Theories of Emotion: Study with Video Lessons, Practice Problems & Examples

Theories of Emotion

Alright. So for the next couple of videos, we're going to be going over the different theories of emotion. To quickly recap, as I'm sure you recall, emotions require a stimulus or event to get them started, and they're believed to have a few different components. We have the physiological component, the actual biological arousal that takes place with the emotion. We also have the cognitive component, our appraisals, how we're thinking about and understanding what we're feeling, and then our final full emotional experience.

So throughout history in psychology, 4 prominent theories have attempted to explain the relationship between these components. What I mean by that is we believe that all of these components may be involved in emotion. However, there is some disagreement on the actual order in which they take place. So each theory is going to essentially propose a different ordering or arrangement of these different components of emotion. One thing to note before we dive in is that not all professors are going to want you to know all 4 theories.

So definitely be aware of what your professor is expecting of you and then kind of pick and choose the content based on your needs. Alright. I will see you guys in our next video to begin diving into these theories. Bye bye.

James-Lange Theory

Okay. So we are going to begin with one of the oldest theories of emotion. This is the James-Lange theory. And the James here is actually William James, one of, like, the founders of psychology in America. Now the idea behind this theory is that emotion arises from physiological arousal.

So physiology is kind of the driving force behind emotion. They believed that each emotion has a specific pattern of physiological arousal. So for example, let's say we have our stimulus, a bear pops up, that is going to cause physiological arousal, things like an increased heart rate, and based on that specific, you know, profile of physiological arousal, I can label the emotion that I'm feeling as fear. Now, this is a very simple explanation of emotion, but there are a lot of critiques of this because it is so simple. So the first, which you may have already thought of, is that it's very unlikely that every single emotion and feeling that humans are capable of has completely unique physiology.

And in fact, with modern technology, we know for a fact that that just isn't true. It's not like you have a unique heart rate for every single emotion or a completely unique biosignature. It just wouldn't really make sense. So that kind of puts a hole in this theory. Another issue is that emotions can also happen before the effects of physiology are felt, and embarrassment is a great example of this.

It can take about 15 to 30 seconds for that kind of classic blushing feeling to actually reach your cheeks, but you can be aware that you are embarrassed well before, like, 30 seconds go by. Right? So, this is just not always the order that things take place, and as you may have noticed we are missing an entire piece. We are completely missing cognition here. Again, this is a very old theory.

They weren't really considering that aspect of emotion at the time, but nowadays we know for a fact that this is missing a very important piece. So this was a very simple explanation but it was lacking in many ways. Alright, so that is our James-Lange theory and I'll see you guys in the next one. Bye bye.

Cannon-Bard Theory

In this video, we're going to be talking about the Cannon Bard theory. So the idea behind the Cannon Bard theory is that physiological arousal and the emotional experience are going to be occurring simultaneously but they are independent events. So the idea is that we would have our stimulus and then at the exact same time I would have an increase in my physiology. I'd have increased heart rate, increased respiration, etcetera, and I would feel the emotion of fear. But one of these is not necessary for the other to happen, so they are simultaneous but independent.

And there actually is some research supporting this. So research has shown that physiological arousal is not always necessary for an emotional experience. A very simple example of this is people who are quadriplegic. So people who have spinal cord injuries and maybe can't receive biofeedback from the majority of their bodies. But obviously, those people can still experience the full range of human emotion even without that physiology component.

So that is some evidence that these are kind of independent processes. However, as I'm sure you may have noticed, we are still missing an entire component of emotion here. So much like the James Lang theory, this theory also really underplays the role of cognition. So it is a nice simple explanation and there is some research supporting it but it's still kind of missing a piece. Alright, so that is our Cannon Bard theory and I will see you guys in the next one.

Bye bye.

Schachter-Singer Two-Factor Theory

This video, we're going to be going over the Schachter Singer 2-factor theory of emotion. So the idea behind this theory is that stimuli are going to trigger a general state of physiological arousal. So unlike our James Lange theory, which stated that stimuli are going to trigger very specific and unique physiology for each emotion, this theory states that stimuli trigger just kind of a general state of arousal in our bodies. And then based on this arousal and the stimuli, we are going to label the emotion that we are feeling. So we're going to have this cognition component of appraising the situation.

So our two factors here essentially are this physiological arousal and this cognitive appraisal. So, to walk through our example here, we would have our stimulus, our bear, and then that is going to cause this general state of physiological arousal. And then based on that physiology and the stimulus that I can see, I'm going to appraise that situation as like, oh, I'm scared right now. And then those two factors, that physiology and that appraisal, would lead to our emotional experience of fear. So that's the idea behind this theory.

There is some research supporting this theory, and we do know that the same physiology can be associated with different emotions. So just to give you a fun example, imagine you had an increased heart rate and butterflies in your tummy, and you have a really important exam happening in 5 minutes. You're probably going to appraise that feeling as nervousness. Right? Like, oh, I'm nervous about this exam right now.

But now imagine you had increased heart rate and butterflies in your tummy and you were about to go on your favorite roller coaster. You would probably appraise that feeling as excitement. Right? And so we actually know for a fact now that the physiology of nervousness and excitement look almost identical. It's just going to be your appraisal of the situation that triggered that physiology that's going to kind of lead to those two very different emotional experiences.

So, this does sometimes happen. However, we do have a critique of this theory, which is that while this can sometimes happen as we've talked about, different emotions do have different effects on physiology. It doesn't happen all of the time. You know, the physiological arousal that you experience with excitement feels nothing like the physiological changes that might come with sadness. Right?

They don't feel anything alike in your body. So this can sometimes happen. We do have some evidence supporting it, but it's just not giving us the full picture. It just doesn't always seem to explain how all emotions work. Alright, so that is our Schachter Singer 2-factor theory, and I will see you guys in the next one.

Bye-bye.

Lazarus' Cognitive-Mediational Theory

Alright. So in this video, we're going to go over Lazarus's cognitive mediational theory. And as the name suggests, this theory is going to be putting cognition kind of front and center. So the idea is that emotions are determined by our appraisal of a stimulus. The appraisal is thought to be immediate and unconscious, and it's going to lead to both the emotional experience and the physiological changes.

So this is the first time we've seen cognition coming before physiology in any of our theories. We would have our stimulus that would lead to our appraisal of that situation. You know, "oh my god. I'm in danger," for example. And then that would lead to our emotional experience of fear and any physiological changes or arousal.

So this is a nice theory. It does have some evidence supporting it. However, it really does downplay the role that physiology can have in shaping emotions, which, like we've talked about in our last three theories, we know for a fact does happen sometimes. You know? Imagine, like, an emergency situation.

Like, there's a good chance that you're going to feel kind of that spike of adrenaline well before you have time to process, appraise, and think about what you're actually feeling or thinking. So this is a nice explanation, but like with most of our theories, it's just not giving us the full explanation. It can't explain emotion in all situations. Alright. So that is Lazarus's cognitive mediational theory, and I will see you guys in our next one.

Bye bye.

Summary of The Four Theories

Alright. In this video, we're just going to do a quick summary of our 4 theories. So first up, we have our James Lange theory which states that emotion comes from specific physiology. Essentially, we would have our stimulus that would create basically a kind of specific or unique physiological profile, and then based on that physiology we would be able to label the emotion. It's a very simple theory.

One way to help you remember this theory is to just think "a before e." So arousal before emotion, just like we have "a before e" in James and in Lange. Okay, so again, very simple theory, just arousal basically creating our emotional experience. Next up we have our Cannon Bard theory which states that the physiology and emotion are going to occur simultaneously but independently. So we would have our stimulus, that stimulus would lead to both our physiological arousal and our emotion, but one does not necessitate the other.

They are completely independent events. Next, in our Schachter Singer two-factor theory, we essentially have two factors that are going to determine our emotional experience. So we're going to have our stimulus cause a general state of physiological arousal, and then how we label or appraise that is going to create our emotional experience. So we have these two factors of physiology and cognition kind of working together to create our emotional experience there. And then finally, we have Lazarus's cognitive mediational theory.

The idea here is putting cognition front and center, and the emotion and physiology are now determined by our appraisal. This is the only theory that places cognition before physiology. So one way to help you kind of remember this is to basically think of it as cognition essentially mediating the relationship between the stimulus and the emotional experience. Alright, so one last kind of takeaway message is that I don't want you to get the impression that one of these theories is necessarily the best. Each of these theories has strengths and research supporting it, as well as limitations and critiques. Honestly, emotions are extremely complicated and really, across different people, contexts, and emotions, there could be situations where each of these theories offers a correct explanation.

Alright. Just keep that in mind that they all have strengths and limitations. Alright. So those are our theories of emotions. Great job, everyone.

Thanks for sticking around, and I will see you in the next one. Bye-bye.

Theories of Emotion Example 1

Okay, so for this one, imagine you just got an offer from your dream job and you're feeling very excited about it. So in the space we have here, we're going to write out how both the James Lange theory as well as Lazarus's cognitive mediational theory would explain this process. I've written out two theories here. As a reminder, our James Lange theory essentially states that a stimulus is going to lead to a specific physiology. Basically, each emotion is going to have a unique specific physiological profile and based on the physiology that we are feeling we can then label our emotion.

So, if we were to kind of write that out, our job offer, of course, is our stimulus and then that is going to lead to a change in physiology or physiological arousal. I'm just going to put a little "s" next to that to remind us that this is a specific type of arousal. And then based on that specific physiology we would be able to kind of label that feeling as excitement. So we would know that we're feeling excited. Alright.

So that's our James Lange theory. Super simple but it kind of omits cognition. Unlike Lazarus's cognitive mediational theory, which of course puts cognition front and center. The idea behind this theory is that the stimulus is going to lead to a cognitive appraisal. This appraisal would happen very quickly and unconsciously sometimes, and then that appraisal is going to lead to both your emotional experience as well as physiological changes.

If we were to write this out, once again our job offer is our stimulus and then that is going to lead to some type of physiological or cognitive appraisal. I'm just going to write out "great" here, but you could write in whatever you want. There's just some kind of cognition on how you feel or think about or are interpreting that event. And then based on that cognitive appraisal, we would end up with our emotional experience of excitement as well as our physiological arousal. Remember, in Lazarus's cognitive mediational theory, this is the only theory of emotion that places cognition before the physiology, saying that the cognition actually causes the physiology, so it is unique for that reason.

Alright. So that is how both the James Lange theory as well as Lazarus's cognitive mediational theory would explain this emotional process, and I will see you guys in our next one. Bye bye.

Which theory of emotion says that is the combination of the physiological response and cognitive label that leads to the experience of emotion?

• A. James-Lange Theory.
• B. Cannon-Bard Theory.
• C. Schacter-Singer Two-Factor Theory.
• D. Lazarus' Cognitive-Mediational Theory.