Emotion, Stress and Health

1. Emotion, Stress and Health

2. Emotion: Arousal, Behavior, and Cognition • Emotions are adaptive responses that support survival. • Emotional components • Bodily arousal • Expressive behaviors • Conscious experiences

3. Emotion: Arousal, Behavior, and Cognition • Theories of emotion generally address two major questions. • Does physiological arousal come before or after emotional feelings • How do feeling and cognition interact?

4. Historical Emotion Theories • James-Lange Theory: Arousal comes before emotion • Experience of emotion involves awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli • Cannon-Bard Theory: Arousal and emotion happen at the same time • Emotion - arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experience of emotion • Human body responses run parallel to the cognitive responses rather than causing them

5. Historical Emotion Theories • Schachter and Singer Two-Factor Theory: Arousal + Label = Emotion • Emotions have two ingredients: Physical arousal and cognitive appraisal. • Arousal fuels emotion; cognition channels it. • Emotional experience requires a conscious interpretation of arousal. • Spillover effect: Spillover arousal from one event to the next—influencing a response

6. Schachter and Singer cont. • Physiological arousal is similar for different emotions. Our emotions depend on physical aousal and the cognitive labeling of that arousal i.e. fear, anger, etc. Two factor theory identifies the following sequence of steps: First, you perceive a stimulus. – you see a shadowy figure in your backyard Second, the stimulus triggers both physiological arousal and a cognitive label that makes the best sense of the arousal. - your heart rate jumps and you begin to tremble. You make cognitive sense of the shadowy figure by thinking, “I feel afraid.”

7. AP Test Tip • The Schachter-Singer two-factor theory can be applied to a wide variety of everyday experiences. For example, think about how you would feel when you first introduce yourself to the members of a new school club. The members of the club are your stimulus. Your heart rate increases as you introduce yourself. You simultaneously make cognitive sense of this physiological response by thinking, “ I’m anxious about meeting new people.

8. THE SPILLOVER EFFECT Arousal from a soccer match can fuel anger, which can descend into rioting or other violent confrontations. Oleg Popov/Reuters/Landov

9. Neuroscience of Emotion • The Brain • The Limbic system comprises a group of brain structures involved in emotion, memory and basic motivational drives such as hunger thirst and sex. • The amygdala is part of the limbic system. Several studies have shown that the amygdala plays a key role in emotional responses, especially fear.

10. The brain’s pathways for emotions The two-track brain processes sensory input on two different pathways. (a) Some input travels to the cortex (via the thalamus) for analysis and is then sent to the amygdala. (b) Other input travels directly to the amygdala (via the thalamus) for an instant emotional reaction.

11. PHYSIOLOGY OF EMOTIONS • Different emotions have subtle indicators. • Brain scans and EEGs reveal different brain circuits for different emotions. • Depression and general negativity: Right frontal lobe activity. • Happiness, enthusiastic, and energized: Left frontal lobe activity.

12. Detecting Emotion in Others • People can often detect nonverbal cues. and threats, and signs of status. • Nonthreatening cues more easily detected that deceiving expressions. • Westerners • Firm handshake: Outgoing, expressive personality • Gaze: Intimacy • Averted glance: Submission • Stare: Dominance

13. Gender, Emotion, and Nonverbal Behavior • Women • Tend to read emotional cues more easily and to be more empathic • Express more emotionwith their faces • People attribute female emotionality to disposition and male emotionality to circumstance

14. Autonomic Nervous System • Sympathetic Nervous System • A subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that arouses body responses. • When you are emotionally aroused, the sympathetic nervous system causes blood pressure to surge and breathing and heart rates to accelerate. A perceived threat will trigger a flight - or – flight response that includes a dry mouth, dilating pupils and heavy perspiration.

15. Autonomic Nervous System • The parasympathetic nervous system • A subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that calms body responses • The parasympathetic nervous system • A subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that calms body responses • The parasympathetic nervous system works to calm the body and return it to a more relaxed state • The parasympathetic nervous system restores homeostasis immediately after a fight or flight response

16. AP Test Tip • It is very easy to confuse the functions of the sympathetic nervous system and parasympathetic system. You might link the word “placid” which begins with the letter “P” and means “calm” to the Parasympathetic nervous system, which also begins with the letter “P” and functions to calm the body

17. Polygraph Testing • The polygraph measures such sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system responses as heart rate, breathing rate, and galvanic skin response • Autonomic responses change under stress. The polygraph records arousal patterns associated with anxiety and fear. • Important note- lying is only loosely related to anxiety and fear. As a result, polygraph test cannot infallibly distinguish between innocent or guilty people.

18. Emotional Expression • Facial expression and emotions • Paul Ekman conducted the most extensive research on the facial expression of basic emotions. • Ekman believes that the “facial language” for basic emotions is innate and thus universal. • Ekman argues that humans exhibit six basic emotions: happiness sadness fear anger surprise and disgust • Each emotion is expressed by specific facial expressions.

19. EMOTIONAL AROUSAL Like a crisis control center, the autonomic nervous system arouses the body in a crisis and calms it when danger passes

20. The Effects of Facial Expressions • Research on the facial feedback effect • Facial expressions can trigger emotional feelings and signal our body to respond accordingly • People also mimic others’ expressions, which help them empathize • A similar behavior feedback effect • Tendency of behavior to influence our own and others’ thoughts, feelings, and actions

21. Experiencing Emotion: Anger • Causes • With threat or challenge, fear triggers flight but anger triggers fight—each at times an adaptive behavior. • Anger is most often evoked by misdeeds that we interpret as willful, unjustified, and avoidable. • Smaller frustrations and blameless annoyances can also trigger anger.

22. Experiencing Emotion: Anger

23. Experiencing Emotion: Happiness • State of happiness influences all facets of life • Feel-good, do-good phenomenon • People’s tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood. • Subjective well-being • Self-perceivedhappiness or satisfaction with life. • Used along with measures of objective well-being to evaluate people’s quality of life.

24. The Short Life of Emotional Ups and Downs • Emotional ups and downs tend to balance out; moods typically rebound • Even significant good events, such as sudden wealth, seldom increase happiness for long. • Happinessis relative to our own experiences (the adaptation-level phenomenon) and to others’ success (the relative deprivation principle).

25. Wealth and Well-Being • Wealth does correlate with well-being in some ways • Having resources to meet basic need and maintain some control over life does buy happiness • Increasing wealth matters less once basic needs are met • Economic growth in affluent countries provides not apparent morale or social well-being boost

26. What Predicts Our Happiness Levels? • Happiness levels are product of nature-nurture interaction • Twin studies: About 50 percent of happiness rating differences heritable • Culture: Variation in group value of traits • Personal history: Emotions balance around level defined by experience; happiness set point • Individual happiness level may influence national well-being

27. Understanding Stress • Stress is an emotional response to demands that are perceived as threatening or exceeding a person’s resources or ability to cope. • A stressor is a trigger that prompts a stressful reaction

28. Stressors: Things That Push Our Buttons • Catastrophes: Unpleasant, large-scale events • Significant life changes: Personal events; life transitions • Daily hassles: Day-to-day challenges

29. Conflict and Stress • Conflict occurs when a person is forced to choose between 2 or more opposing goals or desires • Approach-approach conflict • Occurs when you are forced to choose between 2 or more desirable alternatives that both lead to positive results • - you receive letters of acceltance fro your top two colleges. Both colleges have academic and social advantages that make them equally attractive. Which college will you choose? While stressful, an approach-approach conflict ultimately leads to a choice between 2 desirable options

30. Conflict and Stress cont. • Avoidance-avoidance conflict • Occurs when you are forced to choose between 2 undesirable alternatives that will both lead to negative results • - you are rejected by all of the colleges to which you applied. You must now choose between getting a job or joining the military. Both options will delay your career goals. Which option will you choose? Avoidance-avoidance conflicts are very stressful because both otions are perceived as being undesirable.

31. Conflict and Stress cont. • Approach-avoidance conflict • Occurs when you are forced to choose an alternative that will have both desirable and undesirable results • - you receive a letter of acceptance from your top college. You want to attend this college, but it is very expensive. Will you choose this college or one that is less expensive. Approach-avoidance conflicts are very stressful because we experience both good and bad results regardless of what we decide to do.

32. Stress Response • Cannonviewed the stress response as a “fight-or-flight” system. • Selyeproposed a general three-phase (alarm-resistance-exhaustion) general adaptation syndrome (GAS). • Facing stress, women may have a tend-and-befriend response; men may withdraw socially, turn to alcohol, or become aggressive.

33. Hans Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome • Selye was physiologist renowned for his study of stress. Selye identified 3 progressives stages of stress that collectively form what he called a general adaptation syndrome • Alarm stage • You confront a stress-producing event • Your body responds to the stressor by mobilizing internal physical resources. • - during the alarm stage your body produces adrenaline to bring about the fight-or-flight response

34. Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome • Resistance stage • Although the intense arousal of the alarm stage diminishes, physiological arousal remains higher than normal • Resources are gradually depleted since the body cannot indefinitely maintain a heightened state of arousal • This stage can lead to diseases of adaptation, including ulcers and high blood pressure • Exhaustion stage • Prolonged exposure to the stressor depletes the body’s resources • Exhaustion leads to physical disorders, vulnerability to illness, collapse, and even death