Psychology for nurses,

Emotions Lecture 5
Dr Gihan Salem
Outline

• INTRODUCTION
• THE NURSE-PATIENT RELATIONSHIP.
• THERAPEUTIC USE OF THE SELF.
• REQUIREMENTS FOR THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP.
• PHASES OF A THERAPEUTIC NURSE-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP.
• NON-THERAPEUTIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES.
• CONCLUSION.
INTRODUCTION

As we move through our daily lives, we experience

a variety of emotions. An emotion is a subjective
state of being that we often describe as our
feelings.
What Is Emotion?

In psychology, emotion is often

defined as a complex state of feeling
that results in physical and
psychological changes that influence
thought and behavior.
Components of emotions:
 Our emotional states are combinations of:
• physiological arousal,
• psychological appraisal, and
• subjective experiences.
 Together, these are known as the components of
emotion.
 These appraisals are informed by our experiences,
backgrounds, and cultures. Therefore, different people
may have different emotional experiences even when
faced with similar circumstances.
THEORIES OF EMOTION:

There are several theories of emotion, that have been proposed to

explain how the various components of emotion interact with one another.
Theories can be grouped into three main categories: physiological,
neurological, and cognitive. Physiological theories suggest that responses
within the body are responsible for emotions. Neurological theories
propose that activity within the brain leads to emotional responses.
Finally, cognitive theories argue that thoughts and other mental activity
play an essential role in forming emotions.
Theories cont;

Here We will focus on the physiological and cognitive theories

Physiological theories:
• The James-Lange theory of emotion
• The Cannon- Bard theory of emotion
cognitive theories
• The Schachter-Singer two-factor theory of emotion.

• Lazarus theory of emotion

 • The James-Lange theory is one of the
best-known examples of a physiological
theory of emotion. Independently
proposed by psychologist William
James and physiologist Carl Lange, the
1.The James- James-Lange theory of emotion suggests
that emotions occur as a result of
Lange theory physiological reactions to events.
• If you were to encounter some threat in
of emotion: your environment, like a venomous snake
in your backyard, your sympathetic
nervous system would initiate significant
physiological arousal, which would make
you tremble, your heart race and increase
your respiration rate.
 • According to the James-Lange theory of emotion, you
would only experience a feeling of fear after this
physiological arousal had taken place.

• You Conclude ("I am trembling. Therefore, I am afraid").

According to this theory of emotion, you are not trembling
because you are frightened. Instead, you feel frightened
Cont; because you are trembling.
In brief;
• An emotion-arousing stimulus in the environment triggers a
physiological reaction.
• Our awareness of the physiological reaction leads to our
experience of an emotion.
 2.The Cannon- Bard theory of emotion

• This is another well-known physiological theory. According to this view, physiological arousal
and emotional experience occur simultaneously, yet independently. So, when you see the
venomous snake, you feel fear at exactly the same time that your body mounts its fight or
flight response. This emotional reaction would be separate and independent of the
physiological arousal, even though they co-occur.

• In Brief:
• An emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers both a physiological response and the
experience of an emotion.
3. The Schachter-Singer two-factor theory of
emotion
. According to this theory, emotions are composed of two factors:
physiological and cognitive. In other words, physiological arousal is
interpreted in context to produce the emotional experience. In
revisiting our example involving the venomous snake in your
backyard, the two-factor theory maintains that the snake elicits
sympathetic nervous system activation that is labeled as fear given
the context, and our experience is that of fear.
In brief Emotion involves two factors:
• A physiological arousal
• A cognitive label of the arousal
Cont;

It is important to point out that Schachter and

Singer believed that physiological arousal is very
similar across the different types of emotions that
we experience, and therefore, the cognitive
appraisal of the situation is critical to the actual
emotion experienced.
Comparison

• The three theories

4. the cognitive-mediational theory

• it is also called the Cognitive Appraisal Theory or Lazarus theory of

emotion. According to appraisal theories of emotion, thinking must occur
first before experiencing emotion.

• . Lazarus (1991) stated that our emotions are determined by our

appraisal of the stimulus. This appraisal mediates between the stimulus
and the emotional response, and it is immediate and often unconscious.
In contrast to the Schachter-Singer model, the appraisal precedes a
cognitive label.
Cont;

• For example, if you encounter a bear in

the woods, you might immediately begin to
think that you are in great danger. This
then leads to the emotional experience of
fear and the physical reactions associated
with the fight-or-flight response.
Questions

Thank you