CHAPTER 12: EMOTION
Jacquelyn Eisen and Maya Strauss
EMOTIONS: HUMANS VS. ANIMALS
Fear
 Anger
 Sadness
 Joy
 Love

PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES

Challenges:
Heart races
 Pace quickens
 Senses on high alert

MORE PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSES

Getting Good News:
Eyes tear up
 Exuberance
 Newfound Confidence

DEFINING TERMS:

Emotions: Response of the whole organism involving
physical arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious
experience

James-Lange Theory: Experience of emotion is
our awareness of our physiological responses to
emotion-arousing stimuli
Sight of
oncoming
car
(perception of
stimulus)
Pounding
heart
(arousal)
Fear
(emotion)

Cannon-Bard Theory: Emotion-arousing stimulus
simultaneously triggers physiological responses and the
subjective experience of emotion
Pounding
heart
(arousal)
Sight of
oncoming
car
(perception of
stimulus)
Fear
(emotion)
Two-Factor Theory: Experience emotion one
must be physically aroused and cognitively label
the arousal
 Two Factor Theory: Stanley Schacter and Jerome
Singer

Pounding
heart
(arousal)
Sight of
oncoming
car
(perception of
stimulus)
Fear
(emotion)
Cognitive
label
“I’m afraid”
MORE ABOUT THEORIES

William James: We don’t cry because we’re sad,
we’re sad because we cry because we’re sad.

Walter Cannon: Body’s responses are not distinct
enough to evoke different emotions.
THEORIES OF EMOTION
AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM
Sympathetic  sympathizing with the plight of
your body
 Parasympathetic  decrease in emotional
arousal

AROUSAL
BARRETT 2006
Fear, anger, and sexual arousal do not have
distinct biological signatures.
 They feel/look different, but have similar brain
patterns.

When you think happy, you smile.
 If you think scared, your pulse quickens.

Autonomic nervous system controls
physiological arousal
Sympathetic
division (arousing)
Parasympathetic
division (calming)
Pupils dilate
EYES
Pupils contract
Decreases
SALIVATION
Increases
Perspires
SKIN
Dries
Increases
RESPIRATION
Decreases
Accelerates
HEART
Slows
Inhibits
DIGESTION
Activates
Secrete stress
hormones
ADRENAL
GLANDS
Decreases
secretion of
stress
hormones
The amygdala is most active when viewing
fearful faces.
 Emotions in the right hemisphere are disgust.
 Emotions in the left hemisphere are happy.

People more speedily detect an angry face than a happy one (Ohman, 2001a)
Positive personalities: More activity in left
frontal lobe.
 Negative personalities: more activity in right
frontal lobe.
 Dopamine: left frontal lobe, supports happy

DEFINING TERMS

Spillover Effect: puts things on something that
it didn’t originate on.

Ex: Play tennis bad  upset  still upset when doing
homework

Polygraph: (lie detector) measures physiological
responses accompanying emotion (sweat,
breathing changes)
QUESTIONING
Control Question: aim to make you a little
nervous
 Critical Question: If the response is less than
the control’s response, it is inferred to be true.

Critical > Control  Lie
POLYGRAPH ISSUES
Physiological Arousal is the same from one
emotion to another
 Tests err about one third of the time.

Respiration
Perspiration
Heart rate
Control Relevant
question question
(a)
Control
question
Relevant
question
(b)
MORE POLYGRAPH ISSUES

Adrich Ames was a Russian spy in the CIA that
passed all the polygraph tests.
POLYGRAPH REPLACEMENT

Guilty Knowledge Test is more effective
because only someone who knows information
would react to details.
LIAR, LIAR BRAINS ON FIRE

Anterior cingulate cortex and left prefrontal
cortex light up when lying.
SHORTCUTS

It skips the cortex, and goes from thalamus to the
amygdala
Emotional before intellect intervenes.
 Some emotional responses have no thinking.
 Thinking occurs after the fact.

READING FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
Possible to tell what mood someone is in.
 Look at:

Eyebrows
 Eyes
 Cheeks

DOWNSIDE OF COMPUTER COMMUNICATION

Downside to computer communication:
No tone of voice
 No gestures
 No facial expressions

WOMEN’S INTUITION
Nonverbal sensitivity gives them an edge in
spotting lies
 Greater emotional responses in both negative
and positive situations.

Number
of
expressions
Sad
Men
Women
Happy
Scary
Film Type
“FOR NEWS OF THE HEART, ASK THE FACE”

Faces show feeling.
MOVIES AND EMOTION
Judge feelings/emotions of characters based off
the situation.
 Soundtracks are used to amplify emotions.

CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

Dominant religion varies between nations.
3 THINGS THAT INFLUENCE EMOTION (PBS)
FEEDBACK
Facial Feedback: Use muscles and enhances
mood
 Behavior Feedback: Acting silly so you feel
better.

TEN DISTINCT EMOTIONS
Joy
 Interest
 Excitement
 Surprise
 Sadness
 Anger
 Disgust
 Contempt
 Fear
 Shame
 Guilt

TWO DIMENSIONS OF EMOTION
Positive
valence
pleasant
relaxation
joy
Low
arousal
High
arousal
fear
anger
sadness
Negative
valence
WHAT IS A PHOBIA?
Phobia: intense fear of a specific object to the
point where you are unable to cope.
 Heritable – there is a gene that influences
amygdala’s response

EXPERIENCED EMOTION
 Catharsis:

Emotional release
Catharsis Hypothesis: “releasing” aggressive energy
(through action or fantasy) relieves aggressive urges
 Feel-good,
do-good phenomenon: people’s
tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood
EXPERIENCED EMOTION

Moods across the day
TWO ROUTES TO EMOTION
EXPERIENCED EMOTION
 Subjective
Well-Being: self-perceived happiness
or satisfaction with life.
 used along with measures of objective well-being
 physical and economic indicators to evaluate people’s
quality of life
EXPERIENCED EMOTION

Changing materialism
EXPERIENCED EMOTION

Does money buy happiness?
Average
per-person
after-tax income
in 1995 dollars
$20,000
$19,000
$18,000
100%
$17,000
90%
$16,000
$15,000
80%
$14,000
70%
$13,000
Personal income
$12,000
60%
$11,000
50%
$10,000
Percentage very happy 40%
$9,000
30%
$8,000
$7,000
20%
$6,000
10%
$5,000
0%
$4,000
1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000
Year
Percentage
describing
themselves as
very happy
EXPERIENCED EMOTION

Values and life satisfaction
0.6
Importance
scores
0.4
Money
Love
0.2
0.0
-0.2
-0.4
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
Life satisfaction
6.00
7.00
EXPERIENCED EMOTION

Adaptation-Level Phenomenon: tendency to form
judgments relative to a “neutral” level

Ex:
brightness of lights
 volume of sound
 level of income



defined by our prior experience
Relative Deprivation: perception that one is worse
off relative to those with whom one compares oneself
A CANCER PATIENT:
(BEFORE & AFTER FINDING OUT CANCER FREE)

Upset  Elated  Back to Normal
“I CRIED BECAUSE I HAD NO SHOES...
UNTIL I MET A MAN WHO HAD NO FEET”
HAPPINESS IS...
Researchers Have Found That
Happy People Tend to
However, Happiness Seems Not Much
Related to Other Factors, Such as
Have high self-esteem
(in individualistic countries)
Age
Be optimistic, outgoing, and agreeable
Gender (women are more often
depressed, but also more often joyful)
Have close friendships or a satisfying
marriage
Education levels
Have work and leisure that engage
their skills
Parenthood (having children or not)
Have a meaningful religious faith
Physical attractiveness
Sleep well and exercise