INTRODUCTION:

The word ‘emotion’ was derived from a Latin word ‘emovere’ which means to ‘move

out' or ‘agitate'. As human beings, emotions are a defining and daily part of life. We experience a

wide range of emotions daily and they color our experience of the world. Emotions may be specific,

brief, barely conscious, physically pronounced, unnoticed, unacknowledged by the subject, socially

appropriate or inappropriate, or even socially obligatory. Emotions result from the combination of

subjective experience, expression, cognitive appraisal and psychological responses (Levenson,

Carstensen, Friesen & Ekman, 1991). (Fischer and Van Kleef, 2010) opine that despite this

increasing awareness, the inclusion of the social dimension as a fundamental element in emotion

research is still in its infancy. Emotion as a single subject is difficult to define and even study.

The American Psychological Association (APA), defined emotion as “ a complex

reaction pattern, involving experiential, behavioral and physiological elements.”

Merriam Webster Dictionary (11th edition) 2003, defines emotion as a conscious mental reaction

(such as anger or fear) subjectively experienced as strong feeling usually directed towards a

specific object and typically accompanied by physiological and behavioral changes in the body. It

can also be a state of feeling or the affective aspect of consciousness.

(William James, 1884) defines emotions as first and foremost, a specific class of feelings to be

distinguished from related concepts such as moods,sensations and sentiments. Emotions according

to this view are the subjective feelings associated with bodily changes and expressive behaviors.

Hence as (James p.g 190) famously put it “We feel sorry because we cry, angry because we strike,

afraid because we tremble and not vice versa.”

Aristotle (384–322 BCE), said emotions are “all those feelings that so change men as to affect their

judgements, and that are also attended by pain or pleasure. Such are anger, pity, fear and the like,

with their opposites.”

Emotions are how individuals deal with matters or situations they find personally significant. They

tend to be elicited by other people, expressed towards other people, and regulated to influence other

people or to comply with social norms (Fischer and Manstead, in press)

(Solomon, 2019) defines emotion as a complex experience of consciousness, bodily sensational

behavior that reflects the personal significance of a thing, an event or a state of affairs.

Emotions are widely thought to be adaptive, in so far as they are purposeful and meaningful for an
individual and reflect an evaluative engagement with the environment that helps one prepare for

specifications. Related to this capacity, emotions are generally presumed to fulfill communicative

purposes. For instance through facial and vocal expressions which is why they are deemed essential

to social interaction. Emotion consists of physiological responses; such as change in blood pressure

and heart rate; the feelings we describe as joy, anger or surprise and expressive reactions, such as

facial expressions or body posture.

THEORIES OF EMOTIONS

Theories of emotions are broadly classified under the following:

1. The Evolutionary Theory.

2.. The James-Lange Theory.

3. The Cognitive Theory.

1. The Evolutionary Theory of Emotions: Charles Darwin a naturalist, proposed that

emotions evolved because they were adaptive and allowed humans and animals to survive and

reproduces. Feelings of love and affection lead people to seek mates and reproduce. According to

this theory of emotion, our emotions exist because they serve an adaptive role. Emotions motivate

people to respond quickly to stimuli in the environments, which helps improve the chances of

success and survival. Understanding the emotions of other people and animals also plays a crucial

role in safety and survival. If you encounter a hissing, spitting and clawing animal, chances are that

you would realize that the animal is frightened or defensive and leave it alone by being able to

interpret correctly the emotional displays of other people and animals therefore you can respond

correctly and avoid danger. In a recent development under the evolutionary theory of emotions, it

has been proposed that emotions are innate responses to specific stimuli (Benjamin et al 1992). In

addition to this theory, emotions appear to solve an important function which has led many to think

that there are certain emotions that have been selected to deal with particular problems and

challenges that organisms regularly encounter. As (Dacher Kettner et al) has stated that emotions

have the hallmark of adaptation; they are efficient, coordinated responses that help organisms to

reproduce, protect offspring and maintain cooperative alliances and to avoid physical theories

( Kettner, Haidt and Sholta. 2006 p117)

 2. The James-Lange Theory of Emotions: This theory was named after the two

authorities that came towards the end of the 19th century specifically 1884. They believed that the

bodily changes result from the perception of the situation and that the ability to recognize such

changes produces the feeling. In explaining this concept, when you see a Tiger you get frightened

and find a route of escape because you are frightened. At this time the bodily changes would occur

as a result of the fear caused by seeing the Tiger. In James-Lange theory, however the person sees

the tiger, run and experiences fright; bodily changes has taken place within. This theory suggests

that seeing an external stimulus leads to a physiological reaction.

EXTERNAL STIMULI --- PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGE --- PERCEPTION OF

EMOTIONBenjamin et al, pg 365).

The German Psychologist, William Wundt was one of the first to critique this theory, he instead

suggests that emotions were a primal and hard wired response. Another issue with this theory is

that when tested by applying electrical stimulation to the same site, it does not lead to the same

emotions every time. A person might have the same exact physiological response to a stimulus, yet

experience a different emotion.

3. The Cognitive Theory of Emotions: According to this theory, thinking must occur first

before experiencing emotion. Richard Lazarus was a pioneer in this area of emotion and this theory

is often referred to as the “Lazarus Theory of Emotions”. This theory states that the sequence of

events first involves a stimulus, followed by thought, which then leads to the simultaneous

experience of a physiological response and the emotion. For example, 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.

Thus, this theory clearly stipulates that our thoughts and other mental activities may be conscious

or unconscious. Emotions could be physiological; responses within the body causes emotions.

Neurological; brain activity causes emotional responses and, Cognitive; thoughts form emotions.

OTHER THEORIES OF EMOTIONS.

1. Facial Feedback Theory: This theory suggests that facial expressions are crucial to
experiencing emotions, connected to the works of Charles Darwin and William James, this theory

hypothesized that facial expressions impact emotions as opposed to their being a response to an

emotion. This theory holds that emotions are tied directly to physical changes in the facial muscles.
2. Cannon-Bard Theory: Developed by Walter Cannon and Phillip Bard in the 1920’s, to refute the
James-Lange theory, it holds that bodily changes and emotions occur simultaneously instead of one
right after the other; backed by Neurobiological science, it says that once a stimulating event is
detected, the information is relayed to both the Amygdala(help define and regulate emotions) and
the brain cortex at the same time.
What all theories of emotions have in common is the idea that an emotion is based off some

sort of of personally significant stimulus or experience, prompting a biological and psychological

reaction.

COMPONENTS OF EMOTIONS:

In order to truly understand emotions, it is important to understand the three critical components of

an emotion. Each element can play a role in the function and purpose of your emotional responses.

These components are;

i. Subjective component.

ii. Physiological component.

iii. Expressive component.

1. Subjective Components: The subjective component explains that all emotions begin with a

subjective experience also referred to as a stimulus; this means that while basic emotions are

expressed by all individuals regardless of culture or upbringing, the experience that produces them

can be highly subjective. Subjective experiences can range from something as simple as seeing a

color to something as major as losing a loved one or getting married. No matter how intense the

experience is, it can provoke many emotions in a single individual and the emotions each

individual feels may be different. For example, one person may feel regret at the loss of a loved one

while another may experience intense sadness.

2. Physiological Component: This has to to do with how the body reacts to emotions. We all know

how it feels to have our hearts race with fear. This physiological response is the result of the

autonomic nervous system's reaction to the emotion we are experiencing. The autonomic nervous
system controls our involuntary bodily responses and regulates our fight or flight response.

According to many psychologists, our physiological responses are likely how emotions helped us

evolve and survive as humans throughout history. Interestingly, studies have shown autonomic

physiological responses are strongest when a person's facial expression most closely resembles the

expression of the emotion they are experiencing. In other words, facial expressions play an

important role in responding accordingly to an emotion in a physical sense.

3. Expressive Component: This is also called the behavioral response. It entails the actual

expression of emotions. It can include a smile, a grimace, a laugh or a sigh along with many other

reactions. Research has shown that many facial expressions are universal such as a frown to

indicate sadness. Socio-cultural norms and individual upbringings play a role in our behavioral

responses. For example, how love is expressed is different from person to person and across

cultures. Behavioral responses are important to signal to others how we are feeling but research

shows that they are also vital to individual's well-being. A study in the journal of Abnormal

Psychology found out that while watching negative and positive emotional films, suppression of

behavioral responses to emotions had physical effects on the participants. The effects include

elevated heart rates. This suggests that expressing behavioral responses to stimuli both positive and

negative is better for your overall health than holding those responses inside. Thus, there are

benefits of smiling, laughing and expressing negative emotions in a healthy way.

The Physiological and Expressive components associated with emotions illustrate that

emotion is more than a mental state of mind. Emotions affect our whole comportment and our

health. In addition, our ability to understand the behavioral responses of others, plays a huge role in

our emotional intelligence. Emotions can play an important role in how we think and behave. The

emotions you feel each day can compel you to take actions and influence the decisions you make

about your life, both large and small.

FUNCTIONS OF EMOTIONS:

Emotions plays a relevant role in our lives because they have important functions so much so that it

is impossible to imagine life without it. Some of these functions are;

1. INTRAPERSONAL FUNCTIONS OF EMOTIONS:

Emotions helps us to act swiftly when faced with situations without so much thought process on the
particular action taken. It is a rapid information - processing system that aids humans in adapting to

problems with minimal cognitive intervention.

Emotions prepares the body for action, when triggered it orchestrates systems such as perception,

attention, inference, learning, memory, goal choice, motivational priorities, physiological reactions,

motor behaviors, and behavioral decision making (Cosmides & Tooby, 2000; Tooby & Cosmides,

2008)

Emotions are the basis of many attitudes, values, perception and beliefs that we have about our

environment and the people in it; without emotions they would be meaningless and void of any

true feeling.

Emotions also influences our thought process, sometimes in a constructive way and sometimes

otherwise. It is more tasking to think when one is run over with emotions or feelings, but it is easier

to think when one is not.

Emotions also serves as an important motivational basis for future behaviors. For example if we

bought a particular biscuit and felt irritated after eating it, in the future or subsequently we would

avoid buying that biscuit.

Emotions simultaneously activate certain systems and deactivate others in order to prevent the

chaos of competing systems operating at the same time, allowing for coordinated responses to

environmental stimuli (Levenson, 1999) For example, when one is afraid or in a dangerous situation

the body prepares itself in such a way that would allow for easy escape.

2. INTERPERSONAL FUNCTIONS OF EMOTIONS:

Everyday of our lives, we interact with one another. Emotions are expressed verbally through words

and non-verbally through facial expressions, voices, gestures, body postures and movements. Our

emotion communicate to others our feelings, intention and relationship with them.

Emotions aid communication with others. Emotional expressions facilitate specific behaviors with

perceivers. People are more likely to avoid a person who has an angry facial expression and

approach a person who is smiling and has a receptive facial expression.

Emotional displays evoke specific complementary emotional responses from observers, for

example anger evokes fear in others (Dimberg & Ohman, 1996), whereas distress evokes sympathy

and assistance(Eisenberg et al., 1989)

Emotions also define the nature of interpersonal relationships. For instance the emotion (love, joy,

excitement, happiness) a girl shows or expresses to the boy she loves and vice versa.

Facial expressions as studies have shown are important regulators of social interaction. A biological

organism (a baby) at the earliest stage of his life is exposed to facial expressions of emotion. Hence,

emotional expressions provide incentives for desired social behavior.

Other functions of emotions are;

1. Emotions affect our cognitive processes: Cognitive processes are the mental processes involved

in gaining knowledge and comprehension. this processes involved language, imagination,

perception, and planning. Our emotional state play on the cognitive processes of our brain. For

example, anger may affect the speech of a person such that his true native accent is revealed. Panic

or anxiety may cause a person to imagine a problem or challenge to be bigger than it actually is.

2. Emotions and their Expressions have influence on how people perceive, and respond to us: our

facial expressions of emotion are social signals that are read by all, they show the expresser’s

psychological state, intent and subsequent behavior. This information will affect what a perceiver is

likely to do or to respond.

(Marsh, Ambady, & Kleck, 2005) said that people observing fearful faces, for instance, are more

likely to produce approach-related behaviors, whereas people who observe angry faces are more

likely to produce avoidance-related behaviors.

3. Emotions Influence our Thoughts: Emotions are also connected to thoughts and memories.

(Wang & Ross, 2007) said memories are not just facts that are encoded in our brains; they are

colored with the emotions felt at those times the facts occurred. Emotions influence our thinking

processes, sometimes in constructive ways, sometimes not.

It is difficult to think critically and clearly when we feel intense emotions, but easier when we are

not overwhelmed with emotions hence the saying ‘do not make promises when you are joyed, or

make decisions when you are angry'.

Reference

Marsh, A. A., Ambady, N., & Kleck, R. E. (2005). The effects of fear and anger facial expressions
on approach- and avoidance-related behaviors. Emotion, 5(1), 119–124.