5 Major theories of Emotion
Emotion is a multifaceted, subjective experience that is associated with physiological and behavioural changes. Emotion encompasses sensation, thought, nervous system activation, physiological changes, and behavioural changes such as facial expressions. There are numerous theories about how and why people experience emotion. There are several of these, including evolutionary theories, the James-Lange Theory, the Cannon-Bard Theory, Schacter and Singer's Two-Factor Theory, and Cognitive Appraisal.
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Evolutionary Theories
In the 1870s, Charles Darwin proposed that emotions evolved because they had adaptive value more than a century ago. For example, fear developed because it helped people act in ways that enhanced their chances of survival. Darwin believed that facial expressions of emotion are innate (hard-wired).
He pointed out that facial expressions allow people to quickly judge someone's hostility or friendliness and to communicate intentions to others. Naturalist 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 produce. Feelings of fear compel people to either fight or flee the source of danger.
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According to the evolutionary theory of emotion, 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.
Understanding the emotions of other people and animals also plays a crucial role in safety and survival. If you encounter a hissing, spitting, and clawing animal, chances are you will quickly realize that the animal is frightened or defensive and leave it alone. By interpreting the emotional displays of other people and animals correctly, you can respond accurately and avoid danger.
Read: Emotion in Psychology
Read: Physical Changes during Emotion (External & Internal)
Read: Emotion and Autonomic Nervous System: Sympathetic and Parasympathetic
Recent evolutionary theories also consider emotions to be innate responses to stimuli. Evolutionary theorists tend to downplay the influence of thought and learning on emotion, although they acknowledge that both can affect. Evolutionary theorists believe that all human cultures share several primary emotions, including happiness, contempt, surprise, disgust, anger, fear, and sadness. They think that all other emotions result from blends and different intensities of these primary emotions. For example, terror is a more intense form of the primary emotion of fear.
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The James-Lange Theory of Emotion
…….. The theory is that emotional feelings result when individuals become aware of a physiological response to an emotion-provoking stimulus. The James-Lange theory is one of the best-known examples of a physiological theory of emotion. Independently proposed by psychologist William James and physiologist Carl Lange, the James-Lange theory of emotion suggests that feelings occur due to physiological reactions to events.
This theory suggests that when you see an external stimulus, that leads to a physiological reaction. Your emotional response is dependent upon how you interpret those physical reactions. For example, suppose you are walking in the woods and seeing a grizzly bear. You begin to tremble, and your heart begins to race.
The James-Lange theory proposes that you interpret your physical reactions and conclude that you are frightened ("I am trembling. Therefore I am afraid"). According to this theory of emotion, you are not trembling because you are terrified. Instead, you feel frightened because you are shaking.
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The Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
………. The theory is that an emotion-provoking stimulus is transmitted simultaneously to the cortex, providing the feeling of emotion and to the sympathetic nervous system, causing physiological arousal. Another well-known physiological theory is the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion. Walter Cannon disagreed with the James-Lange theory of feeling on several different grounds. First, he suggested that people can experience physiological reactions linked to emotions without feeling those emotions. For example, your heart might race because you have been exercising and not because you are afraid.
Cannon also suggested that emotional responses occur much too quickly to be simply products of physical states. When you encounter danger in the environment, you will often feel afraid before you start to experience the physical symptoms associated with fear, such as shaking hands, rapid breathing, and a racing heart.
Cannon first proposed his theory in the 1920s, and his work was later expanded on by physiologist Philip Bard during the 1930s. According to the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion, we feel emotions and simultaneously experience physiological reactions such as sweating, trembling, and muscle tension.
Cannon first proposed his theory in the 1920s, and his work was later expanded on by physiologist Philip Bard during the 1930s. According to the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion, we feel emotions and simultaneously experience physiological reactions such as sweating, trembling, and muscle tension.
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 happens simultaneously and that one does not cause the other.
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Comparison between James-Lange & Cannon-Bard Theory
According to the James-Lange theory, initially proposed by James and around the same time also by Lange, the stimulus leads to the arousal that leads to the emotion. The sound of a gunshot, for example, leads to physiological responses like rapid heart rate and trembling that lead to the subjective experience of fear.
On the other hand, according to the Cannon-Bard theory, proposed first by Cannon and later extended by Bard, the stimulus leads to arousal and emotion. The sound of a gunshot, for example, shows both physiological responses like rapid heart rate and trembling and the subjective experience of fear.
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 happens simultaneously and that one does not cause the other.
The James-Lange and Cannon-Bard theories are fundamentally similar. They both involve the same three components but differ in how they handle the timing of when arousal and emotion occur. They differ from the two cognitive theories in that both of them do not explicitly acknowledge any role of cognition.
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Schachter-Singer Theory(Two Factor Theory)
………A two-stage theory states that for an emotion to occur, there must be (1) physiological arousal and (2) an explanation for the arousal. Also known as the two-factor theory of emotion, the Schachter-Singer Theory is an example of a cognitive theory of emotion. This theory suggests that 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 a feeling.Schachter and Singer's theory draws on the James-Lange theory and the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion. Like the James-Lange theory, the Schachter-Singer theory proposes that people infer emotions based on physiological responses. The critical factor is the situation and the cognitive interpretation that people use to label that emotion.
Like the Cannon-Bard theory, the Schachter-Singer theory also suggests similar physiological responses can produce varying emotions. For example, if you experience a racing heart and sweating palms during a vital math exam, you will probably identify the emotion as anxiety. If you share the same physical responses with your significant other on a date, you might interpret those responses as love, affection, or arousal.
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Cognitive Appraisal Theory
According to appraisal theories of emotion, thinking must occur first before experiencing the feeling. Richard Lazarus was a pioneer in this area of emotion, and this theory is often referred to as the Lazarus theory of emotion.According to this theory, the sequence of events first involves a stimulus, followed by the thought, leading to the simultaneous experience of physiological response and emotion. For example, if you encounter a bear in the woods, you might immediately think that you are in great danger. This leads to the emotional experience of fear and the physical reactions associated with the fight-or-flight response.
The psychologist Richard Lazarus's research has shown that people's experience of emotion depends on how they appraise or evaluate the events around them.
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Comparison between Schachter-Singer & Lazarus theory
According to the two-factor theory proposed by Schachter and Singer, the stimulus leads to the arousal that is labelled using the cognition that leads to the emotion. The sound of a gunshot, for example, leads to physiological responses like rapid heart rate and trembling, which is interpreted as fear and lead to the subjective experience of anxiety.
According to the cognitive-mediational theory proposed by Lazarus, the stimulus leads to the personal meaning arrived at using cognition that leads to both arousal and emotion. The sound of a gunshot, for example, is interpreted as something potentially dangerous and leads to both the physiological responses like a rapid heart rate and trembling and the subjective experience of fear.
Regarding the similarities, the sequence of the three components in both the James-Lange and two-factor theories and the Cannon-Bard and cognitive-appraisal theories is the same. The fundamental difference between the two theories comprises each pair being the addition of a cognition component at some point in the sequence in the cognitive theories.
Nice article
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