Chapter 6: Appraisal, Experience, Regulation

Question 1

appraisal

Answer 1

the most important concept in the science of emotions. it refers to how we evaluate an event, often occuring in the external world but sometimes internally, especially regarding another person

Question 2

Arnold and Gasson

Answer 2

developed the notion that emotions are based on apprasials

Question 3

Lazarus

Answer 3

further developed the idea of emotions being based on appraisals and studied the challenges that people face in their daily lives and their capacities to cope with such challenges

Question 4

Lazarus’s two basic themes

Answer 4

• appraisals involve evaluative judgements of how good or bad an event is for the individual
• appraisals concern an individual’s goals and aspirations

Question 5

Stein et al.

Answer 5

extended the idea of goals to plans that are generated from them and the belief on which they are based

Question 6

how does emotion-related appraisal unfold? (Stein et al.)

Answer 6

• an unexpected event occurs that alters the status of valued goal
• this often challenges our beliefs, leading to bodily changes and emotional expressions
• we then create plans to address the event, considering how to restore or adjust the goal and the potential outcomes of those plans

Question 7

three questions that correspond to the stages

Answer 7

• what happened?
• what do I think about it?
• what can I do about it and what might happen?

Question 8

primary appraisal

Answer 8

an automatic evaluation of an event or person to determine if it is perceived as threatening or rewarding.

Question 9

secondary apprasials

Answer 9

appraisal, which provide a more deliberative and complex assessment to decide what to think and what to do about what has happened

Question 10

Murphy and Zajonc

Answer 10

explored the idea that primary appraisals are like automatic evaluation in an experiment which they resented participants with people smiling or displaying facial anger

Question 11

Murphy and Zajonc findings

Answer 11

when we are consciously aware of the emotionally changed stimuli, they are less likely to sway our judgements of other events that have nothing to do with them

Question 12

good vs bad evaluations

Answer 12

research has shown that negative evaluations are stronger than positive evaluations. this bias to be more responsive to danger makes evolutionary sense – without it, our chances of survival would be diminished

Question 13

discrete approaches

Answer 13

suggest that specifc apprasials lead directly to distinct emotions

Question 14

dimensional approaches

Answer 14

start with a primary appraisal that assesses whether the event is good or bad

Question 15

secondary appraisal in recent research

Answer 15

shaped by social factors and can have multiple dimensions, resulting in variety of emotions

Question 16

Lazarus’s primary appraisal

Answer 16

described the primary appraisal stage in his theory of discrete emotions, where individuals evaluate an event’s relevance to their goals. if relevant, an emotion is triggered; if not, there’s no emotional response. secondary appraisals consider specific goals, including moral values, self-identity, and well-being of others, which can also elicit emotions

Question 17

goal-congruent events

Answer 17

evoke positive emotions

Question 18

incongruent events

Answer 18

lead to negative emotions

Question 19

what makes up primary appraisal stage?

Answer 19

• goal relevance
• goal congruence

Question 20

what makes up the secondary appraisal stage?

Answer 20

occur about specific goals or issues for the ego. depending on whether the produced emotions is positive or negative, different ego-related events can occur

Question 21

positive emotions

Answer 21

ego-related events include emotions related to happines, pride, and love

Question 22

negative emotions

Answer 22

ego-related events include emotions related to anger, fear, anxiety, and sadness

Question 23

action readiness

Answer 23

refers to the psychological and physiological state that prepares an individual to take specific actions in response to an emotional experience. it is the connection between an emotion and the tendency to act in a way that aligns with that emotion

Question 24

core relational theme of emotion

Answer 24

in the second stage of appraisal, the individual considers a causal attribution for the event, how to respond to the event, and future consequences of action

Question 25

Nico Frijda

Answer 25

suggested that when an appraisal is made we are prompted to readiness for a certain mode of action or interaction appropriate to what has happened (modes of action readiness)

Question 26

ur-emotions

Answer 26

primitive emotions, which some have but not all attributes of full emotions

Question 27

gap in discrete approaches to emotions

Answer 27

• many emotions are similar in fundamental ways
• unable to account for transitions between emotions

Question 28

Ellsworth and Smith

Answer 28

developed a theory of appraisal that can account for similarities and differences among emotions. includes 8 different dimensions of meaning that capture the appraisal process

Question 29

agency (Ellsworth and Smith)

Answer 29

can differentiate three negative emotions: anger, sadness and guilt

Question 30

Weiner and Graham

Answer 30

focused on how attributions, or the explanations we give for events, influence the emotions we experience. e.g., attribute success to internal factors = pride

Question 31

social sharing

Answer 31

people often have the strong tendency to share their emotional experiences with others (like a third phase of emotional experience)

Question 32

Shaver et al.

Answer 32

conducted a study where participants sorted 135 emotion terms into categories and the results revealed 3 levels of emotion knowledge

Question 33

3 levels of emotion knowledge

Answer 33

• superordinate level
• basic level
• subordinate level

Question 34

superordinate level

Answer 34

there is distinction between positive and negative emotions

Question 35

basic level

Answer 35

includes six emotion concepts: love, joy, anger, sadness, surprise, and fear

Question 36

subordinate level

Answer 36

consists of more specific states related to the basic emotions

Question 37

cultural variation in the language of emotion (Rusell)

Answer 37

differences in the number of emotion-related words. the language of emotion varies extensively across cultures, challenging the idea of universal emotional categories

Question 38

conceptualization

Answer 38

interpereting experiences based on ideas about causation, control, appropriateness, and the inherent nature of emotion

Question 39

intentional object

Answer 39

what the emotion is specifically about. emotion words guide attention to the focus of the experiences

Question 40

methaphor

Answer 40

a concept that points to something beyond itself. many emotional words involve metaphorical expressions

Question 41

5 common metaphors for emotional experiences in English

Answer 41

emotions as;
- natural forces
- opponents
- diseases
- fluids in containers
- animals

Question 42

prototypes (Rusell)

Answer 42

Rusell suggests that emotions are better understood through prototypes, an example of a typical feature of an object in a category that exhibits typical features of the category

Question 43

Shaver et al.

Answer 43

explored prototypical scritps for various emotions, finding recurring features in at least 20% of descriptions, supporting the idea that emotions are understood through prototypical examples

Question 44

emotional complexity

Answer 44

when people articulate emotions using a rich array of words, metaphors, and narratives

Question 45

alexithymia

Answer 45

individuals with a narrower emotional vocabulary who struggle to identify or express emotions verbally

Question 46

approaches to measure emotional experiences

Answer 46

• self report
• adjective checklist

Question 47

adjective checklist

Answer 47

people are presented with sets of adjectives that are synonyms for emotions and moods and they are asked to check any that apply

Question 48

psychoactive drugs

Answer 48

particularly cholecytokinin, are capable of inducing emotions without appraisal, causing a state of panicky fear in healthy humans

Question 49

William James

Answer 49

emphasizes that emotions are perceptions of inner physiological processes and vary significantly acorss individuals and contexts (constructivist approach)

Question 50

core assumptions of constructivist approach

Answer 50

• emotions are not natural kinds; within any emotions category, there is too much variation in emotion -related responses
• emotions are based on core affect, based on the primary appraisal dimension of goodness or badness. we are continuously apraising the working of our bodies and what is happening in the social context
• specific emotions arise out of conceptual acts with attributions that arise from the situation, which can then be grounded in language. the language we use doesn’t just reflect emotions; it actively shapes and constitutes our emotional experiences

Question 51

Cowen and Keltner

Answer 51

participants watched emotionally evoactive video clips and reported 28 distinct types of emotions (simple and complex). the study revealed that discrete emotion terms, such as love, awe, or anger, played a more prominent role in driving emotional experiences than general appraisals of goodness/badness or arousal. the findings suggest that people’s experiences are structured more effectively by discrete emotions categories than by general appraisals

Question 52

five stages at which emotion regulation operates

Answer 52

• selection of situations
• modification of situations
• direction of attention
• cognitive change
• modulation of responses

Question 53

distraction (regulatory intervention)

Answer 53

getting oneself caught up in something else

Question 54

attempts to reduce emotions

Answer 54

trying to calm down when angry or trying to stop children from being noisy in a quiet area

Question 55

attempts to increase emotions

Answer 55

include firing onself before an important sports game and sharing good news with family and friends