Emotions Paper

Abstract

Within the studies of psychology, many theories have been created to explain emotion and behavior. Some are still proven while others at times have been questioned. When emotion has studied the reaction to the emotion is what is recorded for later review and scrutiny. The reason for this is there is no way to monitor what emotion a person is feeling that has to be believed simply from what the subject is describing. The behavior and the arousal point of the subject such as spoken or verbal reaction, facial expressions, body language or action taken based on the event are documented and studied for years to come.

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 Emotions

Multiple theories have been cited related to emotion and what occurs after these emotions are recognized. William James and Carl Lange, independent of each other but around the same time developed a theory now known as the James-Lange theory of emotion that “…argues that an event causes physiological arousal first and then we interpret this arousal. Only after our interpretation of the arousal can we experience emotion. If the arousal is not noticed or is not given any thought, then we will not experience any emotion based on this event” (AllPsych, 2004, p.1). When emotions are felt this arouses action or behavior in reference to the emotion, happy, sad or fear to name a few.

Frederick Herzberg, creator of the Motivation-Hygiene theory in reference to employment and how external motivators relate to employee satisfaction. 

Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory is a popular but controversial theory of employee satisfaction. The theory was at the center of a long debate that focused on conceptual and methodological problems with the theory. Now, more than 30 years after the debate and despite multiple claims that Herzberg’s theory is dead, emerging research from the field of positive psychology is surprisingly consistent with basic tenets of the motivation-hygiene theory (Sachau, 2007, p.377).

Two-Factor Theory

Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of motivation (also known as Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory) states that a person’s job satisfaction and dissatisfaction operate independently of each other. Such that particular factors at a person’s place of employment provide satisfaction while a completely different set of factors produce dissatisfaction. Herzberg established this theory by studying engineers and accountants in the 1950s. He looked into different times people felt good about their jobs and what caused that feeling. He also delved into negative experiences and what made it a negative experience. Upon his research, he found that the things that increased and employee satisfaction were not the same things that increased dissatisfaction. Furthermore, these factors cannot simply be treated as opposites. As the opposite of satisfaction is not dissatisfaction, but rather no satisfaction. Comparable to that the opposite of dissatisfaction is no dissatisfaction. 

Based on his belief that people have two sets of needs similar to how Maslow established the hierarchy of needs Herzberg divided needs into two levels the lower level physiological needs consisting of things such as the need to avoid pain and deprivation. While the higher level of needs is those of psychological growth. Ensuring employees do not become dissatisfied are considered hygiene factors. They do not necessarily always cause higher levels of motivation but without them dissatisfaction increases. In order to motivate employees certain factors need to be introduced, they are most frequently these motivation factors result from internal generators.

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The theory can be applied to motivation in that what is pleasing to someone may not be the same thing that causes them a displeasure. For instance the example of wages; low wages leave an employee feeling dissatisfied whereas it cannot be guaranteed that increased wages will provide increased satisfaction. With that, employees who are satisfied tend to have better moral and in some cases have been seen to produce larger amounts of quality work. Whereas employees who have some level of dissatisfaction have been shown a lower moral as well and decreased production. 

The top six factors the lead to satisfaction and increased motivation are; achievement, recognition, work itself responsibility, advancement, and growth. The top six factors causing dissatisfaction and decreased motivation are; company policy, supervision, relationship with supervisor or peers, work conditions, and salary. A person’s experience and perception can also play a role in their level of satisfaction and dissatisfaction in regard to motivation. How a person perceives a situation can predetermine how they feel about it. A previous negative or positive outcome in a similar situation can either encourage a person to enter into the new situation with a negative or positive attitude which will lead to an increased chance of satisfaction or dissatisfaction within the new situation. 

James-Lang Theory

The James-Lange Theory of Emotion was developed independently by William James and Carl Lange. The James-Lange theory suggests that each emotion is accompanied by a unique pattern of physiological responses (Deckers, 2005). The physiological responses are created in the automatic nervous system, events like muscle tension, increased heart rate, and dryness of the mouth. Emotions are feelings that come about as a result of these physiological changes (Gordon & Williams, 2007). According to James & Lange individuals have experienced, as a result, the automatic nervous system creates physiological events and the emotion happens as a result and is not the cause (Gordon & William, 2007). The sequence is as follows: event, arousal, interpretation, then emotion (Deckers, 2005). William James suggested that the perceptions of bodily changes in response to an arousing event are the experiences of emotion (Hupka, Otto, Reidl, Tarabrina & Zaleski, 1996). In a paper published by Carl Lange in 1885 placed great emphasis on automatic nervous system arousal as the input for subjective effect (Deckers, 2005). The James –Lange theory goes against the presumption that the physiological symptoms of emotion are caused by the emotion, the theory states that the emotion is caused by the physiological response, for example, an individual sees a snake, their heart races and they quickly get away from the snake, thus meaning that they are afraid of the snake. Fear being the emotion is the last step in the theory, the stimuli are introduced causing a reaction the automatic nervous system to trigger a physiological response, and then the emotion is associated with that physiological response (Deckers, 2005). 

Biological approaches to the study of motivation have studied the mechanisms that change the arousal level of the individual, early research emphasized the essential equivalency of changes in arousal, changes in emotion and changes in motivation. It was suggested based on the James-Lange theory that emotional expressions and the motivation of behavior are the observed manifestations of changes (Hupka, Otto, Reidl, Tarabrina & Zaleski, 1996). The James-Lange theory has been largely disfavored in modern times; however, some evidence may exist to support the theory (Hupka, Otto, Reidl, Tarabrina & Zaleski, 1996). Individuals that suffer from certain disorders, like panic disorder, often experience psycho-emotional trauma after physiological responses arise in the body; these responses condition the individual to associate these responses with specific emotions. William James also believed that emotional behavior such as smiling at a joke or running from a wolf also provided information (Decker, 2005).

Facial Feedback Hypothesis

The facial feedback hypothesis (FFH) proposes that the action of our facial musculature is a causal agent in the subjective sensation of emotions (Deckers, 2005). Both Charles Darwin, the founder of evolution, and William James, the architect of introspective psychology, agreed that the free expression or inhibition of the physical characteristics of emotions (i.e. smiling, frowning, and the like) provide feedback into the emotion itself (Goodwin, 2005). In this way, a smile might cause the sensation of happiness and a frown the sensation of sadness, rather than vice versa. However, upon further consideration FFH appears to only moderate the intensity and longevity of emotion, rather than act as a causal agent in the excitation or inhibition of emotion. Strack and associates conducted an experiment in which facial musculature was inhibited by having the participants hold a pen in their mouths. The participants that held pens in their mouths reported less amusement at a stand-up comedy routine than controls but not the cessation of amusement altogether. If FFH held true, then the manipulation of the facial musculature should have inhibited all associated emotionality; yet, only the intensity of amusement was affected.

Alternatively, Bertrand Russell and Schachter explain, as the self-attribution theory, that emotion is, “…a joint function of autonomic arousal and cognitive attributions or ‘labels’ for that arousal” (Buck, 1980, p. 812). The self-attribution theory takes into account both the cognitive functionality of cortical modulation and arousal of the autonomic nervous system when explaining the biofeedback mechanism of emotions—proposing that the labels we attach to arousal mediate the onset, intensity, and longevity of said emotions. In sum, the cognitive assessment of the emotion interplaying with the biofeedback effect of facial musculature that brings about the subjective impression of emotion.              

Event-Appraisal-Emotion Sequence

           Another way to look at emotion is the way in which emotion-inducing situations are appraised. Roseman and Smith suggested four observations to shed light on the subjective appraisal of emotion-inducing situations: (1) different appraisals of the same event produce different emotions (2) the same appraisal of different events can produce the same emotion (3) the outcome of the appraisal process elicits the involuntary unfolding of emotion (4) appraisal can happen both above and below the level of awareness (Deckers, 2005). Built upon these observations it was hypothesized that appraisal occurs in four steps. First, an emotion-inducing situation creates a stimulus for emotion. Then, pre-aware appraisal estimates the negative and positive valence of said stimulus, involving neural activity in the amygdala, and favoring the avoidance of danger rather than the acquisition of pleasure. It is this pre-aware appraisal that so concerned Freud when considering human behavior. For him, the reconciliation of pre-conscious thought with conscious thought was at the heart of human motivation (Kowalski & Westen, 2005). However, at this point, the appraisal process comes into awareness and undergoes cortical evaluation, which confirms the perception of the stimulus to the personal schemas, attitudes, personality, needs, and goals of the person. During this stage the cognitive mechanisms that bring about emotional coherence and consistency interact with the formative cognitive functions that bring about the alteration of emotional states, to form the subjective interpretation of appraisal (Nerb, 2007). Finally, the emotion unfolds in the form of affect, physiological response, expression, and behavior. In this way, a stimulus finds expression through the mechanism of appraisal as behavior.      

Conscious and Unconscious Means of Uncovering Basic Emotions

People are often seen as having emotions by looking or seeing into their faces; by seeing what is going on and by sensing the basic emotions: anger, fear, disgust, surprise, fear, etc… “The topic of emotion and consciousness is as old, and as unresolved, like many other attempts to define the role of consciousness in psychological phenomena. Can emotions exist and exert influence at the unconscious level? Freud’s view was that emotions cannot be unconscious, that their experience is bound with the conscious experience, and that only predispositions towards certain emotions can exist in the unconscious. A promising avenue of research follows on the work in explicit and implicit memory and in automatic and controlled processing, both of which show evidence of unconscious cognitive processing” (Hudlicka, 2004, p.2). By allowing this, we should be able to open up the process of how to distinguish the way a person can sense those emotions.

Psychologically speaking, there are few out there that had/have the perception that all physiologically issues are distinguishable based on basic emotions. Based on this, it can distinctly show the person(s) how to understand and research cognitive psychology. “In the course of our existence, we are often confronted with unpleasant or even threatening emotions and have developed mechanisms to somehow ward off or suppress these emotions. Psychologists generally place these mechanisms in two categories: those that are conscious and selected and applied through an act of will (coping strategies) and those that take place unconsciously (defense mechanisms)” (Hudlicka, 2004, p.3). Those psychologists tend to sense things and try to help those that they sense with the defense and coping strategies. There are so many emotions that come into play, which is why there has to be something to base the emotion research in people’s lives, in order to understand why and what is going on with the mind and person.

Summary and Conclusion

Theories and the efforts to explain emotion and behavior will continue to be examined throughout the field of psychology. Emotions and the psychological and physiological responses are difficult to monitor. The theories discussed although plausible; questions remain and continue to fascinate professionals in this field. The state of arousal expressed through physical changes in the body, the articulation of an individual’s feelings or the intensity of facial expressions and the effect on a person’s emotions; the response to those changes is the central focus during these studies. Whether the theory such as The James Lange Theory stating the emotions being felt is the result of physical changes experienced in the autonomic nervous system is able to explain the process of emotion and the arousal which induced those feelings. Another interesting standpoint in reference to a person’s perception of a particular event being autonomous and not contingent on a reverse experience as interpreted in the Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory of motivation. The theories cited; with ideas that range from unconscious and conscience responses to emotions to the neural activity in the brain attempt to provide an understanding of the relationship between emotions and behavior.

Approaches, both biological and psychological; have a degree of certainty. The process of emotion although experienced in seconds has a variety of factors contributing to the reactions occurring in the body and mind; generating a behavior. Emotions are powerful manifestations stimulated by events, sources in the environment, and physiological changes, which facilitate or deter a person to or from the action. The study of emotions and how they relate to behavior will continue to be researched in an effort to identify and comprehend the physiological and psychological reactions that occur.

 References

AllPsych Online. (2004). Psychology 101: Chapter 7: Motivation and emotion. Retrieved May 29, 2009 from http://allpsych.com/psychology101/emotion.html

Buck, R. (1980). Nonverbal behavior and the theory of emotion: The facial feedback hypothesis. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 38(5), 811-824. Retrieved May 28, 2009, from EBSCHost Database.

Deckers, L. (2005). Motivation: Biological, psychological, and environmental, Second Edition. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Goodwin, C. J. (2005). A history of modern psychology (2nd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Gordon, E. & Williams, L.W. (2007) Dynamic organization of the emotional brain: Responsivity, stability, and instability. Neuroscientist, 13(349), 113-125. Retrieved May 26, 2009, from EBSCOHost Database.

Hudlicka, E. (2004) Emotion research: Cognitive and experimental psychology. Retrieved May 30, 2009, from University of Arizona Web site: http://emotion.nsma.arizona.edu/Emotion/EmoRes/Psych/SelTops.html

Hupka, R., Otto, J., Reidl, L., Tarabrina, N. & Zaleski, Z. (1996) Anger, fear, and jealousy as felt in the body: A five nation study. Cross-Cultural Research, 30(243), 45-49. Sage Publications Inc. Retrieved May 26, 2009.

Kowalski, R., & Westen, D. (2005). Psychology (4th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

Nerb, J. (2007). Exploring the dynamics of the appraisal-emotion relationship: A constraintsatisfaction model of the appraisal process. Cognition & Emotion, 21(7), 1382-1413. Retrieved May 28, 2009, from EBSCOHost Database.

Sachau, D.A. (2007). Resurrecting the Motivation-Hygiene Theory: Herzberg and the Positive Psychology Movement. Human Resource Development Review, 6(4), 377-393. Retrieved May 29, 2009 from Sage Journal Online http://hrd.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/6/4/377

Paper Topic

• Resources: Assigned readings, Electronic Reserve Readings, the Internet, and other sources
• Write a 1,600- to 2,400-word paper in which you analyze the function of emotions as motive. Address the following items in your analysis:

• Describe at least two historical theories of emotion and arousal as they relate to human motivation.
  • Analyze at least two research methods used for uncovering basic emotions.
  • Discuss the facial feedback hypothesis, particularly the event-appraisal-emotion sequence.

• Format your paper according to APA standards.

Include at least ten references from scholarly, peer-reviewed sources.