EMOTIONS

Ms. Rabika tul ain Arshad

Lecturer Psychology, DMSS
Abasyn University, Islamabad
 What are Emotions?
• The word ‘emotion’ is derived from a Latin word “emovere”,
which means to stir up, agitate or excite
• Emotion is a complex psychological phenomenon which
occurs as animals or people live their lives
• They can be termed as intense feelings directed at someone
or something
 Emotions as Situational Experience
• Emotions are reactions that human beings experience in
response to events or situations.
• The American Psychological Association (APA) states that the
type of emotion a person experiences is determined by the
circumstance that triggers the emotion.
• For instance, a person experiences joy when they receive
good news. A person experiences fear when they are
threatened.
 Components of Emotions
• Emotions are defined as an experience that has subjective feeling,
cognitive interpretation, physiological reaction and a behavioral
expression.
• Hence there are three main components or aspects of emotions:
 1. Subjective Experience
• While experts believe that there are a
number of basic universal emotions that
are experienced by people all over the
world regardless of background or
culture, researchers also believe that
experiencing emotion can be highly
subjective.
• Consider anger, for example. Is all anger
the same? Your own experience might
range from mild annoyance to blinding
rage.
 2. Physiological Response
• The autonomic nervous system controls involuntary body responses,
such as blood flow and digestion.
• The sympathetic nervous system is charged with controlling the
body's fight-or-flight reactions.
• When facing a threat, these responses automatically prepare your
body to flee from danger or face the threat head-on.
• Brain scans have shown that the amygdala, part of the limbic system,
plays an important role in emotion and fear in particular.
 3. Behavioral Response
• The final component is perhaps one that you are most familiar with—
the actual expression of emotion.
• We spend a significant amount of time interpreting the emotional
expressions of the people around us.
• Our ability to accurately understand these expressions is tied to what
psychologists call emotional intelligence, and these expressions play a
major part in our overall body language.
 Nature & Characteristics of Emotions
1.Associated with some instincts/biological drives
2.Product of perception
3.Core of emotion is feeling
4.Brings physiological changes
5.Present in all organism
6.Present in all stages of life
7.Individualized/Subjective and differ from person to person
8.Can be displaced
9.Negative correlation between upsurge of emotions and intelligence
 Types of Emotions
• Emotions can be differentiated as positive or negative, pleasant or
unpleasant, primary or secondary
• The psychologist Paul Eckman established the six universal emotions.
Also referred as basic emotions.
Factors affecting Emotions
Personality

Health Weather

Exercise Sleep

Gender Age
 Theories of Emotions
• Emotions are a mix of 1) physiological activation, 2)
expressive behaviors, and 3) conscious experience.

Controversy
• Does physiological arousal precede or follow your emotional
experience?
• Does cognition (thinking) precede emotion (feeling)?
Common-Sense Theory
 James-Lange Theory
• William James and Carl Lange proposed an idea that was
diametrically opposed to the common-sense view.
• The James-Lange Theory proposes that physiological activity
precedes the emotional experience.
 Cannon-Bard Theory
• Walter Cannon and
Phillip Bard questioned
the James-Lange
Theory and proposed
that an emotion-
triggering stimulus and
the body's arousal take
place simultaneously.
 Schachter-Singer
Two-Factor Theory
Emotions involve two factors:
• A physiological arousal
• A cognitive/conscious label of the arousal
• Perception and thought about a stimulus influence the type of
emotion felt
• Degree of bodily arousal influences the intensity of emotion felt