Elements of Emotion• Emotion - the “feeling” aspect of consciousness,

characterized by :– physical arousal = physiological arousal– Expressive behavior: reveals the emotion to outside world – Consciously experienced thoughts: inner awareness of feelings

• Display rules - learned ways of controlling displays of emotion in social settings. – control or display?

Autonomic Nervous System

Sympathetic• Pupils dilate• Salivation decreases• Skin perspires• Respiration increases• Heart accelerates• Digestion inhibits• Adrenal glands secrete

adrenalin

Parasympathetic• Pupils contract• Salivation increases• Skin dries• Respiration decreases• Heart slows• Digestion activates• Adrenal glands decrease

adrenalin

Common Sense tells us…

• a stimulus leads to an emotion, which then leads to bodily arousal.

James-Lange Theory of Emotion

• FIRST…physiological reaction, THEN…labeling of an emotion.

• different physiological states correspond to different experiences of emotion.

• feel sad because you cry• feel angry because you strike• feel happy because you smile

• Support: Neck-level spinal cord injuries…reduce intensity of emotions

Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion• Challenged JL since similar patterns of physiological activity

associated with diff emotional states. (ex. anger & fear)– NOT cause…effect

• physiological reaction & the emotion occur at the same time.– Cerebral cortex = subjective awareness of emotion…– Sympathetic nervous system = physiological arousal

Schachter and Singer’s Study of Emotion

• Emotion results from physiological arousal plus a cognitive label.

• Two-FACTOR: 2 ingredients– Cognitive label: based on perceptions, memories, interpretation

• Explains arousal in emotional terms

– Physical arousal fuels emotion– Cognition channels it

Spillover Effect• Tendency of one person's emotion to affect how other people

around them feel. • Emotional Volatility

– For example, the teacher received a phone call that his wife was pregnant with a much-awaited baby.

• He goes into class happy and excited, & although he doesn't tell his class about the good news, his good mood rubs off on his students & they feel happy as well.

• Experiment: injected with adrenaline– An emotional experience requires a conscious interpretation of the arousal– Same physical arousal

• Exposed to “angry” man, interpreted physical arousal as anger• exposed to “happy” man interpreted arousal as happiness

Romeo and Juliet Effect

• Misattribution of emotions~– assign arousal to passionate love instead of anger

from lack of freedom• Tendency for parental opposition to a relationship to intensify

the romantic feelings of those in the relationship. • The effect involves an increased commitment to persevere in

the midst of parental opposition & interference.

Donald Dutton and Arthur Aron(In support of 2 Factor Theory)

• Male subjects were asked to meet an attractive female interviewer in the middle of one of two bridges.

• safe-looking bridge vs. dangerous (high & narrow). • An attractive female researcher interviewed the male passers-by

in the middle of the two bridges. • She gave them her telephone number in case they wanted to ask

about the results. • They were then more likely to call her back, looking for a date.• Men on the less safe-looking bridge were more aroused by the

height of the bridge, and were likely to confuse their feelings for being 'lovestruck'.

Cognitive Mediational Theory of Emotion• Cognitive appraisal of a stimulus determines your emotional

response to it, physiological arousal follows the cognitive appraisal.– both the physical arousal & the labeling of that arousal based on cues from

the environment – must occur before the emotion is experienced.– stimulus must be interpreted (appraised) by a person in order to result in a

physical response & an emotional reaction.• Dual processing: The brain gets a message that causes the experience of

emotion at the same time that the autonomic nervous system gets a message that causes physiological arousal.

• Equipped?

Emotions w/out conscious thinking

• Zajonc: • LeDoux– Low Road pathway– High road pathway

Theories of EmotionOpponent Process

• Our emotions tend to trigger opposing emotions. Then there is balance.

• A way to maintain a steady state—homeostasis• As experiences are repeated wide swings in emotion are

lessened, and things become more manageable!

– Costs of pleasure & the benefits of pain

• Examples:– You almost get into a car accident—you are afraid—once it’s

over you feel relief– You yell at your boyfriend and are angry; later to feel guilty

and you apologize

Duchenne's Duchenne's investigationsinvestigations

mapping the muscles of the mapping the muscles of the face face

The Old ManThe Old Man• ""The Mechanisms of Human Facial The Mechanisms of Human Facial

ExpressionExpression",",– (published in French 1862)(published in French 1862)

• experimentation in the perception and experimentation in the perception and communication of human facial affect. communication of human facial affect.

"The Old Man“"The Old Man“• Duchenne's principal photographic subjectDuchenne's principal photographic subject

– afflicted with almost total facial afflicted with almost total facial anesthesiaanesthesia. .

• ideal subject for this investigation, ideal subject for this investigation, – stimulating electrodes used were ‘certainly stimulating electrodes used were ‘certainly

somewhat uncomfortable, if not actually painful’.somewhat uncomfortable, if not actually painful’.

‘‘Electrization apparatuses’Electrization apparatuses’

• electrical electrical stimulation served as stimulation served as the diagnostic test in the diagnostic test in localization.localization.

• "faradism,""faradism," the the application of application of electricity to the skin electricity to the skin for diagnostic or for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. therapeutic purposes. – stimulate the nerves and stimulate the nerves and

muscles of patients. muscles of patients. – map the muscles of the map the muscles of the

body and note their body and note their functions functions

• Duchenne Duchenne electrically electrically stimulates the stimulates the musculature of the musculature of the face of an actress face of an actress of the French of the French Comedy with the Comedy with the purpose of purpose of modifying emotions modifying emotions expressed by her expressed by her face.face.

• mapped 100 facial mapped 100 facial muscles in 1862. muscles in 1862.

• false, or even half-false, or even half-hearted, smiles hearted, smiles involved only muscles involved only muscles of the mouth.of the mouth.

• But "the sweet But "the sweet emotions of the soul," emotions of the soul," he said, activate the he said, activate the pars lateralis muscle pars lateralis muscle around the eyes.around the eyes.

Facial Expression• http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/in

dex.shtml

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Detecting Emotion

Hard-to-control facial muscles reveal signs of emotions you may be trying to conceal. A fake smile may continue for more than 4-5 seconds while a genuine smile will have faded by then.

Which of Paul Ekman’s smiles is genuine?

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Facial expressions:

• Darwin speculated that our ancestors communicated with facial expressions in the absence of language.

• Nonverbal facial expressions led to our ancestor’s survival.

Paul Ekman (1970’s) series of cross-cultural studies looking for universals in facial

expressions of emotions

Emotions are Adaptive• Based on evolutionary principle: it would have been

advantageous for a highly social species to be able to quickly read emotions from faces.

Ekman: Universal expressions of emotions: Fore People

• Many members of this group experienced little or no contact with modern culture

• Facial expressions were limited to their own people due to the fact they have never been in contact with a westerner

• Never saw any movies, did not speak English, & only lived in their settlement

• Can conclude that identifying facial expressions are hardwired biologically

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007 Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)

Universal Facial Expressions

• Ekman & Friesen (1978) identified six universal facial expressions: joy, fear, anger, sadness, surprise and disgust.

Menu

LO 9.13 Three elements of emotion

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Detecting Emotion

Most of us are good at deciphering emotions through nonverbal

communication. In a crowd of faces a single angry face will “pop out” faster than

a single happy face (Fox et al, 2000).

Figure 9.16 Cross-cultural comparisons of people’s ability to recognize emotions from facial expressions

Ekman: Facial Feedback Hypothesis

• Facial feedback hypothesis - theory of emotion that assumes that facial expressions provide feedback to the brain concerning the emotion being expressed, which in turn causes and intensifies the emotion.

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The Effects of Facial Expression

If facial expressions are manipulated, like furrowingbrows, people feel sad while looking at sad pictures.

Attaching two golf tees to the face and making their tips touch causes the brow to furrow.

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How to Spot a Liar

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©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007 Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)

Lying faces: Can we identify when a face is lying?

• Ekaman Telling Lies (2001). microexpression: brief, fleeting facial expression of the opposite emotion to what the person is trying to convey

• 90% of deceivers produce reliable microexpression. • 30% of truth-tellers also do.• Other cues: depersonalization of speech, departure from

typical communication style.• Ekman’s advice: always play good cop

©John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007 Huffman: Psychology in Action (8e)

• MicroExpression Training Tools (METT) and Subtle Expression Training Tools (SETT) provide self instructional training to improve your ability to recognize facial expressions of emotion. In under an hour, METT will train you to see very brief (1/25th of a second) microexpressions of concealed emotion. SETT teaches you to recognize the subtlest signs of when an emotion is first beginning in another person.

*©Paul Ekman 2004

Emotion

HappinessGenderAnger

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Gender, Emotion, & Nonverbal Behavior

• Women are much better at discerning nonverbal emotions than men. When shown sad, happy, & scary film clips women expressed more emotions than men.

• Introverts better than extroverts

• Emotional contagion:– Automatically imitate other’s facial expressions, gestures, & postures,

– We come to feel as others do as well as look the same way.

Gender, Emotion, & Nonverbal Behavior

• Empathy– You identify with others and imagine what it must be like to walk in

their shoes– Females are more likely to express empathy

• Sympathy– Perception, understanding, and reaction to the distress or need of

another human being

• Empathy refers to the understanding and sharing of a specific emotional state with another person. Sympathy does not require the sharing of the same emotional state. Instead, sympathy is a concern for the well-being of another.

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Cultural & Gender Differences

1. Boys respond to anger by moving away from that situation, while girls talk to their friends or listen to music.

2. Anger breeds prejudice. The 9/11 attacks led to an intolerance towards immigrants and Muslims.

3. The expression of anger is more encouraged in cultures that do not promote group behavior (individualistic) than in cultures that do promote group behavior (collectivist).

Wolfgang K

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Expressed Emotion

Emotions are expressed on the face, by the body, and by the intonation of voice. Is this nonverbal language of emotion universal?

Expression of emotions

Joy• Left frontal lobe

Positive emotions – Left hemipositive personalitiesupbeat, alert, enthusiastic

Disgust• Right prefrontal cortex

• Negative emotions – Right hemi– Depression prone

Looking Glass Self

• We use others as a mirror for perceiving ourselves.

• Who provided the most memorable reflected appraisals in your life—parents, teachers, classmates, friends?

• Which of these appraisals was the most positive? • How have they served to threaten or boost your sense of

self-esteem? • Do you have any personal traits, abilities, or physical

characteristics that have been socially distinctive? • Did you like or dislike being distinctive?

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Analyzing Emotion

Analysis of emotions are carried on different levels.

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Causes of Anger

1. People generally become angry with friends and loved ones who commit wrongdoings, especially if they are willful, unjustified, and avoidable.

2. People are also angered by foul odors, high temperatures, traffic jams, and aches and pains.

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Catharsis Hypothesis

Venting anger through action or fantasy achieves an emotional release or

“catharsis.”

Expressing anger breeds more anger, and through reinforcement it is habit-forming.

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Happiness

•People who are happy perceive the world as being safer. • They are able to make decisions easily, are more cooperative, rate job applicants more favorably, and live healthier, energized, and more satisfied lives.

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Feel-Good, Do-Good Phenomenon

When we feel happy we are more willing to help others.Altruism

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Subjective Well-Being

Subjective well-being is the self-perceived feeling of happiness or satisfaction with life. Research on

new positive psychology is on the rise.h

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Emotional Ups and Downs

Our positive moods rise to a maximum within 6-7 hours after waking up. Negative moods stay more or less the same throughout the day.

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Emotional Ups and Downs

•Over the long run, our emotional ups and downs tend to balance. •Although grave diseases can bring individuals emotionally down, most people adapt.

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Wealth and Well-being

1. In affluent societies, people with more money are happier than people who struggle for their basic needs.

2. People in rich countries are happier than people in poor countries.

3. A sudden rise in financial conditions makes people happy.

However, people who live in poverty or in slums are also satisfied with their life.

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Does Money Buy Happiness?

Wealth is like health: Its utter

absence can breed misery, yet having it is no guarantee of

happiness.

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Happiness & Satisfaction

Subjective well-being (happiness + satisfaction) measured in 82 countries shows Puerto Rico and Mexico (poorer

countries) at the top of the list.

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Happiness & Prior Experience

Adaptation-Level Phenomenon: Like the adaptation to brightness, volume, and touch, people adapt to income levels. “Satisfaction

has a short half-life” (Ryan, 1999).

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Happiness is not only relative to our past, but also to our comparisons with others. Relative

Deprivation is the perception that we are relatively worse off than those we compare

ourselves with.

The Law of Diminishing Returns states that the more we experience something, the less

effect it has on us.

Happiness & Others’ Attainments

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Predictors of Happiness

Why are some people generally more happy than others?