Understanding the Components and Theories of Emotion

Expressive behavior

Yelling, accelerating.

Conscious experience

"What a bad driver! I am angry, even scared; better calm down."

Bodily arousal

Triggered by the nervous system.

Emotion

An emotion is a full-body, mind, and behavior response to a situation.

Key questions in the study of emotion

Do thoughts trigger emotions, or are they a product of emotions? How are bodily signs triggered? How do we decide which emotion we're feeling?

James-Lange Theory of emotion

The body reacts first (physiological arousal), and then thoughts/emotions follow.

Cannon-Bard Theory of emotion

Body arousal and emotional experience occur simultaneously.

Singer-Schachter/Two-Factor Theory of emotion

Emotions result from body arousal plus cognitive labeling of the situation.

Zajonc, LeDoux, and Lazarus theories

Some emotional responses occur automatically without conscious thoughts.

Low road emotional response

Avoiding the highway today without consciously identifying or explaining the fear.

Autonomic nervous system

The sympathetic nervous system triggers arousal (e.g., increased heart rate); the parasympathetic nervous system calms the body down afterward.

Distinct bodily signs of emotions

While there is overlap, some small differences exist. For example, fear triggers more amygdala activity than anger.

Brain activity and emotions

Positive emotions (e.g., joy) → Left frontal lobe; Negative emotions (e.g., fear) → Right hemisphere.

Facial feedback effect

Changing facial expressions can influence emotions (e.g., smiling can make you feel happier).

Body posture and emotion perception

Simple gestures (e.g., thumbs up vs. middle finger) can influence mood and how we perceive situations.

Carroll Izard's ten basic emotions

Joy, Anger, Sadness, Disgust, Fear, Surprise, Contempt, Shame, Guilt, Interest/excitement (evident at birth).

Facial expressions recognition

Yes, people of various cultures agree on basic emotional labels for facial expressions, though accuracy is higher within one's own culture.

Introverts and extroverts in emotional detection

Introverts: Detecting emotions in others; Extroverts: Making their emotions easier to read.

Emotional detection in abused individuals

They are biased toward interpreting fearful faces as angry.

Context influence on emotion detection

Context, such as tears or gestures, helps identify emotions when facial expressions are ambiguous.

Older adults in emotion recognition

They have poorer emotion recognition from faces alone but perform better with context.

Two dimensions of emotion

Up/Down: Arousal level (high or low energy); Left/Right: Positive (approach) or negative (withdrawal).