Motivation & Emotion

What is an emotion?
Aspects of emotion
Feelings Bodily Arousal
Subjective experience Physiological activation
Phenomenological awareness Bodily preparation for action
Cognition Motor responses

Emotion

Sense of Purpose Social-Expressive

Dr James Neill Goal-directed motivational state
Significant Social communication
Centre for Applied Psychology life event Facial expression
Functional aspect
University of Canberra Image source Vocal expression

2011 1 Based on Reeve (2009, Figure 11.1 Four components of emotion, p. 300) 4

What causes an emotion?

Cognitive Feelings
Processes
Significant Sense of purpose
situational
event Bodily arousal
Biological
Processes Social-expressive

Based on Reeve (2009, Figure 11.3, Causes of the emotion experience, p. 303) 5

Review of last lecture: Basic emotions

Five perennial questions about emotion (Families/clusters of emotions)
Basic emotions
1. What is an emotion?
2. What causes an emotion? Fear Anger Disgust Sadness Joy Interest

3. How many emotions are there? -ve emotion themes +ve emotion
Threat and harm.
4. What good are the emotions? Potential of threatening and harmful themes
Motive
events causes fear.
involvement
5. What is the difference between In fighting off or rejecting them we
(Interest) &
experience anger and disgust.
emotion & mood? After they occur, there is sadness satisfaction (Joy)

3 Based on Reeve (2009, pp. 312-317) 6

 What good are the emotions? Outline – Aspects of emotion
Biological Cognitive
James-Lange theory Appraisal
Utility of Contemporary Complex appraisal
emotion perspective Appraisal process
Differential emtions Emotion knwoledge
theory Attributions
Facial feedback
Coping Functions Social Functions hypothesis Socio-cultural
Social interaction
Emotional socialization

Emotions regulate behaviour

(as part of a complex feedback system)
Based on Reeve (2009, pp. 317-320) 7 Based on Reeve (2009, p. 329) 10

What is the difference between Aspects of emotion

emotion & mood? ●
Autonomic nervous system
Criteria ●
Endocrine system
Biological Aspects ●
Neural brain circuits
Significant ●
Rate of neural firing
Antecedents Ill-defined ●
Facial feedback
life events
●
Appraisals
Action- Influence Cognitive Aspects
●
Knowledge
Specificity Specific ●
Attributions
cognition ●
Socialisation history
●
Cultural identities
Time course Short-lived Long-lived Social & Cultural ●
Socialisation history
Aspects ●
Cultural identities
Based on Reeve (2009, p. 322) 8 Based on Reeve (2009, pp. *) 11

Three central aspects of emotion James-Lange theory of emotion

1. Does each emotion have unique
bodily reactions?
2. To what extent do bodily changes
Social-
induce emotion?
Biological Cognitive
Cultural Stimulus → Emotion → Bodily reaction
or
Stimulus → Bodily reaction → Emotion
Based on Reeve (2009, p. 329) 9 12
James-Lange theory of emotion: Specific neural circuits
Two hypotheses
1. The body reacts uniquely to 1. Emotion-specific patterns in brain
different emotion-stimulating events, activity.

2. The body does not react to non- 2. Gray: Behavioural approach, Fight-
flight system, and Behavioural inhibition
emotion-stimulating events. (→ Joy, Fear Rage and Anxiety)
Emotional experience is a way of 3. Neural activation: Different emotions
making sense of bodily changes activated by different rates of cortical
(e.g., a sudden cold shower → increased neural firing: activity increases, stays the
heart-rate/arousal → emotion e.g., same, or decreases.
surprise/shock/fear) 13 16

James-Lange theory of emotion:

Criticisms
1. The body reactions were part of a
general fight-flight response that did
not vary between emotions
2. Emotions are experienced more
quickly than physiological reactions
3. Physiological arousal augments
rather than causes emotion. Its role
is small, supplemental and relatively
unimportant. 14

James-Lange theory of emotion: Differential emotions theory

Contemporary perspective
1. Ten emotions constitute the principal motivation system
1. Distinct physiological differences (e.g., for human beings.
Heart rate and Skin temperature) are
2. Unique feeling: Each emotion has its own unique
evident for some emotions (e.g., anger, subjective, phenomenological quality.
fear, sadness, and disgust). But only a
3. Unique expression: Each emotion has its own unique
few emotions have distinct ANS patterns facial-expressive pattern.
(ones with survival value).
4. Unique neural activity: Each emotion has its own
2. Emotions recruit biological and specific rate of neural firing that activates it.
physiological support to enable 5. Unique purpose/motivation: Each emotion generates
adapative behaviours such as fighting, distinctive motivational properties & serves adaptive functions.
fleeing, and nurturing. 15 Based on Reeve (2009, p. 335) 18
Izard’s 10 fundamental emotions
(Differential emotions theory)

Positive Emotions Neutral Emotions Negative Emotions

Interest Surprise Fear

Joy Anger
Disgust
Distress
Contempt
Shame
Guilt
Based on Reeve (2009, Table 12.2 p. 336) 19

Ekman's 7 reasons why biological

theories focus on a small number of
Facial feedback hypothesis
basic emotions 1. Strong version of FFH (Facial feedback
1. Nonbasic emotions are experience-based engenders emotion) – most studies
2. Many terms better describe moods (e.g., irritation). suggest a small effect.
3. Many terms better describe attitudes (e.g., hatred).
2. Weak version of FFH (Facial feedback
4. Many terms better describe personality (e.g.,
hostile). modifies intensity of emotion): Consensus
5. Many terms better describe disorders (e.g., of support that highlights the two-way
depression). relation between emotional feeling and
6. Some terms are blends of emotions (e.g. love). emotional expression. However, critics
7. Many terms refer to specific aspects of an emotion content that the effect of facial feedback is
(e.g., homesickness) small.
20 23

Cognitive aspects of emotion

The central construct in a cognitive understanding
of emotion
An appraisal is an estimate of the personal
significance of an event.

Without an antecedent cognitive

appraisal of the event, emotions do
not occur.

The appraisal, not the event itself,

causes the emotion.
Based on Reeve (2009, pp. 333-334) 24
 Appraisal theory of emotion
3 questions
1. How does the perception of an object or event
produce a good or bad appraisal?
2. How does the appraisal generate emotion?
3. How does felt emotion express itself in action?

SITUATION APPRAISAL EMOTIONS ACTION

Life Event Good or Bad Liking vs. Approach vs.
(beneficial vs. harmful) Disliking Withdrawal

Arnold’s Appraisal Theory of Emotion

Based on Reeve (2009, Figure 12.7, p. 345) 25

Figure 12. 8
Lazarus’s
Appraisal* Emotion Appraisal theory of emotion
Complex Appraisals
Type of Benefit
The cognitive • Making progress toward a goal • Happiness
processes
that intervene
• Taking credit for an achievement • Pride Complex appraisal theories are about 65-
• Improving on a distressing condition • Pride
between important
life events and • Believing a desired outcome is possible • Hope 70% accurate in predicting people's
physiological and • Desiring or participating in affection • Love
behavioral
reactivity.
• Being moved by another’s suffering • Compassion emotions. Why not 100%?
• Appreciating an altruistic gift • Gratitude
1. Other processes contribute e.g., biology
Type of Harm
SITUATION
• Being demeaned by a personal offense • Anger 2. Appraisals intensify rather than cause emotion
• Transgressing a moral imperative • Guilt
Life Event
• Failing to live up to an ego ideal • Shame 3. Patterns of appraisal for many emotions
• Experiencing an irrevocable loss • Sadness
• Taking in an indigestible object or idea • Disgust
overlap
Type of Threat
• Facing an uncertain, unspecific threat 4. Developmental differences
• Facing immediate, overwhelming • Anxiety
danger • Fright 5. Emotion knowledge and attributions
Based on Reeve • Wanting what someone else has • Envy
(2009, p. 347) • Resenting a rival for one’s own loss • Jealousy 26 29

Emotion knowledge

1. We learn to distinguish finer shades of emotion

as we develop (distinctions are stored
cognitively).
2. An individual's emotion knowledge is the
number of emotions s/he can distinguish.
3. Emotion knowledge partially underlies the
rationale for teaching emotional intelligence.

30
 Attributions

1. An attribution is the reason the persons uses to

explain an important life outcome.
2. Primary attribution – good or bad
3. Secondary attribution – cause
4. Primary + secondary attributions → emotion

31

Attribution theory of emotion Social & cultural aspects of emotion

The attribution roots to the seven emotions.

Emotion Knowledge Expression management Emotion management

Other people
and cultures in
How we
general When to
should
instruct us control our
express out
about the emotions
emotions
causes of our
emotions

Based on Figure 12.11 Reeve (2009, p. 356) Based on Reeve (2009, pp. *) 35

Social & cultural aspects of emotion Socio-cultural aspects of

emotion
Appraisal
contributes to a
cognitive
1. Mimicry
understanding of 2. Feeback
emotion
3. Contagion
4. Emotional socialisation
The sociocultual Social interaction 5. Managing emotions
context one lives in contributes to a
contributes to a social
cultural u/standing understanding of
of emotion emotion

Based on Reeve (2009, p. 357) 33 36

 References
Reeve, J. (2009). Understanding motivation
and emotion (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Tomkins, S. S. (1970) Affect as the primary
motivational system. In M. B. Arnold (ed.),
Feelings and emotions (pp. 101-110). New
York: Academic Press.

Note: Image credits are in the slide notes 38