then examined for details.
Facial action coding system (FACS), has been developed
by Ekman (1980) to decode the facial expressions using the information from the
various muscles of the face. Facial expressions can vary in intensity of display too.
The posed expressions are generally most intense representations of emotions while
the spontaneous expressions are milder in occurrence. There are micro-expressions
that occur for a fleeting moment and are generally, subtler to detect by the
experimenter. These expressions are very useful to detect liars or deceivers. Charles
Darwin talked about the evolutionary perspective of emotion. He proposed that
primary emotions have an evolutionary basis that is part of our species heritage.
People from different cultures are able to recognize different emotions from facial
expressions. The social context in which the emotion occurs also plays an important
role. Frijda (1969) suggests that while making judgments about emotions, we
generally use facial expressions or non-verbal information, though learning does
modify the expression of emotions. For example, there are social display rules that
tend to mediate the emotional expressions in a particular culture. These display
rules tend to regulate our emotional expression in more socially and culturally
appropriate way. The basic emotions are largely determined by the oldest part of
the brain, the limbic system, including amygdala, hypothalamus and thalamus.
Types of Emotions
There are various kinds of emotions that we experience and express. There are
different sources of these emotional feelings which are experienced for a relatively
longer period of time than moods that are more transient in nature.
I. Happiness: When we are able to achieve something that makes us feel
pleasurable and elated. It is a feeling of joy that is experienced when we are
content, gratified and satisfied with our life. It contributes to our state of
mental health and well-being. It is often expressed in smiles or a positive
behavior as laughing, and being more active and energetic.
II. Fear: Any situation that induces a feeling of terror or threat to one’s
wellbeing causes fear. Fear plays an important role in survival as it motivates
the person to protect him or herself. There is an increase in heart rate,
respiration rate and the body muscles become tense. The person is alert and
tries to fight with the fearful situation or take flight from the fearful situation.
The fearful situation is perceived as relatively less threatening if one is
exposed to it again and again. Thus, the person is systematically desensitized
to the fearful situation.
III. Sadness: Sadness is another emotion that is characterized by feelings of dis
contentment, grief, and unhappiness. The person may feel frustrated due to
certain failures in life or personal loss and a condition of apathy may occur.
The person feels dull, low, disinterested in things around him or her. The
person feels hopeless and disappointed. If this continues for a longer period
of time then it may also lead to depression. It may be displayed as lowered
lips, crying or sulking behavior with drooping shoulders.
IV. Anger: When we are unable to reach our goals, it causes frustration that
provokes anger. Sometimes when people do things that are unjust or hurt us
with verbal insults or physically hurting us, then it instigates one to get angry.
There can be various reasons behind the feeling of anger and the expression
of anger may also vary across age groups and gender. Men show more anger
as compared to women. There are various techniques of therapy that help
the person to modulate one’s anger, control it and reduce the intensity with
which it is experienced or expressed.
V. Surprise: Surprise is a very brief emotion that is generally very intense. It is
a response to a stimulus that may be unexpected, may be pleasant or
unpleasant and it leads to a state of startle. The person may display it by
raised eye brows, or dilated pupils, loud scream or gasp, jumping behavior or
opening of the mouth. The events that cause surprise are the ones that are
remembered relatively better than the other events.
VI. Disgust: When we are faced with a situation or environment that is
unhygienic or repulsive in sight or evokes a smell then it produces disgust.
Generally, in disgust the person shows a nose crunch and moves away from
the annoying stimulus inorder to avoid experiencing the unpleasantness.
Sometimes people may vomit or move away from a repulsive stimulus.
Sometimes, when we see others engaging in behaviors that are amoral or
distasteful, then we may display disgust, or if we see something very
unpleasant or hurting another one or ugly to look at, it may evoke disgust.
Functions Of Emotions
From what has been discussed above, there must be no doubt in your mind that
emotions are important. But it is also important to understand the functions of
emotions, which are discussed as follows:
1) Emotions prepare an individual for action: Emotions serve as a link
between the situation and the individual’s reaction. For example, if an
individual is crossing a road and suddenly sees a truck coming his/ her way,
the emotional reaction that she/he would display is that of fear and it is linked
with the physiological arousal.
2) Emotions play a role in shaping of future behaviour of an individual:
Learning takes place as a result of emotions experienced by us. Thus, for
example, the situations that evoke negative emotions are avoided by us.
3) Emotions help in effective interaction with others: Emotions that are
communicated verbally and non-verbally may help individuals interact with
each other more efficiently. Emotions act as signals thus, helping individuals
to understand what the other person is experiencing. Based on this, future
behaviour of individuals may also be predicted.
Theories of Emotions
There are many theories of emotion, mostly with different ideas to emphasize upon.
The early theories are based on ideas related to bodily states. The recent theories
are based on cognitive approach. Let us look at the main theories of emotions.
James-Lange Theory
American Psychologist William James (1884, 1890, 1894) and Danish physician Carl
Lange (1885) developed this theory which proposed that felt emotion is the
perception of bodily changes. That is, we experience the bodily changes as
emotions. We perceive the situation that will produce emotion, then we react to the
situation and then we observe our reactions. So, the emotion that we feel, takes
place after the bodily changes have taken place.
Cannon-Bard Theory
Physiologists Walter Cannon (1927) and Philip Bard (1934) developed another
theory which proposed that the emotion that we feel depends upon the activity of
the lower brain areas. It suggests that the felt emotion and the bodily changes that
occur in response to the emotion are independent of one another, rather both occur
simultaneously. This theory proposes that we first perceive the situation that may
produce an emotion. This is followed by the activation of the hypothalamus which
sends impulses to the internal organs of the body and the muscles that produce the
expression of emotion. The impulses are also sent to the cerebral cortex where the
emotion is experienced.