Emotion & Mental Health Flashcards
What is mental health?
It is a sense of well-being
It is a subjective, emotional state with a positive outlook
How does mental illness differ to mental health?
Mental illness involves the absence of abnormality
What is emotion?
It is a construct
It is a subjective experience that involves the appraisal of a situation, as well as your thoughts about the situation
What are the 4 components of emotion?
- internal bodily responses
- thought/action tendencies
- facial expression
- cognitive appraisal
What is meant by ‘emotional leakage’?
When parts of the evidence don’t fit
Someone may say something but their facial expression says something else
What is the difference between emotion and mood?
Emotion is reactive and short-lived
Moods are diffuse and persistent
According to Ekman and Friesen, what are the 7 primary emotional states?
- happiness
- sadness
- fear
- anger
- surprise
- disgust
- (contempt)
According to Ekman and Friesen, what distinguishes the 7 primary emotional states?
How are other emotions formed?
They are biologically programmed and each has a distinctive facial expression
Other emotions are a blend of the primary emotions
What was involved in Hohman’s study?
- interviewed patients with spinal injuries
- asked them about fear, anger, sexual excitement and grief, and a time they had experienced these emotions before and after injury
- he measured the changes in intensity of the experiences (+2 strong increase, -2 strong decrease)
What was the aim of Hohman’s study?
To see the degree to which a physical state within the body can underpin emotional state
What were the findings of Hohman’s study?
The reduction in peripheral sensations is associated with a decrease in the intensity of emotional score
What was Ekman et al’s study in 1991?
- a group of volunteers and actors are given a primary emotion
- they must pose faces and imagine/relive situations relating to the emotion
- their heart rate and skin temperature are recorded
What was the outcome of Ekman et al’s 1991 study?
- an increase in heart rate is associated with anger, fear and sadness
- peripheral temperature is increased in anger
What are the stages involved in experiencing emotion in Pattern Theory (James-Lange)?
- encounter
- encounter involves specific physiological arousal and overt behaviours
- this leads to the experience of emotion
What does the James-Lange Pattern Theory suggest about experiencing emotion?
emotions occur as a result of physiological reactions to events
people have a physiological response to environmental stimuli and that their interpretation of that physical response then results in an emotional experience
What are the stages involved in experiencing emotion according to Cognitive Theory (Schachter & Singer)?
- encounter
- general physiological arousal
- cognitive appraisal of the arousal
- experience of emotion
What does Schachter & Singer’s cognitive appraisal theory suggest about experiencing emotion?
emotions are extracted from our evaluations of events that cause specific reactions in different people
the emotion experienced is based on the appraisal of the situation
What was involved in Schachter & Singer’s 1962 experiment?
- 1 group of people is injected with saline and another is injected with adrenaline
- the original groups are split and they are given information about what the adrenaline will do to them
(this information is correct, incorrect or none is given)
- they are in a waiting room with an actor and asked to fill out a questionnaire that involves mood ratings
- the actor changes their behaviour to become increasingly emotional
In Schachter’s study, which group experienced the biggest change in emotion?
The people injected with adrenaline and not given any information about the symptoms they will experience
What does Schachter’s interpretation suggest about emotion when an explanation is given?
- initial peripheral physiological arousal
- explanation allows for the emotion to be labelled
- individual experiences the emotion and behaves accordingly
What does Schachter’s interpretation suggest about emotion when an explanation is not given?
- initial peripheral physiological arousal
- without explanation, evaluative needs lead to the individual searching their environment for a label or explanation
- this allows them to label the emotion and behave accordingly
How does the actor in the waiting room influence the people who had been given no explanation?
Without an explanation, the subject searches their environment for an explanation
They pick up on the behaviour of the actor and use this to shape their emotion
What is the process involved in appraisal theories of emotion?
encounter + appraisal of encounter = experience of emotion
What is meant by an appraisal theory in emotional response?
Emotions are mostly appraised responses to events
Certain appraisals are associated with specific emotions
What are examples of appraisals associated with specific events?
If a desirable outcome occurs, this leads to happiness, but sadness if it does not occur
If an undesirable outcome occurs, this leads to distress, and relief if it does not occur
What is the purpose of facial expression in emotion?
it has a key role in communication and letting other people know how we are feeling
It has a universality of meaning
What will influence the expression of emotion?
Culture and gender shape the experience and expression of emotions
They are experienced differently amongst these groups
What is the key factor in detecting another person’s internal state?
- FACIAL EXPRESSION!!
e. g. direction of gaze, fleeting microexpressions - tone of voice, what is said, body language
What is biologically involved in the regulation of emotion?
Brain systems and neurotransmitters
e.g. serotonin, limbic system and hypothalamus
What part of the body is involved in emotion processing?
The amygdala
It rapidly processes information and has a protective function (e.g. detects threat)
When a normal person is interpreting facial expression, how do their eyes move?
How is this different in someone with bilateral damage?
They form a triangle with their gaze - they look at the eyes, then mouth
Someone with bilateral damage does not focus on they eyes
What are the social learning approaches to the acquisition of emotion?
- imitation via observational learning
2. reinforcement - reward/punishment
What is involved in the Bandura study?
Children are in a room where they watch an adult use a tool e.g. hammer
When they observe an adult behaving in this way, they are more likely to imitate anger than if they had seen it in a cartoon
What factors usually cause children to behave aggressively when they are older?
If they witness their parents behaving violently when they are young
How are fears transmitted from parent to child?
There is an association between parental and child fear
e.g.if a parent is afraid of the dentist, the child will feel the same
this is evident in age 8 and younger
What has been seen as life outcomes of happy people?
- happy people have better life outcomes e.g. marriage, friendship, income, health
- happiness predicts longevity in healthy populations
What is the evolutionary bias to negative events?
It causes people to avoid these situations again in the future
What are the 3 main results of positive psychology?
- pleasant life
gratitude for past events and optimism for future
- engaged life
- meaningful life
services to organisations in the community e.g. medicine
