Emotions, Stress, and Health

AHHHHH!!!

Emotions!

Its Just Emotions…

Emotions: a response of the whole organism involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience

The All Important Question

Which came first: chicken or egg?

But really… the important question

How do we fit the three areas of emotions together?

Physiological arousal precede or follow emotional experience? So which came first, physical arousal or

emotional experience?

Theories on Emotions

James-Lange Theory (William James and Carl Lange) Theory that states: first there is a

distinct physiological response, then comes our emotional experience

FEAR

Theories on Emotions

Cannon-Bard Theory Theory that an emotion-arousing

stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological response and (2) the subjective experience of emotions▪ Emotion and physical experience happen at

the same time

FEAR

Theories on Emotions

Two-Factor Theory (Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer) Theory that to experience emotion one

must be (1) physically aroused and (2) cognitively level the arousal▪ Emotions grow from our awareness of our

body’s arousalI’M

AFRAID FEAR

Physiology of Emotions

Emotions involve the body Emotions and the Autonomic

Nervous system ANS- mobilizes your body for action and

calms it when crisis has passed

Physiology of Emotions

Physiology of Emotions

▪ Sympathetic division directs adrenal glands to release the stress hormones ephinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline)▪ Parasympathetic division takes over

after crisis has passed calming your body▪ Inhibits further release of stress hormones

Physiology of Emotions

Physiological similarities among specific emotions: Some emotions appear to be the same

based on physiological expression internally▪ Fear, anger, sexual arousal

Physiology of Emotions

Physiological differences among specific emotions Body Temp (finger temps) and hormone

secretions differ Facial expressions differ

Physiology of Emotions

Emotions activate different areas of the brain’s cortex▪ Negative emotions linked to right hemisphere

and positive to the left hemisphere▪ Disgust triggered activity in right prefrontal cortex

▪ Positive people show more activity in the left hemisphere and left prefrontal cortex▪ Brain damage to right hemisphere can also affect

emotional mood May be due to left hemisphere’s high level of

dopamine receptors

Physiology of Emotions

With knowledge of physiological response and emotions, does this information support James-Lange Theory? Psychologist George Homann (1966)▪ Studied observations of 25 soldiers with severed

spinal cords▪ Found that those with lower spine injuries reported little

change in emotions▪ Those with high spinal cord injuries experience emotions

above the neck Some researchers feel that our feelings are shadows of

bodily response

FEAR

Physiology of Emotions

Does this mean that Cannon and Bard were wrong?

FEAR

Physiology of Emotions

Cognition and Emotion Spill over effect▪ Schachter and Singer aroused college men

with injections of epinephrine (adrenaline) ▪ Found that a stirred up state can be experienced as

one emotion or another very different emotion depending on how we interpret and label it Ex. Insult someone who has just been aroused by

pedaling an exercise bike or watching rock videos. Their anger will exceed that of people who are similarly provoked but not previously aroused.

Physiology of Emotions

Cognition does not always precede emotions Robert Zajonc has stated that we

actually have many emotional reactions apart from our interpretations of a situation

We are acutely sensitive to emotionally significant responses

Subliminally flashed stimulus can prime a mood or specific emotion and lead us to feel better or worse about a follow-up stimulus

Physiology of Emotions

Low road pathway (bypass the cortex) Shortcut enables emotional response

before our intellect intervenes

High road pathway (goes through the cortex) Amygdala sends more neural projections

up the cortex than it receives back▪ Makes it easier for emotions to hijack our

thinking

Simple likes, dislikes, and fears involve no conscious thinking

Other, more complex, emotions are influenced by our memories

Expressing Emotions

How do we know how someone is feeling? What do we look for when someone is angry or sad or even happy?

Does nonverbal language vary from culture to culture or is it a set thing?

Expressing Emotions

We can pick up on facial expressions Abused children can more quickly pick

up on the look of anger▪ Shown a face that is 60% fear and 40%

anger, they will likely see anger

Expressing Emotions

Emotions also give off involuntary movement which are difficult to conceal Lifting inner part of your eyebrows

reveals distress or worry Eyebrows raised and pulled together

show fear What is the difference between a fake

and real smile?

Expressing Emotions

Genuine smiles last, typically, less than 5 seconds and are activated by the muscles under the eyes

Expressing Emotions

Spotting deceiving expressions? Research shows that people are only

54% accurate in discerning truth from lies which is slightly better than a coin toss

Introverts are better at reading others, whereas extroverts are more readable

Expressing Emotions

One study found when given a choice between possibilities of emotions (thin slices) people tend to excel in deciphering emotions

Physiology of Emotions

May be due to left hemisphere’s high level of dopamine receptors Nucleus accumbens: cluster of neurons that light

up when people experience natural or drug induced pleasure

Gender, emotions, and nonverbal behavior

Do females have “women’s intuition”? Judith Hal said that when women are

given “thin slices” they generally surpass men at reading people’s emotional cues

Women also have in edge in spotting lies Women tend to express more complex

emotions than men

Gender, emotions, and nonverbal behavior

Women tend to have extremely strong perception of emotionality With the exception of anger▪ Anger is seen as a masculine emotion▪ If a gender neutral face is smiling it is seen as

female, but if it is an angry face it is seen as a male

Gender, emotions, and nonverbal behavior

Women are more likely to experience empathy You identify with others and imagine

what is must be like to walk in their footsteps

Physiological measures shows a much smaller gap than surveys show

Culture and Emotional Expressions

The meaning of gestures varies from culture to culture Otto Klineberg observed Chinese

literature and noticed:▪ Clapped their hands when worried▪ Laughed a great “Ho-Ho” to express anger▪ Stuck out their tongue when they were

surprised

Culture and Emotional Expressions

President Richard Nixon faced issues with different meanings of expressions Nixon did the A-OK sign in Brazil, which

there means “Let’s have sex”

Culture and Emotional Expressions

However, regardless of cultural background, Paul Ekman found simple facial expressions are the same around the world Happy=smile Etc.

Culture and Emotional Expressions

Even blind children show facial expressions Children who are blind from both still

exhibit the same facial expressions as their seeing counterpart▪ Charles Darwin theorized that prior to spoken

language, ancestors would display emotions and communicate through facial expressions

Culture and Emotional Expressions

While facial expressions are typically constant world wide, they differ in how much emotion they show In many Western Cultures people show

more emotion because these cultures encourage individuality

In many Eastern Cultures the same is not true

The Effects of Facial Expressions

James-Lange Theory is supported In studies, people have been asked to

smile and then scowl. After the scowl they were asked how they felt and the typical answer is angry▪ The face feeds our feelings

The Effects of Facial Expressions

Students induced to smile have happier moods and recalled happier memories Studies also show that just by activating

one of the smiling muscles by holding a pen in the teeth is enough to make cartoons seem more amusing

The Effects of Facial Expressions

Two recent studies Tiffany Ito (2006) used the pencil-in-lip

procedure to induce happieness while showing pictures of peoples’ faces▪ If viewed black rather than white faces, the

later exhibited lessened racial bias against blacks

A second study used botox injections to paralyze frowning muscles on ten depressed patients▪ Two months after treatment, 9 out of 10 were

no longer depressed

Homework

Paul Ekman article…already posted online

Experienced Emotion

Its Just Emotions…

Emotions: a response of the whole organism involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience

Experienced Emotion

Carroll Izard isolated 10 basic emotions▪ Joy, interest-excitement, surprise, sadness,

anger, disgust, contempt, fear, shame, and guilt

Jessica Tracey and Richard Robins believe that pride is also a distinct emotion

Phillip Shaver believed that love was a basic emotion▪ Izard argued that love is a combination of joy

and excitement

Experienced Emotion

Two-Dimensions of Emotions

Experienced Emotion

Emotion of Fear Fear can be poisonous and contagious Fear is designed to help our bodies flee

from danger Fearful expressions improve peripheral

vision and speed eye movement

Experienced Emotion

Learning Fear We learn fear through conditioning

▪ Little Albert

▪ These fears can be conditioned and morph into several fears

Learn fear socially▪ Susan Mineka and monkeys▪ Humans learn fear by watching other as well

Experienced Emotion

Biology of Fear Amygdala▪ Plays a key role in associating various

emotions with certain situations. Hippocampus▪ Plays a key role in the development of new

memories, therefore remembering fearful situations.

Experienced Emotion

There are people who fall out of the normal range of fear Phobias: an intense fear of specific

objects or situations that disrupt their ability to cope

There are also those that are opposite and have few fears

Experienced Emotion

Anger What makes us angry?▪ Depends on the person▪ However, chronic hostility is linked to heart disease

How do we relieve anger?▪ Varies from person to person and culture to

culture▪ Cultures that focus on the group will typically

withhold anger because it can affect the group

Experienced Emotion

Western idea of venting your anger presumes that through aggressive actions or fantasy we can achieve emotional release or catharsis▪ Can help in some cases as long as we

don’t feel guilt▪ Ebbesen’s study showed that in some

cases venting can lead to more aggressions and hostility

Experienced Emotion

What is the best way to handle anger? First: Wait! Second: Talk it over with the person or

someone with counseling experience

Experienced Emotion

Happiness “How to gain, how to keep, how to

recover happiness is in fact for most men at all times the secret motive for all they do.” - William James▪ Feel-good, do-good phenomenon: people’s

tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood

Subjective well-being▪ Self perceived happiness or satisfaction with

life

Experienced Emotion

Short Life of Emotional Ups and Downs Watson and Kahneman found that

positive emotion rises over the early to middle part of most days

Also found that stressful events that bring a person down are typically gone the next day along with the associated bad mood

Stress and Health

How often do you experience stress? Gallup Poll 3 in 4 said they feel

stress “sometimes” to “frequently”▪ 50% of those under the age of 55 also said

they generally did not have enough time

Stress and Health

Stress and Illness Stress: the process by which we receive

and respond to certain events called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging▪ Arises less from events themselves than from

how we appraise them▪ When perceived as a challenge stressors can

have positive effects

Stressful Event (tough math test)

Threat(Yikes! This is beyond me!)

Stressed to distraction

Challenge (I’ve got to apply what I know

Aroused, focused

Appraisal

Response

Stress and Health

Stress Response System Medical interest dates back to

Hippocrates (460-377 b.c.)▪ Walter Cannon (1929) confirmed that the

stress response is part of a unified mind-body system

Stress and Health

Fight or Flight: Adrenal glands trigger epinephrine and

norepinephrine ▪ Also secretes glucocorticoid stress hormones

such as cortisol

Stress and Health

Other stress responses Withdrawal:▪ Occurs in men more than women

Tend and befriend▪ Occurs in women more than men▪ Oxytocin- stress moderating hormone

associated with pair-bonding in animals and released by cuddling, massage, and breast feeding in humans

Stress and Health

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) Hans Selye’s concept of the body’s

adaptive response to stress in three states:▪ Alarm- activated by sympathetic nervous

system (heart rate increases, blood diverts to skeletal muscles)▪ Resistance- outpouring of hormones▪ Exhaustion- body’s tired after the depletion of

body’s hormone reserves

Stress and Health

Stressful Life Events Catastrophes Significant Life Changes Daily Hassles

Stress and Health

Stress and the Heart Coronary Heart Disease▪ Clogging of the vessels that nourish the heart

muscle; leading cause of death in many developed nations▪ Stress predicts heart attack risks

Stress and Health

Friedman and Rosenman’s Study Study done on 3000 men ages 35-59 Looked at Type A and Type B

personalities and heart attacks/disease

Stress and Health

Stress and Disease Psychophysiological Illness▪ Literally “mind-body” illness; any stress-

related physical illness, such as hypertension and some headaches

Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)▪ The study of how psychological, neural, and

endocrine process together affect the immune system resulting in health

Stress and Health

Lymphocytes The two types of white blood cells that

are part of the body’s immune system: B lymphocytes form in bone marrow and release antibodies that fight bacterial infections; T lymphocytes form in the thymus and other lymphatic tissue and attack cancer cells, viruses, and foreign substances

Stress and Health

Immune system can err Respond too strongly it attacks body

tissue Under reacting it may allow dormant

viruses to erupt or cancer cells multiply Stress depresses the immune system▪ Surgical wounds heal more slowly in stressed

humans▪ Stressed filled lives show increase

susceptibility to catching disease▪ Managing stress may be life sustaining

Stress and Health

Stress and AIDS Stress correlates with a progression from

HIV to AIDS and the speed of decline in those infected

Homework

Read Friedman and Rosenman’s Study found online and answer the questions that go along with it