Theory of Emotion

Ashwin Chhaperia

What is Emotion ?

Emotion can be defined as a strong feeling deriving from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.

Emotions have two components:• Physical reaction (rapid heartbeat,

etc.)• Conscious experience or feeling

(sadness, anger, etc.)

Theories of Emotion

Does your heart beat faster because you are afraid… or are you afraid because you feel your heart beating faster?

James - Lange

William James and Carl Lange

To explain the theory, Lange said that our common sense tells us that if a person encounters a bear, he feels afraid and then he runs.

But according to the theory,  seeing a bear causes the ANS to stimulate the muscles to get tensed and the heart to beat faster. After such bodily changes, that is the time that emotion of fear emerges.

Cannon - Bard

According to the Cannon-Bard Theory of emotion, emotions and bodily changes do not share a cause-and-effect relationship.

Rather, the theory states that the stimulus simultaneously triggers physiological responses and the experience of emotion.

To explain the theory in a simplified way, we could consider an example. When a person sees a venomous snake, he feels afraid and his muscles get tensed at the same time, preparing to run away from the dangerous animal. One can observe the person’s emotion based on the physiological signals that his body displays.

Schacter – Singer ‘s Two Factor Theory

It is a two-stage theory which states that for an emotion to occur, there must be (1) a physiological arousal and (2) an explanation for the arousal.

or cognitive label

(causes physiological symptoms)

Example