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SUSS PSY 369 STUDY UNIT 3: An Examination of Individual Emotions -…
SUSS PSY 369 STUDY UNIT 3:
An Examination of Individual
Emotions
Positive Emotions
positive emotions facilitate approach behaviours, they also play a pivotal role in contributing to success in important life domains, and create the right conditions for human flourishing
people
higher in positive affect
report
fewer symptoms
,
less pain
, and generally
better health
Love
Features of Romantic love
underlines pair bonding and fosters
long-term commitment
working towards mutual goals
associated with the release of a neurochemical,
oxytocin
Sternberg: Definition and components of love
Sternberg’s (1986) theory of love discusses three components which underlie the nature of love.
Passion
,
motivated by
physical attraction
, desire, and a proclivity towards
sex
Infatuation
It is defined by passion
without the intimacy or commitment
, and often brings to mind the phrase “love at first sight
Commitment,
which involves someone making the decision that he or she is in a love relationship, a willingness to label it as a relationship, and a commitment to maintain the
relationship over time
.
Empty love
describes a relationship where the
intimacy and passion are gone
, but the couple is still committed to each other, either for the sake of appearances or for their children
Intimacy,
encompasses the feeling of
closeness, connectedness
, and bonding found in relationships.
There is a sharing of information not normally disclosed to others.
Liking/Casual friendship
In relationships where there is just intimacy,
no commitment or passion
, it is liking. .
Sternberg's combination
Each component interacts and describes eight different forms of love or lack thereof. The absence of all three components marks non-love
Sternberg's other Combinations of Three Basic Components of Love.
Intimacy + Passion = Romantic love
Intimacy + Commitment = Compassionate love
Passion + Commitment = Fatuous love
Combination of all three leads to Consummate love.
Sexual attraction
sexual attraction does not occur randomly
factors which promote sexual attraction includes:
Factors
factors which promote sexual attraction includes:
Familiarity, similarity and proximity
Most of the time, we are attracted to individuals with whom we
share some similarity
.
We are also attracted to people who are
familiar and proximally close
to us
Physical attractiveness
This is another factor which promotes sexual attraction; the
beautiful
are generally regarded as being
more attractive
Misattribution of arousal
Sexual attraction can also be the result of a misattribution of arousal
In Dutton and Aron’s (1974) study, men mistakenly attribute their physiological responses of fear at being on a high and shaky bridge, to the presence of a female. In other words,
they mistake the source of their physiological arousal for attraction
I.e. physiological responses for fear was interpreted as physiological response for desire.
Happiness and Subjective Well-being
Functions of happiness and subjective well-being
Broadening of motor-cognitive capacities
According to Frederickson (1998, 2001) positive emotions broaden an individual’s momentary thought-action repertoire.
When we feel positive, our
scope of cognition is broadened
and the experience of positive affect provides us with more unusual cognitive associations,
more flexibility
in categorising and the use of more inclusive cognitive categories, and allows us to demonstrate
better creative thinking
This
enables individuals to build
physical, intellectual, and social
resources
Ameliorate detrimental physiological effects
Positive emotions can undo the detrimental physiological effects of negative emotions; individuals who
experienced positive emotions
after experiencing negative emotions
showed faster cardiovascular recovery
improve psychological resilience
Positive emotions improve psychological resilience, enabling people to
bounce back from negative
or stressful experiences.
Resilient individuals experience greater positive emotions than less resilient ones and in turn, their positive emotions aid their cardiovascular recovery, and help them find positive meaning in negative situations
Broaden-and-build model
Isen (2008) identified a few possible mechanisms behind the
facilitative effects of positive emotions on decision-making and problem-solving.
These mechanisms can be traced back to the theoretical framework of the broaden-and-build mode
Cognitive Flexibility
Positive affect
encourages flexibility in thinking,
allowing people to switch attention
, and consider multiple aspects of situations.
This cognitive flexibility enables people to make effective complex decisions and formulate
innovative ways for creative problem-solving.
Attention
Although positive affect broadens the focus of one’s attention, it is not necessarily associated with less detailed and careless processing.
Isen, and Frederickson and colleagues (e.g., Isen, 2008; Isen & Reeve, 2005; Johnson & Frederickson, 2005) suggests that
positive affect can facilitate careful thinking
and promote attention to detail.
Hence, it is likely that the heuristic processing associated with positive affect stems from a lack of motivation.
Elaboration
Positive affect
influences how
stimuli and
information are organised
in the mind and processed.
Lyubomirsky, King, and Diener's bidirectional model
Researchers have always assumed that success is what made people happy.
However, the authors suggested that this
association between success and happiness is bidirectional
;
not only does success lead to happiness,
happiness also engender success.
In fact,
findings
from correlational studies
confirm that long-term happiness and short-term positive affect are related to successful outcomes
in various important life domains.
experimental studies have found evidence that positive affect is associated with behaviours that contribute to success (i.e better conflict resolution, pro-social behaviour, healthy behaviour)
Sources of happiness and subjective well-being
Conceptualising Happiness
Researchers conceptualise happiness as consisting of three main parts:
high positive affect
, where we experience intense and frequent positive emotions;
low negative affect
, where we experience low-level and infrequent negative emotions; and
subjective well-being
, the cognitive evaluation of one’s current and past circumstance
Hedonistic pleasure
Hedonic happiness consists of
seeking pleasure and avoiding pain
eudaimonia
eudaimonia sees happiness as part of human
flourishing
, where we pursue the highest human good, living a good and virtuous life, pursuing long-term life satisfaction, which involves deep contemplation.
Humanistic outlook
Authentic happiness
Seligman described authentic happiness as consisting of a
pleasant life
,
where we attain and maintain the
pleasures in life
;
a
good life
of knowing our signature strengths and using it to cultivate friendships and pursue leisure (increasing flow activity);
and a
meaningful life
, where we use our strengths in service of something larger than ourselves.
Negative Emotions
Negative emotional states are known to be associated with mood and anxiety disorders such as depression, and to influence physical health
Fear and Anxiety
Fear
fear is
focused on the present
and hence, triggered by our
proximity to an eliciting stimulus
Fear triggers our sympathetic nervous system (SNS), activates a second system, the Behavioral Inhibition System (BIS)
the BIS prepares the body for flight but does not increase heart rate
involves activity in the amygdala
Function of fear: Psychological disorder
fear is a
key feature in psychological disorders
such as specific phobia, panic disorders, and social phobia.
very often, individuals with such disorders exhibit emotions to the extreme (i.e extreme fear)
Function of fear: Evolutionary
fear serves an important evolutionary function
It is triggered in response to recurrent evolutionary situations where we
pick up cues associated with threats
.
Fear drives us to
preserve our safety
by being focused on the present and diverting from threat.
It triggers a certain set of behaviour – the
fight-or-flight response is initiated
Anxiety
triggered by a less proximal stimulus and is more
focused on the future
It is
not always subconsciously activated
.
In this sense, anxiety lasts longer than fear
Useful functions
The vigilance to threat increases
attention to potential danger
It enhances one’s physical and intellectual performance (I.e
heightened state of awareness
)
Harmful effects
It is no longer beneficial when we experience intense anxiety to the point where:
it
impedes
our
social functioning
(e.g., fear of public speaking resulting in work opportunities lost)
impedes basic tasks
of living (e.g., fear of flying or riding in elevators)
causes us
physical harm
(e.g., washing hands till our skin breaks and bleed)
causes us to die (e.g., starving ourselves for fear of becoming fat)
Anger
Anger is elicted when a demeaning offense have been incurred againts self and that which a person identifies with
Physiology of anger
Anger triggers physiological reactions such as
increased heart rate
and blood pressure,
and
tensed muscles
.
It involves a certain set of
facial expressions
, where typically our eyebrows bunch downward towards the middle of our foreheads, and our lips tighten.
Aggression theory
Anger is perhaps most commonly associated with hostility and aggression
According to frustration-aggression hypothesis by Dollard and colleagues, anger arises when
our desires and goals are thwarted
by someone or something we cannot reach
The frustration of not being able to react escalates, and our
anger is displaced
or transferred to others, hence
potentially damaging our relationship with others
Benefits of anger
Strengthen relationship
research revealed that
expressing anger
, and letting your partner know why something went wrong, helps strengthen a relationship more so than concealing the problem does
This is a
reflection of strong, open communication
Self-reflection
Anger also provides an opportunity to self-reflect.
In a study by Kassinove and colleagues (1997), some participants reported that anger made them reflect upon their own faults.
Empirical evidence also suggest that anger leads to a
more optimistic outlook
Negotiations
Anger is also an effective tool in negotiations.
When justified, research has found that negotiation tends to be more favourable towards the angry person than one who was neutral or happy