5/2/2012

The Psychological Study of Emotion

What is an emotion? How do we experience emotion? How do we measure emotion?

What emotions do you experience when looking at these six pictures?

For each image, write down: One feeling One behavior or action you might be prompted to take based on your emotional response

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What reactions did you have? Why?

What might explain these emotional reactions?

Theses are universal emotions Emotions are adaptive

Emotions help us to:
protect ourselves in danger communicate with others help the self and the group survive

Why?
To propagate our genes and increase the survival of the species

Emotion as Psychological Construct: What is happiness?

How can we define happiness? How can we measure it?
1. List at least three ways psychologists might study the presence of this emotion 2. Consider the pros & cons of each method

Components of an emotional response

Introspective, subjective feelings Autonomic sympathetic nervous system responses & hormonal release Somatic responses including facial expressions and behaviors

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Data collection of subjective feelings: Free Response Please describe what emotions you experience when__________. In a diary, jot down the strongest emotions you felt during the day and what you were doing when you experienced them. Keep this journal for the next two months.
Advantages? Disadvantages?

Data collection of subjective feelings: Likert scale Do you feel _________? How __________ do you feel?
Not at all 1 2 3 4 Extremely 5

Advantages?

Disadvantages?

Data collection of somatic responses: Observation Naturalistic observation, observation during experimentation, case study Look for facial expressions Actions correlated with particular feelings

Data collection of autonomic responses: Physiological measures Heart rate Skin conductance Muscle movements EMG fMRI

Advantages?

Disadvantages?

Advantages?

Disadvantages?

Emotion as Psychological Construct: So what about happiness?

How can we define happiness? (indicators) Wealth Health Smiling Optimism Social position Social distinctions Family size Suicide & divorce rates

Emotion as Psychological Construct: So what about happiness?

How can we measure it? (operational definitions) Application of social science: The happiest place on earth
(20/20 4.5 minutes)

Why are we happy? Dan Gilbert TED Talk (20 minutes

happiest least happy

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Emotion as Psychological Construct:

What makes Denmark the happiest place on earth? Denmark
Realistic expectations

Emotion as Psychological Construct:

What makes Denmark the happiest place on earth? Denmark
Realistic expectations High taxes but
Provided for Healthy, laid back, trusting Equality of status Social tolerance

United States
The American Dream
You can have it all Skys the limit! Anything is possible - Dont sell yourself short strive for perfection Work harder - Nose to the grindstone
Keep up with the Joneses Grass is always greener

United States
The American Dream Independent spirit but
Diverse population
Conflict within country Diversity of outcomes

Different views of equality

Pull yourself up by your bootstraps Equality as ideal not as practice

Not having it all is settling

High expectations = high stress High levels of dissatisfaction

Participation in world conflicts

Economically & politically stressful

75% of Americans say that working on ones weaknesses is more important than fostering strengths

What conclusions can we draw?

Emotion is a subjective experience

Emotion as Psychological Construct:

Singapore: Happiest place in Asia? Singapore
One political party
Censored press Fines for smallest infractions Non-jury trials

Emotion as Psychological Construct:

Asheville, N.C. : Happiest place in U.S.?
The Geography of Bliss: One Grumps Search for the Happiest Places in the World (Eric Weiner , 2008)

So whats going on? Remember Denmark?

Liberal, tolerant, democratic Post-consumerist society

Asheville
You've got mountains, beautiful mountains all around," "You have a tremendous, thriving, artistic community. You have cafes everywhere, every other shop is a coffee shop or a bookstore. You have a really strong sense of community here. There's no such thing as personal happiness, your happiness is part and parcel of those around you."

High value on wealth

5 Cs: cash, credit cards, condominium, cars, country club Obsessed with keeping up Kids spend vacation at time management seminars

The Singapore trade-off Give up liberties for order

Clean, safe environment Highest paid civil servants in world

Rely on core Confucian values

Family above all else

Community is why happiness can be found along with the high taxes in Denmark, the harsh rules in Singapore and the crushing poverty in India. One study found that people living on the streets of Bombay & Calcutta, India, are happier than homeless folks on the streets of CA. While food and shelter are more accessible in the US, the "houseless" in the slums of India form communities.

What conclusions can we draw?

Culture influences perceptions

What conclusions can we draw?

Relationships are a better predictor of than wealth or status

Are emotions discrete?

Evidence for
Ekmans 6 universal emotions (lecture & text) 5 universal facial muscles (article in Moodle)

Who can catch a liar?

Evidence against lying

Is the polygraph reliable? (8.5 minutes) Does your body language give you away? (7 minutes)

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Why do we feel emotion?

1. James-Lange theory
stimulus arousal/expression
F-F fear

Evidence?
James-Lange theory
Case study of people with spinal cord injuries
Paraplegics experienced greater range of emotion (anger) Quadriplegics experienced less emotion but more crying (face)

emotion

bear in woods

instinctive, adaptive, stimulus-response

Cannon-Bard theory 2. Cannon-Bard theory

stimulus arousal/expression + emotion
F-F+ fear simultaneously bear in woods

Hypothesizes that thalamus (relay station) sends information to the amygdala and the autonomic nervous system at same time
Severed cortical connections in cats projected rage when provoked even though not receiving information from body Emotion not dependent on physiological cues from body

physiological responses delayed so cant just be cause-effect same bodily responses associated with different emotions (not discrete)

Why do we feel emotion?

3. Two-factor theory
perception of stimuli arousal/expression + cognitive label emotion
oh, a bear! F-F identification of arousal (reasoning) fear

Testing the two-factor theory: Dutton & Aron (p 413)

Attractive female approached men, asked for help on a survey, and gave them her phone number in case they had questions Half were approached on sturdy bridge
30% called her later

cognitive processes important, attribution of feelings

Evidence?
Experimental study on impact of physiological arousal Hypothesized that emotion is a function of both cognitive factors and physiological arousal.
Group 1: adrenalin shot happy research assistant Group 2: adrenalin shot angry research assistant Group 3: placebo shot happy research assistant Group 4: placebo shot angry research assistant

Half were approached on a swaying suspension bridge

60% called her later

Love at first fright: increased arousal = increased attraction

The men interpreted (labeled) the physiological arousal as attraction

Conclusions? Although arousal often intensifies emotion, emotion can also occur without external arousal

Why do we feel emotion?

4. Opponent-process theory
experience an emotion compensatory response

Motivation = why you do something Emotion = how you feel about it Incentive theory
Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation Contrast effect (extinction)

experience opposite homeostasis

Pleasure pain (drug addiction) Fear relief (thrill-seeking) Stress exhilaration pleasure Pain

Attraction
Proximity, similarity, reciprocity Physical attraction (Welcome Week study) Sex differences (parental investment theory)
Men attractiveness & younger women Women security & older men Both = intelligent, dependent, kind

Evidence?
explains emotional paradoxes runners high, cutting, horror movies, blood donation, risky jobs