Skip to main content
Social Sci LibreTexts

15.2: Theories of Emotion

  1. Last updated
  2. Save as PDF
  • Page ID
    140942

    • Amanda Taintor
    \( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \) \( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)\(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \(\newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\) \( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\) \( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)\(\newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

    Exploring the Theories of Emotion

    Our experiences, backgrounds, and cultures inform our emotions. Therefore, people may have different emotional experiences when confronting similar circumstances. Several theories of emotion try to explain how the various components of emotion interact with one another[1].

    Below is a table of several theories surrounding emotional development. As an infant and toddler caregiver, it may not be necessary to understand each theory’s details, but knowing multiple theories exist that explain the process of emotional development is important.

    The theories outlined in the table come from[1]

    Theories of Emotion

    Theory

    Major Components

    James-Lange Theory

    • Emotions arise from physiological arousal
    • You only experience a feeling of fear after physiological arousal takes place
    • Different arousal patterns are associated with different feelings

    Cannon-Bard Theory
    • Physiological arousal and emotional experience occur simultaneously yet independently (Lang, 1994)
    • Emotional reactions are separate and independent of the physiological arousal, even though they co-occur

    Facial Feedback Hypothesis
    • A person’s facial expression affects emotional experience (Adelman & Zajonc, 1989; Boiger & Mesquita, 2012; Buck, 1980; Capella, 1993; Soussignan, 2002)
    • Suppression of facial expression lowers the intensity of some emotions experienced by participants (Davis, Senghas & Ochsner, 2009).
    • Intensities of facial expressions affect emotional reactions (Soussignan, 2002).
    • If something insignificant occurs and you smile as if you just won the lottery, you will be happier about the little things than you would be if you only had a tiny smile
    • If you walk around frowning all the time, it might cause you to have fewer positive emotions than you would if you had smiled

    Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory

    • Considers both physiological arousal and emotional experience
    • Physiological arousal is interpreted in context to produce the emotional experience
    • Depends on labeling the physiological experience, which is a type of cognitive appraisal

    Cognitive-Mediational Theory

    • Our appraisal of the stimulus determines our emotions
    • This appraisal mediates between the stimulus
    • and the emotional response, and it is immediate and often unconscious
    • The assessment precedes a cognitive label

    Automatic Emotional Regulation (AER)
    • Non-deliberate control of emotions influences the things you attend to, your appraisal, your choice to engage in an emotional experience, and your behaviors after the emotion is experienced (Mauss, Bunge & Gross, 2007; Mauss, Levenson, McCarter, Wilhelm & Gross, 2005)
    • People develop an automatic process that works like a script or schema, and the process does not require deliberate thought to regulate emotions
    • AER works like riding a bicycle. Once you develop the process, you just do it without thinking about it

    Constructivist Theory of Emotional Development
    • Emotions are not built into the brain at birth, but instead, they are constructed based on your experiences
    • Emotions are predictions that create an understanding of the world
    • 2 identical physiological states can result in different emotional states depending on your predictions
    • Example: A brain predicting a churning stomach in a bakery could lead to a brain constructing hunger. However, a brain experiencing a churning stomach while waiting for medical test results could lead a brain to construct worry. Thus, a brain can construct 2 different emotions from the same physiological sensations

    Appraisal Theory
    • You have thoughts (a cognitive appraisal) before you experience an emotion
    • The emotion you experience depends on your thoughts (Frijda, 1988; Lazarus, 1991)
    • Appraisal theory explains the way 2 people can have 2 completely different emotions regarding the same event

    [1] Emotion and Motivation is shared under a CC BY 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by OpenStax

    [2] Stangor, C. and Walinga, J. (2014). Introduction to Psychology – 1st Canadian Edition – The BC Open Textbook Project (opentextbc.ca) is licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

    This page titled 15.2: Theories of Emotion is shared under a mixed 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Amanda Taintor.