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Feldman Barrett's Theory On Constructed Emotions

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Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett, a neuroscientist, was a guest on a podcast hosted by Hanna Rosin and Alix Spiegel to discuss her theory on constructed emotions. Barrett spoke about her belief that emotion is a social construct and it is used to construct the world around us (Rosin & Spiegel, 2017). She noted, for instance, that all objects appear as blobs until we are able to assign a concept to them. In addition, she argues that our emotions are built in at birth, and we learn more about our emotions and how to express them through socialization and experience (Rosin & Spiegel, 2017). Furthermore, every person can feel the same emotions. I was very interested in some of her concepts. However, there is multiple things I must disagree with because …show more content…

In other words, emotions can either be good or bad. I feel that this is something that should be avoid because, when we refer to certain emotions as good or bad, we develop this concept that it is right or wrong to feel a certain way. This may result in some individuals feeling ashamed to feel “bad.” We have created a society where you force positivity upon people and shame those that are not positive. In doing this, we create a strict environment that fails to consider the diversity in emotion. In addition, if a person feels ashamed of their unhappiness, then they may be afraid to share their feelings. If one is afraid to discuss their feelings, then they may never seek help if they need it. In a way, our society has stigmatized negative emotions. This stigma has also resulted in the notion that it is looked down upon to seek therapy and counseling. Instead of enforcing the categorization of our emotions, we should learn to openly accept that all emotions are natural. There is nothing wrong with feeling sad, mad, or stressed. These are normal responses to our environment. In fact, it would be abnormal to never experience these emotions. Our emotions are not what should define us or be judged. Instead, our actions or coping methods should represent who we

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Therefore, initially it may appear as if emotional granularity is some inherent ability that a handful of lucky individuals have which helps them name emotions, but the fact that the brain “constructs your emotional states” (Barrett, 2016, p. 2) means that one can teach themselves to fine tune what they feel. By teaching oneself what each specific emotion means, he or she can be active participants in their feelings and can respond and act while being in control of the situation. Thus, according to Barrett, by understanding how a person comes to feel certain emotions, he or she acquires some of the tools to pinpoint what is wrong by discovering how their own brain functions and reacts to certain

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