure – in a society that discourages emotional expression, to do so seems risky. Risk of being misunderstood.
Emotional contagion – the process by which emotions are transferred from one person to another. For example, a grouch can ruin our sunny mood
The notion that managing and even suppressing emotions is both appropriate and necessary
Emotion labour
The process by which emotions are transferred from one person to another
Emotional contagion
What are seven guidelines for expressing emotions? The following suggestions can help you decide when and how to express your emotions
Recognize your feelings – some people are acutely aware of their emotional states and use that knowledge to make important decisions, while others with a low affective orientation are usually unaware of their emotional state and tend to regard feelings as useless or unimportant. Valuable to be both aware of feelings and to be able to identify them. Can do so by recognizing physiological changes and can monitor your nonverbal behaviors, thoughts, and your verbal messages
Recognize when to act on your feelings – just because you feel a certain way doesn’t mean you must always talk about it, and talking about a feeling doesn’t mean you must act on it.
Expand your emotional vocabulary- can express our feelings verbally by using single words such as I’m angry, by describing what’s happening to you such as my stomach is in knots, by describing what you’d like to do, I want to run away
Expressed multiple feelings – there’s a tendency to express only one emotion or feeling when we might be experiencing multiple or mixed emotions. For example the confusion and disappointment frustration that lead to anger. Leaves the other person with little idea of the full range of your feelings
Consider when and where to express your feelings- probably wise to wait until you’ve thought through exactly what you want to say and how you want to say it when experiencing a strong feeling. There are also cases where you may choose not to express your feelings verbally, may be better to write them out
Accept responsibility for your feelings – ensure your language reflects that you are responsible for your feelings. Instead of saying “you make me angry,“ say “I’m getting angry“
Be mindful of the communication channel – the different channels make a difference in how others interpret our messages.
Emotions that contribute to effective functioning
Facilitative emotions
Emotions that prevent a person from functioning effectively
Debilitative emotions
What is the main difference between facilitative emotions and debilitative emotions? 2
Intensity
For example, a certain amount of anger or irritation can be constructive and provide the extra oomph to improve unsatisfying conditions. Rage, on the other hand, usually makes matters worse as in the case of road rage. The same is true for fear. A little nervousness before an important event energizes you and improve your performance. But total terror is something else
Duration
Example, feeling depressed after relationship break up or the loss of a job is natural, but spending the rest of your life grieving your loss accomplishes nothing. This is called rumination
Dwelling persistently on negative thoughts that, in turn, intensify negative feelings
Rumination
The process of thinking. On some level, it occurs as a person interprets another’s behaviour
Self-talk
What is the source of debilitative emotions?
Much of what we feel is connected to how we think about things – the self-talk that goes into how we label events and situations. Cognitive psychologists argue that it is not events that cause people to feel bad, but rather the beliefs they hold about these events.
