Theories of Emotion EX2

Disgust Function

• Avoid “contamination”

• Navigate the ‘omnivore’s dilemma’

Disgust Appraisals

• Contaminants

• Offensive/morally wrong matters

• Food/animal/bodily excretion

• Animal reminder theory

• Deviant sexual action

Disgust Behavioral Motivation

• Withdrawal/Rejection/Avoidance

• Newborns show disgust

• Dogs difference in disgust (they eat poop)

Anger Function

• Persist at defending goals

• Correct injustice

• Defending rights

Anger Appraisals

• Blocked/interfered goals

• Unfairness

• Loss of perceived control

• Rejection

• Threat

Anger Behavioral Motivations

• Confrontation

• Aggression

• Persistence/coercion

• Deterrence

• Caused by outside agency

Embarrassment Function

• Maintain social harmony

• Prevent ostracism

• Positive self-presentation

• Increase attention to social cues

• Bystander effect

Embarrassment Apprasials

• Warning cue to self

• Awkward interaction theory

• Social evaluation theory

• Repair weird action

Embarrassment Behavioral Modifications

• Appeasement

• Repair

• Prosocial Behavior

• Sticky situation

Sadness Function

• Activation phase: seek social help

• Despair/depression

• Elicit support

Sadness Appraisals

• Irreversible loss

• Failure

• Loss/lack of control

Sadness Behavioral Modifications

• Withdrawal

• Reflection

• Seeking help

• Tears

Loneliness Function

• Motivate social reconnection

• Motivate survival and reproduction

Loneliness Appraisals

• Social disconnect

• Unmet need for belonging

• Perceived isolation

Loneliness Behavioral Modifications

• Seek connection

• Social cues

• Increase defensiveness and impulsive behavior

Happiness Functions

• Reward

• Motivation to achieve

• Broaden attention

• Build resources/social relations

Happiness Appraisals

• Self-relevance

• Connection

• Goal attainment

• Flow state

• Joy/love/gratitude

Happiness Behavior Modifications

• Exploration

• Bonding

• Creativity

• Contextual!

Broaden and Build Theory

• Positive emotions allow us to broaden attention (creativity/flexibility/play)

• Build enduring resources (resilience/social bonding)

• Positive emotions improve cognitive flexibility and undo negative emotions

More than one positive basic emotion?

• Gratitude/awe/inspiration/flow all meet criteria for discrete positive emotions

• All possess distinct appraisals, expressions, and functions

Duchenne Smile

• Most universally recognized

• Contextual

• Genuine joy

• Eye crinkling (orbicularis oculi)

Social Smile

• Polite

• Affiliative

• Mouth movement only

Smile Interpersonal Function

• Signals warmth

• Reduces conflict

• Fosters bonding

• Contextual!

Hedonic Treadmill

• People adapt to major life changes and return to baseline happiness

• Big life changes (marriage, lottery, childbirth, graduation) have temporary effects

• Winning lottery can raise happiness up to a point but will eventually baseline

Core Disgust

• Protects from contamination

• Toxic food, poop, vomit, nasty things, etc.

Socio-Moral Disgust

• Responds to moral violations

• Betrayal, racism, pedophilia, rude behavior, etc.

Biological Significance Hypothesis

• Disgust evolved to avoid disease

Animal Reminder Theory

• Disgust at reminders of mortality or animalistic nature

• Gore, cannibalism, nasty sexual acts, etc.

Omnivore’s Dilemma

• Challenge humans face when deciding what to eat

• It it healthy/affordable/natural/gmo’d/etc?

• Helps avoid harmful or inappropriate foods

Contagion Principle

• Contact with a disgusting object can spread disgust

Similarity Principle

• Objects similar to disgusting ones elicit disgust

Children and disgust

• Learn disgust from parent modeling

• Social cues

• Pick their boogers, lick everything, etc.

• They will not learn unless someone tells them to stop or when they learn that something tastes bad or makes them sick

Cross Cultural Disgust

• Core features are shared even though labels and elicitors may vary

• Both universal and culturally shaped aspects of disgust

• How do Americans feel about Indian street food?

  • No hand-washing, gloves, food safety procedures..

Moral disgust

• Condemning moral violations

• Cheating, racism, rudeness, etc.

Moral anger

• Responds to injustice/harm

• Butting in when a man is harassing a woman, calling police or stepping in on public child abuse, etc.

Anger Development and Fairness

• Both humans and animals show anger at unfair treatment (unequal rewards; monkeys with token experiment)

• Anger expressions show dominance/protest

• Function: motivates injustice correction

Sadness

• Event-based

• Temporary

• Adaptive

• Function: signals loss, elicits support, motivates change (contextual)

Depression

• Persistent

• Impairing

• Clinical disorder

• Disabling at times

Loneliness

• Perceived social isolation

• Caused by loss, relocation, social anxiety

• Regulatory loop of chronic loneliness: loneliness→ hypervigilance→ social withdrawal→ more loneliness

• Effects: increased depression risk, cardiovascular issues

Embarrassment vs Shame vs Guilt

• Embarrassment: social awkwardness

• Shame: global self-condemnation

• Guilt: specific regret of behavior/action of self

• Overlap: all involve self-evaluation, differ in intensity+focus

Nonverbal Embarrassment Cues

• Gaze aversion

• Head down

• Nervous Smile

• Blush

Self-Awareness and Evaluation Accounts

• Social Evaluation: fear of judgment from others

• Awkwardness Evaluation: awareness of social incongruity

• Self-Awareness: triggers embarrassment when norms are violated

Embarrassing yourself study

• Participants observe individual who commits minor social violation (dropping papers all over floor) and the action they committed afterwards (running away, blushing and fixing, or no reaction)

• Expressing slight embarrassment makes you seem more likable/socially aware

• Desire to conform

Faux pas study

• Something slightly embarrassing but nothing done wrong (ex: toilet paper on shoe, tripping, laughing a bit too loud)

• Embarrassed individuals were more likely to be “forgiven and accepted”

• Embarrassment motivates reparative behaviors to restore social standing

Warmth and liking embarrassment study

• Observers rated their emotional responses to people that displayed embarrassment vs no embarrassment

• Embarrassed individuals elicited warmth and empathy

• Embarrassment acts as a nonverbal cue that invites prosocial response

Self-Conscious Emotions in Healthcare

• Shame and embarrassment can deter seeking care

• Patients may hide symptoms/avoid disclosure from fear of judgment

• Patients most likely to be embarrassed of sexual issues, heart problems, smoking issues, addiction, etc.

Guilt is Good Reading Key Points

• Healthy guilt: motivates constructive change, apology, repair

• Toxic guilt: excessive self-blame, leads to anxiety, disconnected from actual wrongdoing

• Marble race: younger children (3 years old) show guilt when they feel they caused harm (suggests early moral development)

• Guilt is useful when it prompts reflection and action