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