EMOTION

•We know that when we experience an emotion, there are often physical symptoms as well…pounding heart, faster breathing, sweaty palms, butterflies, flushed face etc.•What comes first, physiological arousal or conscious awareness of an emotion?

THREE THEORIES

• James-Lange: We feel aroused, leading to our perceiving an emotion: “My heart is pounding, so I’m afraid”

• Cannon-Bard: Our conscious awareness of an emotion and the physical response occur at the same time

• Schacter-Singer: We feel physiological arousal, give that feeling a cognitive label, and thus feel emotion (Two-factor theory)

Emotionfear

Cognitive interpretation“I feel afraid!”

Physiological arousaltremblingincreased heart rate

James-James-Lange Lange theorytheory

Cannon-Cannon-bard bard

theorytheory

Two-Two-factor factor theorytheory

Stimulus:snake

Stimulus:snake

Stimulus

Emotionfear

Physiological arousaltremblingincreased heart rate

Physiological arousaltremblingincreased heart rate

Emotionfear

HOW MUCH AROUSAL DOES IT TAKE TO PERFORM AT PEAK LEVELS?

• Depends on the difficulty of the task

• For difficult tasks, peak performance occurs at lower levels of arousal, For easy or well-learned tasks, more arousal is required for peak performance

Yerkes-Dodson Law

• Yerkes-Dodson law: A theory that a degree of psychological arousal helps performance, but only to a certain point. Too much or too little arousal can decrease performance. Also known as the Inverted U.

DO WE BECOME WHAT WE THINK?

• Often times, yes• Arousal can “spill” from one

emotion to another• This explains why violence

sometimes breaks out at high-stakes football and soccer games

• Some emotional responses bypass conscious thinking (like priming)

Tape and straw exercise

NON-VERBAL COMMUNICATION

• Helped our ancestors survive• We pick up on negative

emotions faster• Introverts are better at

identifying emotions than extraverts, but not as good at expressing them

GENDER AND EMOTION

• Women are better than men at correctly identifying what is being conveyed by non-verbal behavior

• They are generally more “emotive” than men

• They also describe emotions in more complex ways

DETECTING EMOTION

• Hard to detect liars – we’re about 50% right

• T or F – liars generally look down and to the left when lying

• What makes a genuine smile?

POLYGRAPH (LIE DETECTOR) TESTS

Emotion--Lie Detectors

Control question

Relevantquestion

Control question

Relevantquestion(a) (b)

Respiration

Perspiration

Heart rate

• assume that 1 in every 1000 employees of a government and its defense contractors is a spy. If a test to detect spies has a 95 percent accuracy rate, what is the chance that a person who tests positively (is identified as a spy) is actually a spy?

• What if the accuracy rate was 70%?

Emotion--Lie Detectors

50 Innocents 50 Thieves

1/3 of innocent declared guilty

1/4 of guilty declared innocent (from Kleinmuntz & Szucko, 1984)

Percentage

Innocentpeople

Guiltypeople

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

Judged innocent by polygraphJudged guilty by polygraph

• Not considered accurate enough to be used as evidence in most courts of law

SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS AND EMOTIONAL AWARENESS

• Private self-consciousness

• Public self-consciousness• Draw an E

EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION

Fear, Sadness, Surprise, Happiness/Joy, Disgust, Anger

CULTURE AND EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION

• Same basic facial expressions in all cultures

• Even blind children make those same expressions

• Some cultures show emotions more than others

• Individualistic vs. collectivist

Emotions at Birth

DISGUST

PUT ON A HAPPY FACE

• It actually works• Our facial expressions

can influence our emotions

FEAR

• Fear can be in-born (spiders, snakes, heights), or learned (homework)

• We are biologically prepared to fear some things more than others

• What part of the brain is associated with fear?• What would happen if it was destroyed?• Genetics plays a role too• Can you be scared to death? Apparently, yes.• Fear and politics

ANGER

• Rising Sun Anger Release Bar• Does “venting” our anger help us

“get it out of our system?”• For the most part, no. It only

makes you angrier • Road Rage

DEALING WITH ANGER

• Wait• Calm yourself in ways

that don’t involve sulking or exploding

• Forgiveness helps too

HAPPINESS

• Feel good, do good• Emotional ups and downs• Many people, even after traumatic

experiences, report normal levels of happiness after some time has gone by – we are remarkably resilient

• Oxytocin and trust• Left-Right brain asymmetry and

happiness

Emotional Ups and Downs

• Positive moods rise to a maximum within 6-7 hours of waking. Negative moods stay more or less constant.

MONEY AND HAPPINESS

• Bad stronger than good• Money/material things make us

temporarily happy, but over the long run they don’t

• Gratitude makes us happy• Those who strive the hardest for wealth

are usually the most unhappy• But…spending money on others often

makes us happy

Wealth & Well Being

• Many people believe in Western countries that if they were wealthier, they would be happier. However, data suggests that they would only be happy temporarily.

Does Money Buy Happiness?• Wealth is like health, it’s

absence can breed misery, but having it does not guarantee happiness.

• In the last 40 yrs., Americans’ buying power has tripled, but we do not report higher levels of satisfaction

• However, levels of happiness across countries are rising. Why?

Happiness & Satisfaction

ADAPTATION AND COMPARISON

• Why don’t material possessions make us happy in the long-term?

• Adaptation - people tend to adapt to income levels.

–Similar to how our senses adapt.• Comparison• Happiness is not only relative to our past, but

also to our comparisons with others.• Relative Deprivation is the perception that we are

relatively worse off than those we compare ourselves with.

• Given the choice, would you rather go to a top-tier university and graduate at the bottom of your class, or go to a “middle of the road” school and finish at the top of your class?

Happiness is...Researchers Have Found ThatHappy People Tend to

Have high self-esteem (in individualistic countries)

Be optimistic, outgoing, and agreeable

Have close friendships or a satisfyingmarriage

Have work and leisure that engagetheir skills

Have a meaningful religious faith

Sleep well and exercise

However, Happiness Seems Not MuchRelated to Other Factors, Such as

Age

Gender (women are more often depressed, but also more often joyful)

Education levels

Parenthood (having children or not)

Physical attractiveness

Money

Predictors of Happiness

• Why are some people generally more happy than others?

HOW TO BE HAPPIER1. Realize that enduring happiness doesn’t

come from financial success.2. Take control of your time3. Act happy4. Seek work and leisure that engages your

skills.5. Join the “movement” movement6. Give your body the sleep it wants7. Give priority to close relationships8. Focus beyond self9. Be grateful10.Nurture your spiritual self

LAUGHTER

• People are 30% more likely to laugh when with others than by themselves

• Laughter is contagious• Did you know that rats can laugh?

Me neither!• Laughter can reduce pain, anxiety,

and promote immune functioning