The major theories of emotions can be grouped into three main categories:
- physiological theories suggest that responses within the body are responsible for emotions
- neurological theories propose that activity within the brain leads to emotional responses
- cognitive theories argue that thoughts and other mental activity play an essential role in forming emotions
Evolution Theory of Emotion
- emotions evolved because they were adaptive and allowed humans and animals to survive and reproduce
- feelings of love leads people to seek mates and reproduce
- feelings of fear leads people to either fight or flight
The James-Lange Theory of Emotion
- a physiological theory
- proposed by William James and Carl Lange
- emotions occur as a result of physiological reactions to external events
- for example, when you see a grizzly bear, you begin to tremble. The theory proposes that you will interpret the trembling as frightened. Again, you are not trembling because you are frightened, but you feel frightened because you are trembling
The Cannon-Bard Theory of Emotion
- a physiological theory
- emotions and physiological reactions occur at the same time and that one does not cause the other
Schachter-Singer Theory (2-factor Theory of Emotion)
- a cognitive theory
- like the james-lange theory, people do infer emotions based on physiological responses
- like the cannon-bard theory, similar physiological responses can produce varying emotions
Cognitive Appraisal Theory (Lazarus Theory of Emotion)
- thinking must occur first before experiencing emotion
- external events, then stimulus, followed by thought, then to the simultaneous experience of physiological response and the emotion
Facial-Feedback Theory of Emotion
- emotions are directly tied to changes in facial muscles, and vice versa