Emotional behavior
Definition of Emotion
The word emotion derives from Latin word ‘Emover’ that means to tremble, to shake, to
shudder.
Emotions are subjective experiences that involve physiological arousal and cognitive
appraisal.
Emotions can be defined as psychological states that comprise thoughts and feelings,
physiological changes, expressive behaviors, and inclinations to act
Emotion refers to the intensity of feelings.
McDougall describes “emotion as the affective aspect of instinct”.
According to Woodworth “emotion refers to the state of arousal”.
PSYCHOLOGY OF EMOTIONS/COMPONENTS-ASPECTS OF EMOTIONS
1. Biology of Emotions (physiological changes)
Emotions follow complex biological processes that include several bodily systems. The limbic
system includes: the amygdala and the hippocampus. It functions as the brain’s emotional
circuit. Both the amygdala and the hippocampus play a role in normal emotional processing as
well as in mood and anxiety disorders.
Hypothalamus send commands to sympathetic nervous system and adrenal glands for bodily
changes. The adrenal gland secretes adrenaline hormone that will circulate in the body through
blood and bring the necessary changes for fight and flight. The sympathetic nervous system
controls and regulates the smooth muscles of the body to bring the necessary requirements for
emergency conditions. Following changes are brought in the body: increased pulse rate,
increased heartbeat, increased circulation of the blood, sweating, palpitation, dryness of mouth,
increased respiratory rate, increased supply of oxygen to the muscles and body organs, high
blood glucose, increased function of liver by converting glycogen in glucose, heat and cold
waves, goose pumps and decreased function of stomach to digest the food. In this manner the
body is prepared for the emergency condition and perform the fight or flight as per requirement.
2. Behavioral component/ Expressive Behavior
This component has been called the outward expression of our emotions.
Body gestures, posture, facial expressions, and our tone of voice display what emotions
we are feeling. Many of our facial expressions are universal. In other words, behaviors are a
direct reflection of thoughts and physiological arousal associated with the situation.
One way that we perceive the emotions of others is through their nonverbal communication,
that is, communication, primarily of liking or disliking that does not involve words. Nonverbal
communication includes our tone of voice, gait, posture, touch, and facial expressions, and we
can often accurately detect the emotions that other people are experiencing through these
channels. Ways of expressing emotions may be either innate or culturally acquired. Certain
facial expressions, such as smiling, have been found to be universal, even among blind persons,
who have no means of imitating them. Other expressions vary across cultures.
Verbal communication includes words, sentences, phrase, essays and poetry.
3. COGNITIVE APPRAISAL
Humans have more highly evolved cognitive abilities than other species. This cognitive
capacity plays an important role in the human emotional experience.
Appraisal is the cognitive interpretation of an event in terms of an individual’s needs and
desires. In older children and adults, it is not the events themselves that appear to elicit the
emotional response, but the person’s appraisal. The transition from simple, reflexive response
in infants to cognitive mediation of response in older children fits in well with general course of
cognitive development.
The most fundamental type of appraisal is whether the event is good or bad for the individual.
Does the event further individual’s wishes, values and goals; does it interfere with them; or it is
of no concern. Depending upon the appraisal, the same event can produce a positive emotion in
one person and a negative emotion in another. It appears that specific appraisals may
automatically trigger certain emotions.
We can exercise some cognitive control over our more ordinary emotions. Emotions involve
goals and desires, so we can alter our emotional responses by reevaluating and altering our
goals. Emotions also involve appraisals of events and situations, which we can reevaluate or
alter, thereby modifying our emotional reactions.
THEORIES OF EMOTION
1. JAMES LANGE THEORY OF EMOTION
William James, who is also known as the father of functionalist psychology, and Lange
presented the James-Lange theory of emotion. He states that emotion is equivalent to the range
of physiological arousal caused by external events. The two scientists suggested that for
someone to feel emotion, he/she must first experience bodily responses such as increased
respiration, increased heart rate, or sweaty hands. Once this physiological response is
recognized, then the person can say that he/she feels the emotion.
Explanation People experience situations and events that result in physiological reactions
such as muscular tension, heart rate increase, dryness of the mouth, and many others, which are
created by the autonomic nervous system. The James Lange theory of emotion suggests that
emotions are a result of these physiological responses, and not their cause.
Example; you are walking at late night. You hear footsteps behind you and you begin to
tremble, your heart beats faster, and your breathing deepness. You notice these physiological
changes and interpret physiological changes and interpret them as your body’s preparation for a
fearful situation. You then experience fear.
It proposes that physiological arousal precedes the experience of emotion, according to this
theory, we don't blush because we're embarrassed; rather, we feel embarrassed because we
blush.
The James-Lange theory proposes that an event or stimulus causes a physiological arousal
without any interpretation or conscious thought, and you experience the resulting emotion only
after you interpret the physical response.
Criticism
Some of the reasons highlighted by Cannon as to why he rejects the James-Lange theory of
emotion:
Physiological experience of emotion does not appear to differ from each other to the
extent that would be essential to discriminate one emotion from another based only on our
bodily reaction.
Physiological aspect of emotion shadows our subjective experience of the emotion, at
times.
Physiological responses that are made artificially do not result in emotions.
2. THE CANNON-BARD THEORY
The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion, also known as the thalamic theory of emotion, is a
physiological explanation of emotion developed by Walter Cannon and Philip Bard.
Cannon-Bard theory states that we feel emotions and experience physiological reactions
such as sweating, trembling, and muscle tension simultaneously.
More specifically, it is suggested that emotions result when the thalamus sends a message to
the brain in response to a stimulus, resulting in a physiological reaction.
For example: I see a snake --> I am afraid, and I begin to tremble.
According to the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion, we react to a stimulus and experience the
associated emotion at the same time.
An example is the separation or divorce of their parents. Imagine you’re 8 years old. Your
parents just told you that they’re separating and will probably get a divorce. You feel sad and
angry. Your stomach is upset. You think you might be sick.
Criticism According to this theory emotion is controlled by the central nervous system, and
the thalamus plays the important role in it. However, researches have the established that the
thalamus is not a must for the appearance of emotion. It is basically hypothalamus that plays
role in the emotional experience.
The higher animals that have the backbone and spinal cord possess the autonomic nervous
system and show a few emotions. The animals that do not have the backbone and cortex display
behavior similar to the emotion of anger.
3. THE SCHACTER-SINGER THEORY
Also known as the “Two-Factor Theory of Emotion”, the Schachter and Singer theory of
emotion is a cognitive approach to understanding how emotional states are determined by
cognitive factors.
Origin of the Theory From the late 1950s, the so-called cognitive revolution became
prominent among psychologists. Following this trend, Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer
proposed that there are cognitive factors that influence the varied states of emotions, moods and
feelings. They took account of the physiological-based theories such as the James-Lange
Theory and the Cannon-Bard Theory, and came with a conclusion that the various visceral or
physiological patterns do not match the wide variety of emotional states of individuals. The
theory was formally introduced by Schachter and Singer in 1962.
The two-factor theory of emotion focuses on the interaction between physical arousal and
how we cognitively label that arousal. In other words, simply feeling arousal is not enough; we
also must identify the arousal in order to feel the emotion.
So, imagine you are alone in a dark parking lot walking toward your car. A strange man
suddenly emerges from a nearby row of trees and rapidly approaches. The sequence that
follows, according to the two-factor theory, would be much like this:
1. I see a strange man walking toward me.
2. My heart is racing and I am trembling.
3. My rapid heart rate and trembling are caused by fear.
4. I am frightened!
The Schachter-Singer theory takes a more cognitive approach to the issue. Schacter and
Singer believe that an event causes physiological arousal, but that you must then identify a
reason for the arousal before you label the emotion.
The Schachter Singer Experiment
Schachter and Singer’s basic hypothesis was that emotional states are a function of the
interaction of cognitive factors occurring during states of physiological arousal. They built their
experiment on three propositions:
Given a state of physiological arousal for which a person has no immediate explanation, they
will “label” this state and describe their feelings in terms available to them.
Given a state of physiological arousal for which an individual has a completely appropriate
explanation, no evaluative needs will arise and the individual is unlikely to label their feelings
in terms of alternative cognitions available.
Given the same cognitive circumstances, the individual will react emotionally or describe his
feelings as emotions only to the extent that he experiences a state of physiological arousal.
The Procedure
To test the three propositions, Schachter and Singer designed and experiment that would
manipulate arousal and available cognitions. To manipulate arousal, test subjects received an
injection of epinephrine (adrenalin) while the control group received and injection of a placebo.
An injection of adrenalin creates a near mirror physiological state as arousal of the sympathetic
nervous system (systolic blood pressure increases, heart rate increases, cutaneous blood flow
decreases, etc.).
Some of the subjects were given a preparatory explanation of these feeling affects, other were
given misinformation (numb feet, itching sensations, and a slight headache), and other given no
information about possible affects. Schachter and Singer labeled the groups epinephrine
informed, epinephrine ignorant, and epinephrine misinformed. Basically some of the subjects
knew the injections caused the arousal and some did not.
To induce cognition, a confederate joined the test subjects in a waiting room after the injection
and created either a playful environment to induce euphoria cognitions or a displeasing
environment to induce angry cognitions.
The Findings
Schachter and Singer found that those without an informed explanation for their physiological
arousal were more likely to respond emotionally to the confederate. Basically, they expressed
euphoria or anger along with the confederate. Those that had a logical explanation for their
emotion (a physical reaction to epinephrine) were less likely to react emotionally to the
confederate.
Example: You're taking the last bus of the night, and you're the only passenger. A single
man gets on and sits in the row behind you. When your stop comes around, he also gets off the
bus. He's walking behind you. You feel tingles down your spine with a rush of adrenaline. You
know that there have been several muggings in your city over the past few weeks, so you feel
afraid
Criticisms of the Schachter-Singer theory suggest that we can experience emotions before
we recognize that we’re thinking about them. For instance, upon seeing a snake, you might run
without thinking that the emotion you’re experiencing is fear.