Emotion

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), emotion is defined as “a complex

reaction pattern, involving experiential, behavioral and physiological elements.” Emotions are
how individuals deal with matters or situations they find personally significant.

The Process of Emotion

While there is debate about sequence, there is general agreement that emotions, as mentioned
earlier, are made up of four parts: subjective experiences, physiological responses and behavioral
responses or expressive response and chemistry.

Subjective Experiences

All emotions begin with a subjective experience, also referred to as a stimulus, but what does
that mean? While basic emotions are expressed by all individuals regardless of culture or
upbringing, the experience that produces them can he highly subjective.

Subjective experiences can range from something as simple as seeing a color to something as
major as losing a loved one or getting married. No matter how intense the experience is, it can
provoke many emotions in a single individual and the emotions each individual feel may be
different. For example, one person may feel anger and regret at the loss of a loved one while
another may experience intense sadness.

Physiological Responses

We all know how it feels to have our heart beat fast with fear. This physiological response is the
result of the autonomic nervous system’s reaction to the emotion we’re experiencing. The
autonomic nervous system controls our involuntary bodily responses and regulates our fight-or-
flight response. According to many psychologists, our physiological responses are likely how
emotion helped us evolve and survive as humans throughout history.

Interestingly, studies have shown autonomic physiological responses are strongest when a
person’s facial expressions most closely resemble the expression of the emotion they’re
experiencing. In other words, facial expressions play an important role in responding accordingly
to an emotion in a physical sense.

Behavioral Responses

The behavioral response aspect of the emotional response is the actual expression of the emotion.
Behavioral responses can include a smile, a grimace, a laugh or a sigh, along with many other
reactions depending on societal norms and personality.
While plentiful research suggests that many facial expressions are universal, such as a frown to
indicate sadness, sociocultural norms and individual upbringings play a role in our behavioral
responses. For example, how love is expressed is different both from person to person and across
cultures.

Chemistry

Emotions are a conscious experience that are categorized by states of mind, external and internal
reactions, and expressions. Some of the neurotransmitters: Dopamine, Serotonin,
noradrenaline etc.

Dopamine
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter. A neurotransmitter is a chemical substance that transmits nerve
impulses across a synapse to a postsynaptic element such as another nerve, muscle or gland.
Neurotransmitters have a large impact on mood and emotions, and a surplus or lack of
neurotransmitters can cause behavioral problems
Neurotransmitter balance has a connection to health, nutrition, environmental factors, external
emotional stimulus, and genetic factors. It is involved in focus, drive, attention, memory, and
thinking clearly. Dopamine has a big role in positive emotions, and a lack of dopamine can cause
parkinson's disease. Dopamine is also instrumental to the storage and creation of new memories
Serotonin
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, just like dopamine. It’s purpose is to regulate mood, thinking,
and impulse control. Serotonin affects arousal, anxiety, mood, impulse control, aggression, and
thinking abilities. Serotonin regulates emotions. With enough of it, we feel happy, optimistic,
etc. However, when there is a lack of serotonin, there can be depression, anxiety, irritability, etc.

Noradrenaline

Noradrenaline, also known as norepinephrine, is a neurotransmitter that plays a role in the

sympathetic nervous system’s response to stress. It is involved in the fight or flight response,
which prepares the body to react to perceived threats.

In terms of emotions, noradrenaline is thought to be involved in regulating mood, arousal, and

attention. It has been associated with feelings of alertness, anxiety, and fear. Noradrenaline levels
tend to increase in response to emotionally charged events or stimuli, and can impact our
emotional experiences and responses

Theories Of Emotion
James-Lange Theory

The James-Lange Theory of Emotion is one of the earliest emotion theories of modern
psychology. Developed by William James and Carl Lange in the 19th century, the theory
hypothesizes that physiological stimuli (arousal) causes the autonomic nervous system to react
which in turn causes individuals to experience emotion. The reactions of the nervous system
could include a fast heartbeat, tensed muscles, sweating and more. According to this theory, the
physiological response comes before the emotional behavior. Over time, the James-Lange theory
has been challenged, as well as expanded upon in other theories, suggesting that emotion is the
mix of physiological and psychological response.

Facial-Feedback Theory

The Facial-Feedback Theory of Emotion suggests that facial expressions are crucial to
experiencing emotion. This theory is connected to the work of Charles Darwin and William
James that hypothesized that facial expressions impact emotion as opposed to their being a
response to an emotion. This theory holds that emotions are directly tied to physical changes in
the facial muscles. Thus, someone who forced himself to smile would be happier than someone
who wore a frown.

Cannon-Bard Theory

Developed by Walter Cannon and Philip Bard in the 1920s, the Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
was developed to refute the James-Lange theory. This theory posits that bodily changes and
emotions occur simultaneously instead of one right after the other. This theory is backed by
neurobiological science that says that the once a stimulating event is detected, the information is
relayed to both the amygdala and the brain cortex at the same time. If this holds true, arousal and
emotion are a simultaneous event.

Schachter-Singer Theory

This theory, developed by Stanley Schachter and Jerome E. Singer, introduces the element of
reasoning into the process of emotion. The theory hypothesizes that when we experience an
event that causes physiological arousal, we try to find a reason for the arousal. Then, we
experience the emotion.

Cognitive Appraisal Theory

Richard Lazarus pioneered this theory of emotion. According to the Cognitive Appraisal Theory,
thinking must occur before experiencing emotion. Thus, a person would first experience a
stimulus, think, and then simultaneously experience a physiological response and the emotion.

These are far from the only theories of emotion that exist, but they provide great examples of
how the ideas about how emotion is generated differ from each other. What all theories of
emotion have in common is the idea that an emotion is based off some sort of personally
significant stimulus or experience, prompting a biological and psychological reaction.