The Roots of Emotions

You'll want to become familiar with three important theories of emotion:

1. The James-Lange theory proposes that bodily arousal occurs before we experience emotional arousal. The expe- rience of sadness follows the physiological reaction of crying. We don't cry because we're sad; we're sad because we cry. We see a poisonous snake, our sympa- thetic nervous system kicks in, and then we feel fear. We brake hard, swerving to miss an oncoming truck, and then experience a rush of fear.

2. The Cannon-Bard theory rejects the James-Lange theory. Walter Cannon and Phillip Bard argued that a physically aroused state and its accompanying emotional state arise simultaneously. In effect, the brain centers responsible for arousal and fear (the thalamus and hypothalamus) operate together.

3. Schachter's cognitive theory of emotion states that we become fearful when we cognitively (mentally) define some threat. Many people would panic if they saw a snake approaching through the grass. An Amazonian tribal person may see the snake in the grass and experi- ence physiological arousal, but he or she might consider it dinner. In any case, research does support the idea that we can experience a physically aroused state as either fear or excitement. A roller-coaster ride may be fun for one person and a nightmare for another.

A contemporary model of emotion concludes the module. If it occurred to you that there's a degree of truth in each of the major theories of emotion, then you already understand the main idea of the contemporary model of emotion. For exam- ple, the three emotional theories do suggest that the context of an arousal state, along with our definition of it, is related to emotional experience. Emotional appraisal, in turn, refers to how we value or interpret stimuli.

As it turns out, the six basic emotions expressed in the six facial expressions-happiness, anger, sadness, surprise, disgust, and fear-do seem to be universal across cultures. (Research details in your text will help you get the point.) But why should this be so? Two explanatory approaches are mentioned in your text. According to the facial-affect program theory, all of us are genetically "wired" to express these six emotions at birth. In effect, each of the six emotions evokes characteristic responses in facial muscles.

The facial-feedback hypothesis adds an interesting twist to the facial-affect model. (It's also another version of the "which came first" problem.) According to research by Carol Izard and others, basic facial expressions are programmed by the nervous system, affirming the facial-affect assumption. However, in this model, when an emotion is triggered, we become aware of our facial expression and then realize the emotion, whatever it may be. In short, emotional states and facial expressions are correlated and interactive. It should therefore be possible to alter or produce an emotional state by consciously producing a facial expression. Furthermore, research suggests that this may sometimes be the case. There's an old song with the lyric "Let a smile be your umbrella." Maybe that's good psychological advice!