PSYCH 253 11.1 Emotion, p2

Why were basic emotions thought to exist?

They were evolutionarily important for survival.

What does "hard-wired" mean in this context?

Emotions are biologically built into brain and body systems.

Why is the modular view of emotion less popular now?

Brain functions are not isolated—multiple areas activate together.

Q: What does "degeneracy" mean in neuroscience?

A: Many different pathways can produce the same outcome.

Q: Why is degeneracy a problem for basic emotion theory?

A: If emotions had fixed "signatures," there wouldn't be multiple pathways.

Q: What does degeneracy suggest about emotions?

A: Emotions are not tied to one specific brain pattern.

Q: What is the core idea of social constructionist theory?

A: Emotions are constructed from bodily sensations + interpretation.

Q: What are the two key dimensions of bodily states?

A: Valence (positive/negative) and arousal (high/low).

Q: What is valence?

A: How positive or negative a feeling is.

Q: What is arousal?

A: Level of physiological activation.

Q: What else is needed to form emotions besides valence/arousal?

A: Past experience and current context.

Q: Can emotions be reduced to valence and arousal alone?

A: No.

Q: Example: high arousal + negative valence could mean what?

A: Fear (bear in woods) or anger (friend stood you up).

Q: What does minimal universalism propose?

A: Basic ingredients of emotion are universal, but outcomes vary.

Q: What are the universal components of emotion?

Valence

Arousal

Interpretation

Q: What varies across people and cultures?

A: The final emotional experience.

Q: Why is universalism not entirely wrong?

A: Some emotional processes are biologically shared.

Q: Why does understanding emotion theory matter?

A: It guides future research directions.

Q: Example of research impact?

A: Less focus on locating specific emotions in the brain.

Q: What else does emotion research influence?

A: Broader neuroscience.

Q: What is subjective well-being?

A: Feeling and thinking your life is going well.

Q: Is happiness considered an emotion or mood in research?

A: More like a mood (longer duration).

Q: Key difference between emotion and mood?

A: Emotion = short-term, Mood = long-term.

Q: What internal factors affect happiness?

A: Genetic component, personality/temperament, resilience, optimism./pessimism

Q: What is psychological resilience?

A: Ability to recover from negative events.

Q: What external factors affect happiness?

Wealth/income (sufficient material resources)

Social support (

Quality of society (trust and cooperation)

Q: Why are social resources important?

A: They meet emotional and practical needs.

Q: Does more money increase happiness?

A: Yes, but only up to a point.

Q: What is the approximate income threshold (study)?

A: ~$75,000 USD (2010) ≈ ~$145,000 CAD (2023).

Q: What happens after this threshold for money happiness?

A: Additional income has very small effects.

Q: What increases happiness more: spending on self or others?

A: Spending on others.

Q: What type of spending increases happiness more (generally)?

A: Experiences > material goods.

Q: Does this apply to everyone?

A: No— recent studies show that mainly higher social class individuals.

Q: What defines lower vs higher class in the study on monday and happiness?

IV: Lower: <30k income + high school or less

DV: Higher: >80k income + college degree

Q: What was the IV?

A: Material vs experiential purchase.

Q: What was the DV?

A: Reported happiness from purchase.

Q: Key finding for higher class?

A: Experiences > material goods

Q: Key finding for lower class?

A: No significant difference.

Q: What is the hedonic treadmill?

A: People return to a baseline level of happiness.

Q: What does this imply about life events?

A: Their effects on happiness are temporary.

Q: Example from Hedonic Treadmill research?

A: Lottery winners and paralyzed individuals had similar happiness after 1 year - indicates how most people have a baseline level of happiness they tend to return to