emotion Flashcards
What is an emotion
It is a psychological and physical state in response to a stimulus
Subjective component
what it feels like to feel the emotion
Cognitive component:
what thoughts people have when they experience an emotion
Physiological response:
body’s reactions in response to stimuli
1)james lange theory of emotion:
An event happens before(antecedent event)->physiological changes/response->we recognise the response -> emotion
Physiological responses= products of autonomic nervous system, designed to indicate proper reactions that facilitate survival
Facial feedback hypothesis:
by manipulating physiological changes (ie distinct facial expressions), one can produce distinct emotions
If you shape your lips to look like your smiling, u report more positive feelings
If you shape to frowning, you report more negative emotions
james lange theory
Assumes all emotions have unique set of physiological changes, but this is not true, physiological changes dont always convey unique emotions
Ie anger has certain physiological characteristics only specific to anger, but this isn’t true
2)Two-factor theory of emotion
Emotions are more than simply looking into physiological changes- what about our interpretations
We combine our physiological changes +cognitive appraisal = emotions
ie : (physiological changes:heart rate increase, trembling) and (cognitive appraisal:angry bear, threat coming after me) = emotion (fear)
Could lead to misattribution of arousal
Ie: you go on a movie date and you have physiological changes: heart rate increases, but you misinterpret the cognitive appraisal from the movie to your date so you overestimate how much you like the date
James lange theory: predicts emotions should be universal due to physiological similarities of all humans
Two-factor theory of emotion: emotions should vary across cultures because different cultural experiences may lead us to have difference interpretation of physiological responses
Emotional antecedents
events that lead up to, or elicit, certain emotions
Substantial overlap across cultural environments in emotional consequences of various antecedents
ie:
death leads to grief and sadness
When something is harmful-> produces fear
Physiological responses associated with emotions:
1)Ergotropic-> physiological responses that reflect actions of the sympathetic nervous system-> more about expending energy (prepping body to expend energy)
Cardiovascular activity
Muscular reactivity
perspiration
2)Trophotropic->physiological responses that reflect actions of the parasympathetic nervous system-> more about relaxing muscles (happens after ergotropic)
Gastric disturbance
Crying and sobbing
3)Felt temperature->The temperature that one feels in their bodies when they are experiencing emotions
When someone feels hot or cold during a particular emotion even though internal temperature isn’t changing
Emotional appraisal
Antecedents don’t automatically elicit emotions; what about appraisal and interpretations?
People go through stimulus evaluation checks-appraising antecedents along several dimensions
Basic universal emotions
Anger, happy, sadness,surprise, disgust, fear
Anger is Associated with
low levels of expectedness, pleasantness, and fairness
Happiness is Associated with
high and low expectedness
High pleasantness and fairness
Lots of evidence of universality in emotional expressions, there is still lots of variability
2 lines of evidence:
Variability of emotional expression
variability of emotional lexicon
Variability of emotional expression:
When people share one ethnicity, if they differ in nationality there is a difference
Ie korean american, vs korean Korean
Different cultures have different display rules:
Rules that govern what kinds of expressions are appropriate, the intensity of facial expression, and ritualized displays: emotions that only exist in that culture”
These display rules are learned early on in life and become cemented and automatic by the time they reach adulthood
6 display rules:
amplification, deamplification, neutralization, simulation, masking, and qualification
Amplification
emotional expression is stronger than what you’re actually feeling
Deamplification:
emotions expression is more muted than what you’re feeling
Neutralization
not supposed to express any of that emotion
You might feel that emotion but you can not express it
Simulation
you’re experiencing no emotion, but you have to express something
Faking an emotion
Masking
emotional expression is not matching emotional experience
Masking an emotion to express something else
Qualification:
emotional expression+something else
You’re mad but want to soften it so you’re nicer about it
Deamplification, masking, neutralization, and qualification is seen in east-asian/collectivism
Amplification seen in south american collectivism/individualism
Variability of emotional lexicon
Some languages have unique words for unique emotions
Some debate as to whether such differences are meaningful with important consequences for emotional experience
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
Hard version: Language determine how we think and what we experience (not as true)
Soft version: language can affect how we think and what we experience, and the certain extent to which we are able to remember things (true)
Language helps us to think about/articulate ideas, experience
Without words it hinders our ability to remember/discuss experience
Evolutionary theories
Focused on universality - similarities across cultures and species
Emotions are hardwired, they are autonomic responses tied to nervous system
Cultures should play little role in emotions
Physiological changes are seen as antecedents(precede, come before) to emotions not consequences
Ie: James lange theory of emotion
Appraisal theories
Allows for universality in biological features, but cultural variability of evaluative process
Also allows for individual variability in appraisals
Culture plays important role in emotional experience due to influence on appraisals and interpretations
bioclutural theory of emotion (appraisal theory)
There is an input/events that happens and you must appraise that event
Information that passes through appraisal system only enters core system
There is a core system that is biological that continuously scans for information in your environment and tries to match the things scanned with preexisting relationships in the mind
Ie scanning a weapon, what needs to be activated when seeing this weapon
Response tendencies: once it matches with something, it internally triggers a readiness to do something
Facial expressions, subjective experience, autonomic responses
Core system and response tendencies together create display rules/feelings that are expressed
Subjective experience is more controllable
More likely to be subject to rule of culture
Autonomic responses are less subject to culture, because they are less controllable and more immediate
Historical heterogeneity
Extent to which a country’s modern population comes from migration from other countries in last 500 years
Low historical heterogeneity
Country’s present-day population is sourced from its own country since 500 years ago
High historical heterogeneity
Country’s present day population is sourced from many countries over the last 500 years
Less historical heterogeneity:
More certainty (customs, values, beliefs, intentions)
Implicit understanding
Less reliance on explicit communication
High context cultures
More historical heterogeneity:
more uncertainty in communicating emotional states
Hinders cooperation
More explicit information required
Low context cultures
People from highly historically heterogeneous countries
More expressive in facial expression and body language
Produce emotional expressions that are more accurately recognized by others
Explains emotional expressions beyond individualism/collectivism
