Psych 111 Class 15 - Theories of Emotion and Motivation

Theories of Emotion

Discrete Emotions Theory

Cognitive Theories of Emotion

Unconscious Influences on Emotion

Emotions

Mental state of feeling associated with our evaluation of experiences

Discrete Emotions Theory

Emotions serve evolutionary functions

Evidence for Evolutionary Basis

• Emerge early without direct reinforcement

• May be adaptive

• Similarities with nonhuman animals

Are emotions universal?

• Ekman’s research in New Guinea

• He studied the Fore people, an isolated indigenous group with little exposure to Western influences. Ekman showed them photographs of facial expressions depicting emotions like happiness, anger, sadness, and fear. The Fore people were able to correctly identify these emotions, even without prior contact with outsiders. His findings provided strong evidence that basic human emotions are biologically hardwired and expressed similarly across all cultures.

Primary Emotions

• Happiness

• Disgust

• Sadness

• Fear

• Surprise

• Contempt

• Anger

Primary emotions combine to form

secondary emotions

Display Rules

• cultural differences

• do not influence emotion itself, but instead its over expression

Each primary emotion is associated with

• distinctive constellation of facial expressions

• physiological responses

Cognitive theories of emotion

• James-Lange Theory of Emotion

• Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion

• Two-factor theory of Emotion

James-Lange Theory of Emotion

Emotions results from interpretation of our bodily reactions to stimuli

• example: person sees a spider → begins to shake → interprets shaking as fear

• “I am afraid because I am shaking”

Cannon-Bard Theory

Emotion-provoking events lead simultaneously to an emotion and to bodily reactions

“The spider makes me shake AND feel afraid SIMULTANEOUSLY”

Two factor theory

Emotions are produced by an undifferentiated state of arousal along with an attribution of that arousal

“I label my arousal as fear because I appraised the spider as dangerous”

Two factor theory Supporting Study

Dutton & Aron (1974)

• Attractive female research assistant

• Provided her phone number

• On one of two bridges

• Results: Males on the wibbly bridge were more likely to call

Which theory is right?

• Discrete emotions theory is probably correct that our emotional reactions are shaped in part by NATURAL SELECTION

• James-Lange theory is probably correct in that inferences concerning our bodily reactions can influence out emotional states

• Two-factor theory may be right that physiological arousal plays a key role in the intensity of our emotional experiences

Unconscious Influences

• Mere exposure effect

  • repeated exposure to a stimulus makes us more likely to feel favorably toward it

• Faces

• Shapes

3 Principles of Interpersonal Attraction

• Proximity

• Similarity

• Reciprocity

Proximity

• Mere exposure effect

• Study of exposure effects in the classroom

Similarity

• extent to which we have things in common with others

• “Birds of a feather flock together”

Reciprocity

Rule of give and take

Motivation

psychological drives that propel us in a specific direction

Drive reduction theory

• drives motivate us to act in ways that minimize aversive states

• We’re motivated to maintain homeostasis

• Yerkes-Dodson Law

Yerkes-Dodson Law

We function at our best when we are at a moderate level of arousal

• Moderate levels of arousal → optimal performance

Incentive theories

• we’re often motivated by positive goals

• intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Primary vs. Secondary needs

Does motivation predict changes in academic achievement beyond intelligence and Personality?

• Intelligence in important and greatly impacted by genetics

• environment plays some role given that correlations are not at 1

• Motivation was found to account for additional varience in achievement, beyond inteligence and personality

  • Academic self-concept seemed to be the most important predictor of academic achievement. Other motivational constructs however were also important