Understanding Emotions: The Science of Feelings and Behavior

School

University of Toronto**We aren't endorsed by this school

Course

PCL 200

Subject

Psychology

Date

Dec 11, 2024

Pages

Uploaded by SuperSparrow2411

PSY100 Lecture 7: Emotion & PersonalityEmotion:-A brief conscious experience associated with intense mental activity -Physiological states which occur via activation of the autonomic nervous system (ANS)-Physical responses (e.g. facial expressions, posture) -Motivation/organization of behaviors-Why have emotions? Emotions may be helpful in decision-making if:there is a lack of time or informationthere is a surplus of optionsOptions are ambiguousWithout emotions, it’s likely you’d make WORSE decisions… or no decisions at allAdditionally, emotions could act as social signalsSadness, for example, may signal the need for support. Smiles could reinforce good behaviors in others-Emotion influencing purchasing:Effects of different emotions of the same valence (negative) was examinedDisgust lowers buy + sell values, particularly sellSadness lowers sell but increases buy

-On integral emotion:When we predict our future emotional states, we often overestimate intensity + duration (impact bias)Overestimation of the potential emotional impact of losses is particularly great, leading to loss aversion-How many emotions are there?Ekman’s theory proposes six discrete emotions-Hybrid emotions:Plutchik’s modelhad 8 core emotions (vs. 6 in Ekman’s model) in opposed pairs, creating secondary emotions via intersectionMost models now acknowledge the complexity of hybrid or mixed emotional statesHappiness and sadness (during graduation)Cultural differences (e.g. mixed emotional states with achievement)On the Physiology of Emotion:-The Autonomic Nervous System:Involuntary effectsMany structures receive input from both systemsThe effects of SyNS + PaNS are different-Physical responses and emotions:Focus on facial expressionsand body postureOn physical expressionsSignificant innate component is likelyoE.g., Individuals who are blind show similar expressionsEnvironment also mattersoSome expressions situational (e.g. unlikely to smile alone)

oDifferences between cultures in meaning and display rules-Facial Feedback Hypothesis:If emotion influences facial expression, can facial expression influence emotion? In an early study, people forced to smile – by holding a pen in their mouth– rated cartoons as funnier. However, replication efforts failed, suggesting the effect was weaker than expected-Facial Action Coding System (FACS):Taxonomize facial movements (w/codes)Combinations of movements associated w/emotionsUnderstand facial movements, understand emotions (‘reading faces’)-The RMET Test:Reading Minds through The Eyes where you infer emotion from the eyesFemales generally slightly outperform malesPeople w/autism or other disorders may perform poorlyAtypical gender differencesValidity criticized recently-On body language…Varies by emotional state and appears to be innateBody language is similar in sighted + blind athletes-Body Language and Emotion:Initial research suggested that postures (power poses) changed risk-taking, emotion + physiologyIn men, high power ~ reduced cortisol, increased testosteroneThough intriguing, the study was difficult to replicateOnly the self-perception effect appears reliable-Where do emotions come from?Origin of Emotion: fearCommon View: Origin of Emotions

Three main theories:Problems w/older theories:According to James-Lange theory, we might expect that emotions have distinguishable physiological statesoHowever, the physiology of emotions is highly similarAccording to Cannon-Bard theory, emotion is cortical in origin andseparate from physiological arousaloHowever, emotions are blunted when the capacity for physiological changes is reduced (as in spinal cord injury)According to Schachter-Singer theory, interpretation is keyoHowever, we’re not always aware the event (misattribution)The Modern View:Emotion is a product of complex, reciprocal influences of the brain, nervous system and perception on each otherLying:-Averages (~2/day) can be deceiving

-While most people never lie (60%) or rarely lie (25%) there are a small amount ofprolific liars raising the average-Individual differences matter; lying tends to be highest in young men (particularlyadolescents)-Meta-analysis suggests that we are poor at recognizing lies in others (55%, barelyabove chance)-Lie detection is unrelated to confidence, age, sex, experience or education-Lying + physiological responses:Lying is associated with physiological changes, which can be measured using a polygraphAt best, 80 – 88% accuracy (risk of false positives)Physiological responses when aroused, even if not lyingNot viewed favorably by the legal communityMotivation:-Refers to our drives (i.e. needs and wants)-Main types: Drive reduction (DR) and Incentive value (IV)DR:drives exist to reduce an imbalance/fill a needEat to maintain stable sugar (glucostatic theory) and/or bodyfat (lipostatic theory) levelsDoesn’t explain everything; we often eat more than we needIV:drives exist to lead us to “reward” (i.e. pleasure)Eat because eating is fun; cravings for foodsHowever, many nutrients don’t have cravings (e.g.minerals)Additionally, we often do things that aren’t maximally rewarding (e.g. we are not pure hedonists)-Approach and Avoidance:benefits weighed against risks-Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:Personality:

-An enduring pattern of thinking, feeling and behaving.-Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory:Psychic determinism:Events have a causeSymbolic meaning:No action is meaninglessActions may represent another desire (e.g. Freudian slips)Wish fulfilment in dreamsUnconscious motivation:We rarely understand why we do what we do-The Psychodynamic Model: Id, Ego and SuperegoPersonality may be the result of the ego’s efforts to “control” the IdEgo Defenses:Many different defencesoRepression, Denial, Regression, Projection/Displacement, Reaction-formation, Rationalization, Intellectualization andSublimationCan improve psychological health if used properlyCan be unhealthy if used improperlySome of these defense mechanisms have since been disputed (repression) whereas others are more widely accepted (denial)Criticism of Freud’s Model:External validity/generalizability concernsBased on a small, unrepresentative sampleMany theories are untestable and therefore unfalsifiableLow predictive powerTheories not useful in predicting behavior

Overestimation of the role of the shared environmentoBehavior Genetics research suggests influence of shared environment is very weak-Onward from psychoanalysis…Radical behavioristic perspective:Behavior is determined by reinforcement/punishmentRelated idea is social learning theory (e.g. observation of parents)These theories conflict with the limited evidence for environment influencing personalityHumanist theories:Drive to achieve self-actualization (“be all that we can be”)Problems arise from failing to meet our conditions of worthFails to accommodate negative/harmful behaviors (e.g. aggression) and is also difficult to falsify-Personality and Personality traits:Personality traits are stable units of personalityPersonality traits are conceptualvariablesthat we measure by personality testsTrait models of personality are testable/falsifiableFor this reason, they are strongly favored in the literatureThough much of personality may be unconscious, most personality tests only examine our conscious experiences-Five Factor Model of Personality (FFM):Stands for:Openness to Experience (Novelty-Seeking)开放度Conscientiousness责任心Extraversion外倾性 Agreeableness亲和性Neuroticism (Stability)情绪稳定性(神经质)Personality traits as predictors:High C, low N + high A predicts strong job performanceO is positively correlated and A is negatively correlated with perceived leadership abilityO is negatively correlated with family size We tend to overestimate the stability of traits in others and underestimate the stability of our own traitsSelf + observer reports inaccurate, though observer less so

Reproductive Fitness/FFM:Trade-offs exist: traits valuable in one context may be problematic in anotherFor this reason, it is unlikely that there will be aggressive selection for extreme values of any traitChanges in Personality?Younger individuals show strong interest in changing personalityVolitional personality change is possible but limitedWith aging (16 to 60 years) there are slight increases in A + C and decreases in E + ODrugs are associated with small personality trait changesCulture differencesAlternatives to the Big Five:Cattell 16PFHEXACO model (Big Six?):oIncludes honesty-humilityoRedefines neuroticism as emotionalityThe Big Three:oCollapses Agreeableness, Conscientiousness and Low Openness into a single trait (Impulse Control/Fearfulness)Two dimensions:oExtroversion(dominance) and agreeableness(love)Heritability of other traitsh2 of religiosity (0.3 – 0.45) and conservatism (0.50 – 0.65) increases with age While religiosity is heritable, preference for a specific religious style is not (near zero)-Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI):Used to assess psychopathology in adultsOne of the most commonly administered and intensively researched tests500+ items across multiple scales, questions were selected based on theirability to differentiate healthy controls from those people with a disorderUnderstandably, people who are taking a personality test may sometimes misstate, exaggerate or even completely falsify informationThe MMPI has a useful feature to encourage authentic responses: people cannot tell what the questions are asking, so they cannot easily fake answers

The MMPI has built-in mechanisms to detect abnormal patterns of responding, termed validity scales50 is an average score-Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI):Several dimensions:Introversion versus Extraversion (I v E)Sensation versus Intuition (S v N)Thinking versus Feeling (T v F)Judging versus Perceiving (J v P)Results somewhat correlated with other tests (e.g. FFM) but criticized for lower validityDifferent result each time, result does not predict your job-Projective tests:Projective tests are thought to reveal unconscious processes by having people project them on to itemsRorschach Inkblot TestThematic Apperception testDraw-A-Person testConcerns:Construct validityInterpretationProprietary material-Other theories:GraphologyBody Type (as in Sheldon’s Body Theory)Phrenology and PhysiognomyEven though facial features are not strongly correlated with traits, we still judge people by them-The Barnum Effect巴纳姆效应:Tendency to believe that descriptions are specific to them even though they could describe almost anyone Sensitivity to the effect is related to favourability of the judgment + other variables