2. Emotion
Agitated state of our mind and body leading us to
perform some or other types of behavioural acts.
• Emotions are private experiences.
• We use operational definitions because we cannot
actually see feelings.
• We infer observable behavior associated with
emotion.
• The word emotion is derived from the Latin word
emovere: to stir up or to excite.
3. Definition
According to Crow and Crow “Emotion is an affective
experience that accompanies generalized inner
adjustment and mental and physiological stirred up
states in the individual and that shows itself in his overt
behavior.”
4. Nature and Characteristics of Emotions
1. The emotional experiences are associated with some
instincts or biological drives: Challenge of basic needs.
2. Emotions are the product of perception: according to
perception organic changes takes place within body pr
psychologically may be favourable or unfavourable.
3. The core of an emotion is feeling: Both are affective
experiences. Emotions are intensified feelings. Feelings are
after effects of some perceptions.
4. Emotions bring physiological changes: e.g. Bulge of eyes,
flush of the face, flow of tears, choking of voice, etc.
5. 5. Emotions are present in all organisms.
6. They are present in all stages of life.
7. Emotions are individualized and differ from person
to person.
8. Emotions can be displaced.
9. There is a negative correlation between the
upsurge of emotions and intelligence.
6. What Are Emotions?
AFFECT: A broad range of feelings that people
experience.
EMOTIONS: Intense feelings that are directed
at someone or something.
MOODS: Feelings that tend to be less intense
than emotions and that lack a contextual
stimulus.
7. Four components of Emotion
Feelings
Social- Expressive
Sense of Purpose
Bodily Arousal
8. Feeling component
• Emotions are subjective feelings
• Make us feel in a particular way.
• Anger or joy.
• Meaning and personal significance.
• Vary in intensity and quality.
• Rooted in mental processes (labeling).
9. Bodily Arousal
• Biological activation.
• Autonomic and hormonal systems.
• Prepare and activate adaptive coping
behavior during emotion.
• Body prepared for action.
• Alert posture, clenched fists.
10. Purposive component
• Give emotion its goal-directed force.
• Motivation to take action.
• Cope with emotion-causing
circumstances.
• Why people benefit from emotions.
• Social and evolutionary advantage.
11. Social-Expressive component
• Emotion’s communicative aspect.
• Postures, gestures, vocalizations, facial
expressions make our emotions public.
• Verbal and nonverbal communication.
• Helps us interpret the situation.
• How person reacts to event.
12. TYPES OF EMOTION
Emotions in general can be categorized as a positive and
negative emotions.
• Unpleasant emotions: like fear, anger, jealousy are
harmful for development.
• Pleasant emotions: like love, curiosity, joy, happiness
are helpful and essential for normal development.
However the emotions are categorized as positive or
negative in relation to circumstance, intensity, impact and
frequency.
13. Components of Emotions
There are three components of emotions.
A. Cognition: This component serves primarily to influence an
evaluation of given situation, prompting us to become
emotional in one way or another, or not at all.
B. Feeling: The feelings are most readily evident changes in an
aroused person. Feelings have immediate motivational
significance. They give rise to many physiological processes
in the cardiovascular system and produce increased blood
pressure, changes in sexual urge. They also stimulate
nervous system and prompt widespread electrochemical
activities.
C.Behaviour: The behavioural component involves facial,
postural, gestures and vocal responses.
14. Physiological Changes during Emotions
Changes during emotions are divided into external and
internal changes.
External changes:
• The voice changes according to the type of emotion.
Experiments have proved that emotions can be identified
on the basis of voice.
• Facial expressions change. We can identify emotion
experienced by a person by looking at his face.
• There will be changes in the body language like stiffness
of muscles, twisting of fingers, movements of hands and
legs.
• Sweating, Wrinkles on forehead, Redness of eyes,
Erection of hairs on the skin, etc.
15. Internal changes:
• Sympathetic division prepares the body for facing
emergency either by fight or by flight, i.e. fights if
possible, otherwise escapes from the situation.
• It stimulates the adrenal glands and causes the excess
release of adrenaline and nor-adrenaline.
• Adrenaline gets circulated all over the body and
stimulates vital organs leading to following internal
changes.
• Increase in heart rate thereby increase in BP, Increase
in rate of respiration, Increase in blood sugar level.
• Decrease in functioning of GI tract-that is why we do not
experience the feeling of hunger during emotional
states.
16. FACTORS AFFECTING EMOTIONS
PERSONALITY: Personality features are associated with
individual differences in daily emotional life, such as negative and
positive affectivity, affect variability and affect reactivity.
CULTURE: Culture provides structure, guidelines, expectations,
and rules to help people understand and interpret behaviours.
WEATHER: Higher temperatures raise a person with a low mood
up, while things like wind or not enough sun made a low person
feel even lower. Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is an example.
STRESS: It can also negatively affect people with Bipolar
Disorder. This illness, also known as manic depression or bipolar
affective disorder, involves dramatic shifts in mood, energy level
etc.
17. AGE: Older adults report more emotional stability than younger
persons. Older adults pay more attention to the good and less to
the bad. When older adults experience a negative emotion, they
may be able to recover more quickly than younger persons.
GENDER: Women are more emotional than men are. However, it
depends on the emotional development at childhood as how to
express emotions.
ENVIRONMENTAL: Our environment has an effect on how we
feel. An untidy room makes bad feeling about self. Living in clean
and tidy room, wearing clean dress, enjoying natural beauty,
makes emotional changes in human.
MARITAL RELATION: it explains life style challenges, accepting
different preferences, sexual life etc.
ORGANIZATIONAL: Work load, Colleagues, Job satisfaction etc.
SOCIAL: Traditions, Religion, culture and norms.
19. Evolutionary Theory
• Charles Darwin proposed that emotions evolved because
they were adaptive and allowed humans and animals to
survive and reproduce.
• Feelings of love and affection lead people to seek mates
and reproduce. Feelings of fear compel people to either fight
or flee the source of danger.
• It states that our emotions exist because they serve an
adaptive role. Emotions motivate people to respond quickly to
stimuli in the environment, which helps improve the chances
of success and survival.
• If you encounter hissing, spitting, and clawing animal,
chances are you will quickly realize that the animal is
frightened or defensive and leave it alone.
20. James-Lange Theory
• In the late 19th century, William James (1842-1910),
formulated one theory.
• This theory suggests that when you see an external stimulus
that leads to a physiological reaction.
• Your emotional reaction is dependent upon how you
interpret those physical reactions.
• For example, suppose you are walking in the woods and you
see a grizzly bear. You begin to tremble, and your heart
begins to race.
• According to this theory of emotion, you are not trembling
because you are frightened. Instead, you feel frightened
because you are trembling.
21. Cannon-Bard Theory
• According to the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion, we feel
emotions and experience physiological reactions such as
sweating, trembling, and muscle tension simultaneously.
• More specifically, it is suggested that emotions result when
the thalamus sends a message to the brain in response to a
stimulus, resulting in a physiological reaction.
At the same time, the brain also receives signals triggering the
emotional experience.
Cannon and Bard’s theory suggests that the physical and
psychological experience of emotion happen at the same time
and that one does not cause the other.
22. Schachter-Singer Theory
Also known as the two-factor theory of emotion.
• This theory suggests that the physiological arousal occurs
first, and then the individual must identify the reason for this
arousal to experience and label it as an emotion. A stimulus
leads to a physiological response that is then cognitively
interpreted and labelled which results in an emotion.
• Schachter and Singer’s theory draws on both the James-
Lange theory and the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion.
• The Schachter-Singer theory proposes that people do infer
emotions based on physiological responses.
• The critical factor is the situation and the cognitive
interpretation that people use to label that emotion.
23. Schachter-Singer Theory
• Like the Cannon-Bard theory, the Schachter-Singer
theory also suggests that similar physiological
responses can produce varying emotions.
• For example, if you experience a racing heart and
sweating palms during an important math exam, you
will probably identify the emotion as anxiety. If you
experience the same physical responses on a date
with your significant other, you might interpret those
responses as love, affection, or arousal.
24. Activation Theory
• Emotions represents a state of heightened arousal rather
than a qualitatively unique type of psychological, physiological
or biological process.
• Arousal is considered to lie on a wide continuum ranging
from a very low level to extreme agitation.
• According to Lindsley emotions provoking stimuli activate the
reticular activating system in brain stem which send impulses
to cortex as well as musculature an hence emotion are
created or expressed.
25. Emotional Adjustment
• Emotions are described as the prime movers of behaviour.
• Emotional adjustment is an important task because,
adjustment during emotions lead to a normal behaviour,
whereas maladjustment leads to abnormal behaviour.
• These stirred up states are store houses of energy, which
may work for both intense vigour and efficiency and strong
disruption of mental life.
• There are many instances where even highly intelligent
people fail to manage their emotions and some average
intelligent persons manage their emotions effectively and
harmoniously. It is called ’emotional intelligence’.
26. • Human being is considered as a rational being. But in
the grip of emotions people behave like immature.
Some people may breakdown completely, cannot take
proper decisions, and many people even collapse in
severe emotional arousal, because of serious changes in
vital systems such as heart, lungs, brain, etc.
• Emotions may hamper the studies of students and
occupations of people.
In some people emotions may lead to crimes, because
people lose reasoning power and their ability to control
behaviour is hampered. Hence, emotional control and
management is very essential for an adjusted life.
27. Emotion in health and Illness
• The argument you’ve just had with your lover has left your
blood boiling. You phone a friend, who makes light of it and,
before long, you’re laughing.
• Our emotions have a capacity to harm and heal – not just
psychologically but physically.
• Research has shown that having to deliver a speech can
double the severity of allergy symptoms for two days, while
crying is soothing because stress hormones are carried out of
your body in tears
28. Some of the examples are given here;
• When you sing your loved one’s praises: According to a
research in human communication research says that
expressing the affectionate feelings you have towards your
partner lowers cholesterol levels.
• Fighting and argument delays the healing process:
According to scientists at Ohio State University, a 30- minute
argument with your partner can slow your body’s ability to heal
by at least a day. This is under the influence of cytokines, which
can even cause arthritis, diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
• When you bottle things up: the people who holds the anger for
long duration are at high risk of heart attack, stroke and cancer.
It also impatience and irritability.
29. • Falling in love raises levels of nerve growth factor
for about a year, according to researchers at the
University of Pavia in Italy and it induce a calming
effect on both the body and the mind.
• Depression, pessimism and apathy affect our
health in several ways. Low mood is linked to low
levels of serotonin and dopamine, the feel-good
neurotransmitters in the brain.
• Laughing increases stress and prevents many
diseases.
• Emotional tears were found to contain high levels
of the hormones and neurotransmitters associated
with stress.