Emotions

In psychology and philosophy, emotion is a subjective, conscious experience that is characterized primarily by psychophysiological expressions, biological reactions, and mental states. Emotion is often associated and considered reciprocally influential with mood, temperament, personality, disposition, and motivation, as well as influenced by hormones and neurotransmitters such as dopamine, noradrenaline, serotonin, oxytocin, cortisol and GABA. Emotion is often the driving force behind motivation, positive or negative. An alternative definition of emotion is a "positive or negative experience that is associated with a particular pattern of physiological activity."

            Emotions have been described as distinct and steady responses to internal or external events which have a particular significance for the organism. Emotions are brief in duration and consist of a coordinated set of responses, which may include verbal, physiological, behavioural, and neural mechanisms. Feelings are best understood as a subjective representation of emotions, private to the individual experiencing them. Moods are diffuse affective states that generally last for much longer durations than emotions and are also usually less intense than emotions. Affect is an encompassing term, used to describe the topics of emotion, feelings, and moods together, even though it is commonly used interchangeably with emotion.

In Scherer's components processing model of emotion, five crucial elements of emotion are said to exist, which are mentioned below:

·         Cognitive appraisal: provides an evaluation of events and objects

·         Bodily symptoms: the physiological component of emotional experience

·         Action tendencies: a motivational component for the preparation and direction of motor responses.

·         Expression: facial and vocal expression almost always accompanies an emotional state to communicate reaction and intention of actions

·         Feelings: the subjective experience of emotional state once it has occurred.

A distinction can be made between emotional episodes and emotional dispositions. Emotional dispositions are also comparable to character traits, where someone may be said to be generally disposed to experience certain emotions. For example, an irritable person is generally disposed to feel irritation more easily or quickly than others do.

Emotion is a disturbance that occurs in the following order: (by Lazarus)

1.      Cognitive appraisal—The individual assesses the event cognitively, which cues the emotion.

2.      Physiological changes—The cognitive reaction starts biological changes such as increased heart rate or pituitary adrenal response.

3.      Action—The individual feels the emotion and chooses how to react.

For example: Jenny sees a snake.

1.      Jenny cognitively assesses the snake in her presence. Cognition allows her to understand it as a danger.

2.      Her brain activates Adrenaline gland which pumps Adrenaline through her blood stream resulting in increased heartbeat.

3.      Jenny screams and runs away.

Basic Emotions