Emotion
Motivates us to do things with ourselves, and helps us make decisions
The case of Elliot
He had a tumor in the ventromedial pre-frontal cortex
The damage that occurred was:
- he can't keep a job
- shady now
- He lost access to his emotions
- He still has the same IQ
- He no longer can feel his emotions, gets into logical loops
Evolution of emotion
Allows us to meet some challenges in living, drive behaviors, set priorities/goals
Example: When infants smile when they are dreaming and alone in the room and it does something new
Test of Cross-Cultural Consistency
He worked with very remote people and brought them photos of people in the United States smiling
He found that mostly most emotions are universal and consistent
It was concluded that most facial recognition is the same cross-cultural
Basic/Primary Emotions
A small number of primary emotions are universal
Example: Happy/joy, disgust, sadness, surprise, anger, fear
Secondary Emotions
Are a mix of primary emotions
Smiles
Are universal
even in non-human primates
Duchene smile (real smile)
Formula for emotions
Physiological activation/arousal
Expressive behaviors/cultural cues
Conscious experience/cognitive label
James-Lange Theory
Your cognitive/conscious response follows your physiological response
Example:
- Bat come at you
- Then you start shaking
- Then that makes you fearful
Challenges to James-Lange Theory
Physiological reactions to different emotions are too similar
A lot of our reactions are non-specific
Some physiological responses happen too slowly to activate sudden emotions
Were James and Lange all wrong?
There are subtle differences among physiological response
"fake it till you make it"
Facial feedback
Facial Feedback
This is when you make yourself smile until you make yourself happy
Makes you shift your room
Cannon-Bard Theory
Proposed that both responses occur simultaneously and relatively independently
Schacter Theory
Emotional stimuli result in general physiological arousal
We interpret that arousal-make a cognitive appraisal and label the emotions
The idea of putting a label on the emotion
Shaky bridge study (Schacter Theory)
- No random Assignment
- IV: did you call her back?
- Misattribution of arousal
- 50% vs 12% however, they could just be more adventurous
Misattribution of Arousal
That physical state caused by a situation can be attributed to the wrong emotions
Physiological Arousal
Intensifies almost any emotion
Same with music
Yerkes-Dodson Law
For most tasks what oyu want is a medium level of arousal
- Because if it is too low: you are lazy
- Because if it is too high; you can not focus
The completlity it is to a task you want to do want a lower arousal
Happiness
Feel good, do good
When you are in a good mood you are nicer to other people
Measuring Happiness
1. Life satisfaction
2. Ladder measure
3. Positive and negative emotions
Things that don't affect happiness
Young people are usually unhappy compared to older
intelligence would make you feel more positive
having kids makes you less happy
being attractive will make you mid with happiness
Money
The complexity of the money/happiness link
Lottery winners
the U.S hasn't gotten happier
People in wealthy nations are, on average happier than those in poor nations
Scandinavian countries are happier because they have universal healthcare
The Danish Effect
Scandinavian countries are happier because they have the ability to psychologically care for citizens at every income level
2010 study: Daily experiences of happiness
money will bring you more positive emotion up until a point the topped out which is around $75,000, and you level off again
More recent (and bigger data using experiences sampling (done on your phone and a survey) did not find a limit after which money stopped increasing daily happiness
Us Household income and specific
Those in higher social classes report experiencing more self-oriented positive emotions:
- Pride
- contentment
- Amusement
Those in lower social classes report experiencing more other-oriented positive emotion:
- Compassion
- Love
- Awe
Hedonic Adaption
This is when you adapt to pleasure
Example:
- Say your parents give you $20 a week, at first it will feel good, and you will love it
- Then you get used to it, so $20 becomes your new normal, this is when we want more
Which is why we have a hard getting happier
What predicts happiness?
personality
- genetics is a part of it, but not all of it
Work
Gratitude
Social connections/relationships
Religiosity/purpose/meaning
Circumplex model
Emotions are plotted among two continuums:
1. Valence
- how negative or positive they are
2. Arousal
- How activating they are
- phycological response
Limbic System
Means of directly linking brain areas to specific emotional functions
In the Insula and the Amygdala
Prefrontal Cortex
Insula
Receives and integrates somatosensory signals from the entire body
Processes facial expresssion
The amygdala processes the emotional significance of stimuli, and it generates immediate emotional and behavioral reactions
It involves a circuit that has developed throughout evolution to protect animals from dangerous
Most important to emotional learning
Information reaches the amygdala along two separate pathways
polygraph test
Lie detecting test
Determines a person's level of emotions as indicated by automatic arousal, when confronted with central information
Emotions will cause arousal
Suppression
People attempt not to respond at all to the emotional stimulus
This often leads to the rebound effect
Rebounded Effect
Where people think about something because they tried to suppress it
Rumination
Involves thinking about, elaborating on, and becoming stuck in a cycle of undesired thoughts and feelings
5 ways to control your emotions
change the meaning, create mental distance, find humor, refocus your attention, distract yourself
Reappraising
directly alter emotional reaction to event
When you use something to take your mind off of something else
EXAMPLE:
Thinking about unicorns and rainbows after watching a scary movie
Create mental distance
taking a different perspective can help lower strong emotions
Self-distancing: Works by creating mental distance between yourself and the emotional stimulus
Find Humor
Using humor has many benefits for emotional well-being
positive effect
Refocus your attention
If you redirect your focus and focus on breathing a technique of ton taught as part of mindfulness training
Distract yourself
Doing another activity to distract yourself, this can backfire
Display rules
Rules learned through socialization that dictate which emotions are suitable for given situation
Explains cultural stereotypes
Explains why the identification of facial expression is much better within cultures than between cultures
Ideal Affect
Emotional and affective states that people want to feel or that cultures especially value
Guilt strengthens social bonds
Guilt is a negative emotional state associated with, anxiety, tension, and agitation
when someone feels responsible for another person's negative affective state
Drive
A psychological state that by creating arousal, motivates an organism that satisfy a need to reduce arousal
Homeostasis
The tendency for bodily function to maintain equilibrium
Incentives
External object of external goals, rather than internal drives, that motivate behavior
Extrinsic motivation (reward)
Motivation to perform an activity because of the external goals toward which that activity is directed
Example:
Studying to get an A
Intrinsic Motivation (Experience)
Motivation to perform an activity because of the value or pleasure associated with that activity rather than an apparent external goal or purpose
Example:
Learning to learn not for an A
Pleasure Principle
This encourages people to seek pleasure and avoid pain
SMARTS goals
Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound, self-efficiency
Delayed Gatification
A key insight that people are especially motivated to achieve personal goals
Self-regulation
The process by which people direct their behavior toward the attainment of goals
Need to belong
A need for interpersonal attachments, a fundamental motive that has evolved for adoptive purposes
makes people care about wanting friends
Balance Theory
The idea is that people are motivated to achieve harmony in their interpersonal relationships.
Balance what you want for you
Core values
Strongly held beliefs, principles