Chapter 10
Emotions
Chapter Outline
Defining Emotions Classical Ideas About the Origins of Emotion
Universal Emotions and Facial Expressions Social Emotions Summary
Defining Emotions
Emotions are not easy to define. Terms that are synonymous with emotion
include sentiment, affect, mood, and feelings.
Affect
Affect is a general label that encompasses any kind of evaluation of an object.
Affect varies in direction, intensity, and activity.
Can be short-lived (ex: after being the target of an insult)
Or enduring (ex: pleasant association with the Christmas season)
Emotions
Emotions are thought of as short-lived reactions to a stimulus outside of the individual that involve both physiological and cognitive reactions.
Emotions are also intimately related to goals. Various culturally defined combinations
produce what we think of, and experience as an emotion
Emotions
Emotions include:
1. Situational stimulus (ex: being slapped)
2. Physiological changes (Ex: elevated temperature and heart rate)
3. Expressive gesturing of some kind (ex: furrowed brow and clenched fist)
4. A label to identify a cluster of the first three (ex: anger)
Sentiment
Sentiments are steeped in the social characteristics of the situation.
Sentiment relies on the responses of the individual to the stimulus and how that stimulus is understood by other human beings.
Close to emotion but emphasizes more the social parts of the emotional response not the physiological
Moods
A mood is a general psychological condition that characterizes our experience and emotional orientation for hours or even days.
Moods are considerably less specific than emotions.
Darwin and Emotion
Darwin thought if humans and other animals had common ancestors they ought to have similarities in emotional expression.
The theory Darwin developed about emotional expression was based on similarities across cultures and species.
If some emotions and expressions of them were universal, they must be genetically encoded.
James and Lange and Emotion
More concerned with the sources of emotions Developed a physiological notion of emotion
in which physical changes occurred first and then were cognitively processed and interpreted as emotion.
Freud and Emotion
Focused on how emotions could be developed unconsciously and how past experience affected the experience of emotion.
Universal Emotions and Facial Expressions
If involuntary facial expressions are – produced by the same emotional state
across individuals and are – identified by observers as meaning the
same thing then– we can believe they are universal
expressions of emotions.
Single-Emotion Judgment Task
% who chose the predicted emotion
Nation Estonia Germany GreeceHong Kong
Italy
Happiness 90 93 93 92 97
Surprise 94 87 91 91 92
Sadness 86 83 80 91 81
Fear 91 86 74 84 82
Disgust 71 61 77 65 89
Anger 67 71 77 73 72
Single-Emotion Judgment Task
% who chose the predicted emotion
Nation Japan Scotland Sumatra Turkey U.S.
Happiness 90 98 69 87 95
Surprise 94 88 78 90 92
Sadness 87 86 91 76 92
Fear 65 86 70 76 84
Disgust 60 79 70 74 86
Anger 67 84 70 79 81
Cultural Differences
Even if some basic emotions are expressed similarly across cultures, there are strong cultural influences that can suppress, exaggerate, or change the display of these emotions.
Display Rules
Cultural norms about emotional expression norms that deal with how we must modify our facial expressions to make them fit social situations.
Display rules are typically learned in childhood and become habits that automatically control facial muscles.
Display Rules
Display rules may require modifying facial expressions of emotion in several ways:– Greater intensity in expression– Less intensity in expression– Complete neutralization of expression– Masking one emotion with a different one
Collectivist and Individualist Cultures
Collectivist cultures process and display emotion in ways that protect and reinforcement social bonds.
Individualist cultures display emotions in ways that broadcast individual states and draw attention to the individual as the key social unit.
Expression in Collectivist and Individualistic Cultures
Emotional Element
Collectivist Orientation
Individualist Orientation
Estimate of emotional intensity
low intensity high intensity
Emotional content in vocal
cues
Higher attention to vocal cues
Higher attention to word
meanings
Expressing happiness
Promotes connection to
others
Reflects individual
achievement
Expression in Collectivist and Individualistic Cultures
Emotional Element
Collectivist Orientation
Individualist Orientation
Shame and guilt
Shame is of central importance
Guilt is more important shame develops later
AngerAnger is
dangerous, it must be suppressed
Anger is healthy, it promotes
assertiveness
GriefElaborate
mourning rituals
Brief mourning period followed by a return to
normal life
Cognitive Labeling Theory
Proposes that emotional experience is the result of a three step sequence:
1. An event in the environment produces a physiological reaction.
2. We notice the reaction and search for an appropriate explanation.
3. By examining situational cues, we find an emotional label for the reaction.
Social Emotions
Emotions that cannot be understood or even defined without reference to the social world.
Social emotions: – Involve an awareness of oneself in the
social context. – Emerge out of interaction.– Are often experienced in reference to a
societal standard.
5 Social Emotions
Guilt Shame Jealousy Empathy Love
Emotional Intelligence
The theory that an individual’s ability to understand the emotional content in social interactions constitutes a unique dimension of intelligence that is substantially different from intelligences measured by IQ.
Emotion Work and Feeling Rules
Emotion work attempts to change the intensity or quality of our feelings to bring them into line with the requirements of the occasion.
Emotion work occurs because we are subject to feeling rules—rules that dictate what people with our role identities ought to feel in a given situation.
Emotion Work Tasks for Flight Attendants
Emotion Work Category Detailed Description
Relax and smile Present a calm and cheerful demeanor.
Consider passengers as friends and family
Protect and comfort passengers as you would your family.
Do not engage in ridicule
No matter how passengers behave you may not ridicule them or their requests.
Emotion Work Tasks for Flight Attendants
Emotion Work Category Detailed Description
Never appear frightened No matter the situation you must suppress fear.
Sincerity Manage others’ emotions by remaining calm.
Do not blame passengers for anything
Even if it is their fault.
Never display anger. Training programs emphasize strategies for reducing anger.