Ind - Emotion and Affect

FEHR AND RUSSELL - 1984 - everyone knows what an emotion is until asked to give a definition
EMOTIONs are mostly out of our control even though we may feel them consciously. EMOTIONS provide a feedback system. Emotions are a CONSCIOUS EVALUATIVE reaction to some EVENT. reaction to something.
1. MOOD is a feeling state that is not clearly linked to some event
AFFECT - the automatic response that something is GOOD or BAD
EMOTIONAL AROUSAL - emotions have both mental and physical aspects.
1. JAMES-LANGE THEORY - 1890
  1. bodily processes come first and then the mind's perception (the emotion) comes after. arousal before emotion
    1. unsuccessful to prove this is the case.
2. The James-Lange theory inspired the FACIAL FEEDBACK HYPOTHESIS
  1. FACIAL FEEDBACK is that feedback from the face muscles evokes or magnifies emotions.
  2. STRACK ET AL - 1988 - holding a pen with lips (frown) or teeth (smile), holding with teeth will find cartoon funnier
3. CANNON-BARD THEORY OF EMOTION
  1. the THALAMUS (relay station) sends two messages at a time, one is the emotional experience, one is physiological arousal. emotion and arousal at the same time
4. SCHACHTER-SINGER THEORY
  1. emotion has two components, physiological arousal is similar in all emotions. HOWEVER the cognitive label is different for each emotion. emotion is like TV, the AROUSAL is the on / off switch and volume control (it determines there will be an emotion and how strong). the COGNITIVE LABEL label is like the channel switch (which emotion)
MISATTRIBUTION OF AROUSAL
1. arousal may arise for one reason but get another label, therefore producing a different reaction.
2. EXCITATION TRANSFER - arousal from one event can transfer to a later event.
3. SCHACHTER AND SINGER - 1962 - effects of vitamin injection on visual skills. all thought they received a vitamin, however half received adrenaline, half got a placebo. the adrenaline condition were either told or not told about side effects such as trembling etc. the strongest emotional response were those in the adrenaline condition but not told of side effects as if told of side effects they attributed emotion to injection not to the situation.
4. DUTTON AND ARON - 1974 - the bridge study - men either cross a rickety high bridge or a stable low bridge. the high bridge has many ways of arousal, such as risk of falling. a female at the end of both bridges gave her number to explain the study more. FOUND that men who crossed the high bridge were more likely to call the woman. SAID it was down to the high bridge creating an arousal state of fear which CONVERTED FEAR-BASED AROUSAL INTO ATTRACTION
5. two basic arousal states that feel different, pleasant and unpleasant.
  1. MARSHALL AND ZIMBARDO - 1979 - emotional arousal comes from actual events, generated in the body from experience rather than chemically induced and are already good or bad. good cannot be converted into bad or vice versa.
IMPORTANT EMOTIONS
1. HAPPINESS
  1. story of man in a siberian prison camp no family, numb, hungry, freezing, but described it as an "almost happy day". the power of comparisons and expectations. expect the worst then anything slightly better can seem good by contrast.
  2. DEFINING HAPPINESS - simply feeling good right now. or when you eat something or when you go from cold to warm.
    1. one measure of affect balance is the FREQUENCY OF POSITIVE EMOTIONS MINUS FREQ OF NEGATIVE ones.
      1. most complex form of happiness is LIFE SATISFACTION, evaluating life generally and comparing to a standard. broader span than current emotion.
  3. OBJECTIVE ROOTS OF HAPPINESS
    1. money, house etc. objective predictors, people who have them are happier than those without. objective predictors involve succeeding by biological and cultural standards.
      1. however couples with children are LESS happy, but will say they are happier as those with social connections are happier than those alone - BAUMEISTER - 1991 - having children does make life richer and more meaningful. most cultures glorify parenthood so cultures can flourish.
    2. people who have more money are happier but only by a very small difference. happiness is liked to interpersonal relationships. it's hard for people to be happy alone.
      1. HEDONISTIC TREADMILL - objective changes wear off. take big steps forward but end up in the same place. - DIENER ET AL - 2006 - people don't end up in the same place, happy people go back to being happy, same for sad. LOTTERY TICKET vs. ACCIDENT - effects wear off, people get over good effects quicker than bad - LUCAS - 2007
  4. SUBJECTIVE ROOTS OF HAPPINESS
    1. HAPPINESS is in one's outlook, personality and genes rather than circumstances. some people are born happy, others are not.
      1. COSTA ET AL - 1987 - best predictor of happiness is happiness 10 years before.subjective predictors are much stronger
  5. INCREASE HAPPINESS - BROWN AND RYAN - 2003 - through forgiving others, gratitude for blessings, religion, optimism. happiness linked to good health. focus attention on positive things. live longer if express positive emotions. happiness is linked to good social relations.
2. ANGER
  1. emotional response to real or imagined threat. anger is internal, whereas aggression is external. angry people downplay risks and overlook dangers. anger is a high arousal, unpleasant emotion. angry people are impulsive and fail to consider consequences of actions. angry people make stupid decisions - LEITH AND BAUMEISTER - 1996.
  2. LERNER ET AL - 2003 - anger is a powerful force for making people stand up for themselves as is energizing. cultures have different norms about anger.
    1. social benefits of anger, as makes one person back down.
  3. CAUSES OF ANGER - many people hide anger, anger seems maladaptive, anger must have some positive value, helps survival. anger is adaptive as it motivates the person to act aggressively. anger helps reduce aggression, warn friends and family that aggression may be coming.
  4. societies promote the idea of never showing anger. people repress anger. long-term concealed anger is destructive - ELLIS - 1977. if people act as if they aren't angry some anger will diminish.
    1. second idea is VENT one's anger, CATHARSIS THEORY - expressing anger produces a healthy release of emotion.
      1. one variation on venting is PHYSICAL EXERCISE. BUSHMAN - 2002 - exercise doesn't work as increases rather than decreases arousal. provoke after exercising, excitation transfer may occur.
      2. BARON - 1976 - need to decrease arousal to get rid of anger, such as playing with animals, sex etc as not compatible with anger.
3. GUILT AND SHAME
  1. MORAL emotion, feeling bad. guilt focuses on action that is bad. guilt motivates people to do good acts, not do it again. more likely to learn a lesson and try to be better in future.
  2. MCMILLEN AND AUSTIN - 1971 - not being induced to lie motivated people to help for two minutes, whereas if lied to experimenter they volunteered to help for 63 mins. wipe away guilt by helping.
  3. GUILT IS CONSTRUCTIVE, SHAME IS DESTRUCTIVE.
  4. CIALDINI et al - 1973 - people behave in more socially desirable ways when guilty. good for relationships.
  5. SURVIVOR GUILT - people feel guilty when others have suffered more than they have. WW2, being fired etc. people are deeply sensitive to unfairness.
    1. guilt is more linked to interpersonal relationships than any other emotion. people actively try and make others feel guilt.
WHY DO WE HAVE EMOTIONS
1. POWERFUL and important feedback, promotes belongingness, rarely causes behaviour directly. guides thinking and learning
  1. good emotions reinforce good behaviours. ANTICIPATED EMOTION GUIDES DECISIONS AND CHOICES, avoid acts that will make them feel sad, angry etc. avoid acts that might lead to guilt. weigh up how you would feel in different scenarios. AFFECTIVE FORECASTING - predict emotional state to future events.
    1. people overestimate the time and intensity of future emotions.
2. DAMASIO - people who lack emotions have trouble in life. emotion tells us good or bad. don't have emotion over things you don't care about.
  1. emotions help people get on better, people's emotions promote ties to others. forming social bonds linked to positive emotions - ANDERSON ET AL - 1983.
    1. bad emotions linked to events that end. social rejection leads to sadness. partner leaving threat is jealousy. people want to feel good and avoid bad emotions, desire impels them to try and form good relationships.
      1. emotions guide behaviour, get ready for action. HOWEVER, emotion may be too slow to guide behaviour, may guide automatic behaviour, in a fraction of a second tel if something is good or bad. emotions rarely cause behaviour directly. nature says go and culture says stop. when emotion causes bhevaiour it is because the person wants to change or escape the emotional state.
        emotions guide thinking and learning. people who lack emotions are not better off. great difficulty making decisions. emotions help people learn from their mistakes, without emotions, can't learn - DAMASIO - 1997
        BENEFITS OF POSITIVE EMOTIONS - creativity, expand attention, helps problem solving, fewer distortions, try harder, more motivated etc... being in a good mood serves protective function. they are studied less than negative however.
      2. anxiety motivates people to plan ahead and avoid unnecessary risks - BARLOW - 1988.
        RISK-AS-FEELING HYPOTHESIS - how severe the worst outcome is and how likely is it to happen. gut level. sexual arousal interferes with decision making - BLANTON - 1997
  2. AFFECT-AS-INFORMATION HYPOTHESIS - people judge emotions by asking themselves "how do I feel about it?"
CROSS-CULTURAL
1. experts agree emotion is similar across cultures. EKMAN - six basic emotions - anger, sadness, disgust, surprise, happiness and fear. people in different cultures identify these emotions.
  1. RUSSELL - 1994 - criticises EKMAN saying that people find it harder to recognise spontaneous emotions cross culturally rather than posed pictures.
2. Asian Americans place more emphasis on emotional moderation than European americans. DUCHENNE SMILES - fake smiles when lost a race etc. COLLECTIVIST cultural emotion based on assessment of social worth. CULTURAL difference in CONCEALMENT OF EMOTION.
GENDER DIFFERENCES
1. long-standing stereotype that women are more emotional than men. LARSON AND PLECK - 1999 - found through pps self-report that men and women were equal. men report more negative emotions at work than women. daily emotional experience essentially the same.
2. in young children, more emotion in boys. men may be slightly more emotional but women are more willing to report emotions. cultural standards about men not "allowed" to be emotional.
  1. HILL ET AL - 1976 - men fall in love faster, women fall out of love faster, men have more experience of unreciprocated love. men suffer more after a break up.
AROUSAL, ATTENTION AND PERFORMANCE
1. emotions contain arousal, many people believe emotional arousal is harmful, better to calm down.
2. YERKES- DODSON LAW - some arousal is good for performance, too much arousal can hurt performance.
3. EASTERBROOK - 1959 - arousal helps narrow and focus attention. stress helps people narrow attention which is only good up to a point. too focused, can miss vital information.
4. EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE - EQ - ability to perceive emotions, facilitating thought, to understand, to regulate emotions etc, intellectual growth.
  1. people high on emotional intelligence are better at AFFECTIVE FORECASTING, emotional intelligence may lead to success.
5. AFFECT REGULATION
  1. if people are poor at controlling their emotional reactions, they are more likely to fall ill to mental illness - BRADLEY - 1990. people seek to control their desires, actions, thoughts etc... emotions cannot be directly controlled.
  2. THAYER ET AL - 1994 - do things to produce good feelings. doing something to take their mind off the problem, raise or lower arousal level (caffeine, exercise) and seek social support. reframe the problem, use humour, vent feelings, religious activities.
  3. affect regulation for both positive and negative emotions. 1. get into the mood. 2. get out of the mood. 3. prolong the mood. before social interactions tend to neutralise the mood.
  4. GENDER DIFFERENCES - when distressed women think about the problem, men tend to distract themselves. when feeling bad, women eat, men take drugs / alcohol, men use humour, women shop

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