Chapter 6: Emotion and affect
What is emotion?
The most common definitions emphasise emotion as a fully developed, conscious state that is clearly
linked to some event.
Emotion: is a reaction to somethingm and the person who has the emotion knows it.
Mood: a feeling state that is not clearly linked to some event.
Affect: a result of mapping all emotions onto a single good-bad dimension.
Positive affect encompasses all good emotions, such as joy, bliss, happiness, love.
Negative affect encompasses all bad emotions, such as anger, anxiety, fear, jealousy.
Conscious emotion versus automatic affect
Conscious emotion: a powerful, single (unified) feeling state
Automatic affect: felt as liking, disliking, or as good and bad feelings toward something, and may
occur outside of consciousness.
The term emotion will be referred to the conscious reaction, often including a bodily response, to
something.
The term affect will be referred to the automatic response that something is good or bad.
Affective reactions to things that are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ are automatic and very fast, occurring in the
first microseconds of thought.
Emotional arousal
Emotions bridge the mind and the body. Emotions have both mental aspects and physical aspects.
One important area of connection involves the bodily response of arousal, which is linked to most
conscious emotions, but not necessarily to automatic affect.
Arousal: physiological response that occurs within the body, including a faster heartbeat and faster
or heavier breathing.
James-Lange theory of emotion
In 1884, American psychologist William James and Danish psychologist Carl Lange both
independently proposed a theory linking the mental and physical aspects of emotion.
James-Lange theory of emotion
Suggests that the bodily processes of emotion come first and the mind’s perception of these bodily
reactions then creates the subjective feeling of emotion.
When something happens, your body and brain supposedly perceive it and respond to it, and these
physiological events form the basis for the emotion you feel.
, One important aspect of the theory is that different emotions must arise from different bodily
responses.
The theory did lead to an important contemporary hypothesis – the facial feedback hypothesis
Facial expressions can evoke or magnify emotions because the brain reacts to what the facial
muscles are doing.
Facial feedback may also help us recognise emotional expressions in others.
Emotional Physiological Experienced
Stimulus Arousal Emotion
hearing increased fear
footsteps heart rate
behind you in a
dark alley
Schachter-Singer theory of emotion
Developed their theory partly in response to the failure of the James-Lange theory.
Emotion has two separate components – physiological arousal and cognitive label.
Both of these are crucial.
Physiological arousal is similar in all emotions.
The cognitive label is different for each emotion.
The arousal is the mis of feelings that you get when your sympathetic nervous system is
activated.
Emotion is something like a television programme:
The arousal is the on/off switch
Volume control determines that there is going to be an emotion and how strong it will be.
The cognitive label is like the channel switch: it determines what emotion will be felt.
Emotional Stimulus
(hearing footsteps
behind you in a
dark alley)
Physiological
Arousal
Cognitive Label
(increased heart
rate)
Experienced
Emotion
(fear)
What is emotion?
The most common definitions emphasise emotion as a fully developed, conscious state that is clearly
linked to some event.
Emotion: is a reaction to somethingm and the person who has the emotion knows it.
Mood: a feeling state that is not clearly linked to some event.
Affect: a result of mapping all emotions onto a single good-bad dimension.
Positive affect encompasses all good emotions, such as joy, bliss, happiness, love.
Negative affect encompasses all bad emotions, such as anger, anxiety, fear, jealousy.
Conscious emotion versus automatic affect
Conscious emotion: a powerful, single (unified) feeling state
Automatic affect: felt as liking, disliking, or as good and bad feelings toward something, and may
occur outside of consciousness.
The term emotion will be referred to the conscious reaction, often including a bodily response, to
something.
The term affect will be referred to the automatic response that something is good or bad.
Affective reactions to things that are ‘good’ and ‘bad’ are automatic and very fast, occurring in the
first microseconds of thought.
Emotional arousal
Emotions bridge the mind and the body. Emotions have both mental aspects and physical aspects.
One important area of connection involves the bodily response of arousal, which is linked to most
conscious emotions, but not necessarily to automatic affect.
Arousal: physiological response that occurs within the body, including a faster heartbeat and faster
or heavier breathing.
James-Lange theory of emotion
In 1884, American psychologist William James and Danish psychologist Carl Lange both
independently proposed a theory linking the mental and physical aspects of emotion.
James-Lange theory of emotion
Suggests that the bodily processes of emotion come first and the mind’s perception of these bodily
reactions then creates the subjective feeling of emotion.
When something happens, your body and brain supposedly perceive it and respond to it, and these
physiological events form the basis for the emotion you feel.
, One important aspect of the theory is that different emotions must arise from different bodily
responses.
The theory did lead to an important contemporary hypothesis – the facial feedback hypothesis
Facial expressions can evoke or magnify emotions because the brain reacts to what the facial
muscles are doing.
Facial feedback may also help us recognise emotional expressions in others.
Emotional Physiological Experienced
Stimulus Arousal Emotion
hearing increased fear
footsteps heart rate
behind you in a
dark alley
Schachter-Singer theory of emotion
Developed their theory partly in response to the failure of the James-Lange theory.
Emotion has two separate components – physiological arousal and cognitive label.
Both of these are crucial.
Physiological arousal is similar in all emotions.
The cognitive label is different for each emotion.
The arousal is the mis of feelings that you get when your sympathetic nervous system is
activated.
Emotion is something like a television programme:
The arousal is the on/off switch
Volume control determines that there is going to be an emotion and how strong it will be.
The cognitive label is like the channel switch: it determines what emotion will be felt.
Emotional Stimulus
(hearing footsteps
behind you in a
dark alley)
Physiological
Arousal
Cognitive Label
(increased heart
rate)
Experienced
Emotion
(fear)
