Lecture 2 - Understanding emotions

Defining emotions
 “a psychological state defined by subjective feelings but also characteristic patterns of
physiological arousal, thought and behaviours” – Peterson, 2006, p. 73
 Emotions vs moods
o Emotions = related to an event, short lived, we are aware of them
o Moods = are free floating (objectless), last longer, occupy the background of
consciousness
 Affectivity – “the extent to which an individual experiences positive/negative mood”
– Peterson, 2006, p. 62
 Positive affect – extent to which someone experience joy, happiness, etc.
 Negative affect – extent to which someone experience sadness, etc.
 Affective style – individual difference in the experience of emotions

Basic human emotions

 Ekman – 6 basic emotions
o Anger, disgust, fear, joy, surprise, sadness
 Izzard – 10 basic emotions
o Anger, disgust, fear, joy, surprise, contempt, distress, guilt, interest, shame

Emotions have evolutionary benefits

 Lead to survival (bias to tend to negative stimuli / danger)
 Emotions associated with actions (fear = running)
 Although this survival value was useful, it means that we have adapted to focus on
what’s going wrong in the environment rather than what’s going right
 Research: high positive emotions = higher attention to positive stimuli
 Emotions – linked to physiology (exercises to “change your state”)

Fredrickson’s Broaden-and-Build Theory of positive emotions (2001)

 Positive emotions broaden our thought-action repertories, undo negative emotions,
and build resilience
 Broadening (temp effect that accumulates) – experience of positive emotions opens
the mind – think outside the box, see bigger picture, more creative
 Building (long term) – build personal resources (intellectual, physical, social, &
psychological) that can dip into when needed
 Undoing – positivity can quell or undo cardiovascular after-effects of negativity –
2009
 Ignore Losada ratio for now – discredited
o 3-to-1 positivity ratio

Fredrickson et al’s Upward Spiral Theory of Lifestyle Change

 Inner loop - wellness behaviour, like exercising, = positive emotions & those
emotions create unconscious motive to engage in behaviour.
 Rewarding = more motivated to do it.
 Outer loop positive emotions, in addition to motivating us, also broaden awareness &
build resources so connection between behaviour & positive emotions is amplified
(the broaden & build theory).
  What happens is positive emotions you get when you engage in a behaviour become
stronger than they were to begin with.
 The behaviour becomes even greater source of happiness, further increases motivation
to engage in it.
 ENJOYMENT MOTIVATES

 i.e. you need to find ways of increasing your well-being that are rewarding.
 E.g. If you hate gym, but love to dance, you’re more likely to keep up exercise by
taking a Zumba class. If you haven’t been able to find type of exercise you like, then
find some way of connecting exercise with something you enjoy.

Positive affective processes underlie positive health behaviour change

 The upward spiral theory of lifestyle change explains how positive affect can facilitate
long-term adherence to positive health behaviours.
 The inner loop of this spiral model identifies nonconscious motives as a central
mechanism of behavioural maintenance. Positive affect experienced during health
behaviours increases incentive salience for cues associated with those behaviours,
which in turn, implicitly guides attention and the everyday decisions to repeat those
behaviours.
 The outer loop represents the evidence-backed claim, based on Fredrickson’s
broaden-and-build theory, that positive affect builds a suite of endogenous (internal)
resources, which may in turn amplify the positive affect experienced during positive
health behaviours and strengthen the nonconscious motives.

Which positive emotions are important?

 Top ten researched positive emotions (in order) & experienced in daily life:
o joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, pride, amusement, inspiration, awe,
love.
o Love encompasses all other 9 emotions, & is elicited in presence of others
(Book: Love 2.0)

Circumplex model of emotions

  Frequency and intensity as two organising principles
o Valence – goodness or badness of something
o Activation/Arousal - being physiologically alert, awake, and attentive

Where do positive emotions come from?

 Two main theories

 Via material brains
 Via our perceived rate of progress towards important goals

Brains
 Psychology relies a lot on self-report, not the hard sciences
 But now has tools (e.g, fMRI, EEG) to access the brain
 Regarding positive emotions, it’s the prefrontal cortex (home of emotions and
emotion regulation) and amygdala (higher activity predicts higher negative affect)
 Approach system (PA)(able to initiate goal directed behaviour)-move toward (or
maintain contact with) a desired stimulus.
 Avoidance system (NA) (unable to initiate goal directed behaviour)- move away from
(or maintain distance from) an undesired stimulus.

Goals
 People always striving towards a goal. From where they are to where they want to be
 Rate of progress, rather than progress itself, that determines if a person experience PA
(approach system - experiences progress) or NA (avoidance system - inadequate
progress)

Positive emotions and other people

 Positive emotions make us feel connected (seek out your favourite person)
 They have an inclusion side effect, increases relational bonds
 Positive emotions can combat racial bias

Personality and positive emotions

 Personality=“distinctiveandrelativelyenduringwaysofthinking,feeling and acting that
characterize a person’s response to situations”
 Strong correlation between extraversion and PA (approach system) (extraverts
experience more PA, and more intense PA)
 Strong negative correlation between neuroticism and PA, and positive correlation
between neuroticism and depression
 Big 5 Personality Theory (OCEAN)
o Openness → greater awe, joy, love, compassion, amusement
o Conscientiousness → greater joy, contentment, pride
o Extraversion → greater joy, contentment, pride, love, compassion, amusement,
awe
o Agreeableness → greater love, compassion
o Neuroticism → less joy, contentment, pride, love

The face and positive emotions

  A genuine smile also is called a Duchenne smile, after neurologist Guillaume
Duchenne. He identified in 1862 muscles used in spontaneous smile, - involves
muscles beyond mouth - crinkling at the outer corners of eyes.
 Duchene smile – objective measure of happiness/PA

Emotional intelligence
 EI = “the ability to monitor ones own and other’s feelings and emotions, then
discriminate among them, and to use this information to guide one’s thinking and
action”
 Emotions serve a purpose – tell us how we fell about situations and people
 Emotional suppression can be detrimental to wellbeing
 Two models of EI
o Ability model of EI: The ability model, developed by Salovey & Mayer in
2004, focuses on individual's ability to process emotional information & use it
to navigate social environment.
 EI is 4 mental skills (perceiving emotions, using emotions,
understanding emotions, managing emotions)
o Mixed EI models: Combination of perceived emotional skills & personality
 combines components of trait & ability theory. Introduced by Goleman
in 1995, it represents aspects of individual’s personality, as well as
ability to motivate oneself in social & emotional situations (Goleman,
1998).

Bar-ON model of emotional-social intelligence (ESI)

 Understand your emotions and those around you, & interact & connect with others
 Describes array of interrelated emotional & social competencies that determine how
effective individuals are at understanding & expressing themselves, understanding
others & interacting with them as well as coping with daily demands & challenges.
 Competencies include:
o Ability to beaware of emotions as well as to understand and express feelings;
o Ability to understand how others feel and interact with them;
o Ability to manage and control emotions
o Ability to manage change, adapt and solve problems of a personal and
interpersonal nature;
o Ability to generate positive affect to enhance self-motivation, in order to
facilitate emotionally & socially intelligent behaviour.
 These five meta-factors comprise a total of 15 factors.
Fredrickson (1)
Fredrickson (2)

Learning Messages
 Emotions are “a psychological state defined by subjective feelings but also
characteristic patterns of physiological arousal, thought and behaviours”
 Positive emotions are short lived, aware of, and related to an event, moods are longer
lived and unfocused
 Positive emotions broaden our thought-action repertories, undo negative emotions,
and build resilience
 There are basic emotions (e.g.,anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, surprise), and
emotions provide an evolutionary function
 Top ten researched positive emotions (inorder): joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope,
pride, amusement, inspiration, awe, love
Readings – Week Two

Textbook chapter two

Fredrickson, B. (2001). The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-
and-build theory of positive emotions. American Psychologist, 56, 218-226
Fredrickson, B. (1998). What good are positive emotions? Review of General Psychology, 2,
300–319

Fredrickson, B. & Joiner, T. (2018). Reflections on Positive Emotions and Upward Spirals.
Perspectives on Psychological Science,13(2) 194–199

Van Cappellena, P., Riceb, E.L., Catalinoc L. I. & Fredrickson, B. (2018). Positive affective
processes underlie positive health behaviour change. Psychology & Health, 33(1), 77–97,
https://doi.org/10.1080/08870446.2017.1320798

Anderson, L. S., & Heyne, L. A. (2016). Flourishing through leisure and the upward spiral
theory of lifestyle change. Therapeutic Recreation Journal, 50(2), 118.