The field of psychology is one I have been particularly interested in for the past few years. Thanks to a close friend, it was recently brought to my attention how theories of emotion tackle our reactions to unexpected situations. In the following post, I am going to address four of these theories to the best of my ability and compare them with each other.

 

To begin with, we have the theory of James-Lange, which in fact were two different people who developed quite similar theories around the same time (1800s). They suggested that the emotions we experience are owing to the perception of our physiological responses. For instance, holding your pet cat may bring on physiological responses such as increased heart-rate, neuro-transmitter levels changing so as to make you smile, among others. Thus, making your interpretation of these responses happiness.  On the other hand, we have the Cannon-Bard theory of emotion. They both proposed that both physiological responses and emotions themselves take place at the same time. Not to mention they also brought into consideration the fact that some responses are related not only to one emotion, but to several of them. Case in point, our hear-rate rises after a long run as well as when we are scared.

Back the cat example. We realize we are happy at the same time as our responses are being caused by the experience of holding the cat.

 

Furthermore, there are two more relevant theaories: The Scahcter- Singer Theory of Emotion and the Lazarous Theory of emotion. The first one proposes that if we react in particular way to a particular event, we are not able to feel a specific emotion until we have identified the situation taking place.

The Lazarous Theory suggests that an appraisal of the situation should come first. In other words how we appraise a situation is based on personal experience. To illustrate this point, let us yet again work with the cat example. If the cat happens to be our friend's and he hands it to us  so that we can hold it, our reaction to it may be either positive or negative. If we are not keen on cats, then our reaction will be negative. Then, our physioligical responses will also change, and the emotion we feel might be either repulsion or fear.

 

In summary, being able to understanding what is happening while we are experiencing a strong emotion could help us control ours better. There may be some exceptions to the rule. Nonetheless, responding positively to most unexpected negative situations can prevent us from compounding the problem even more. Hence theories such as the ones mentioned above could serve as the groundwork we need so as to start managing and assessing our emotions more effectively from now on.

 

Sources:

- Khanacademymedicine YouTube Channel.

- Personal experience.