Sunday, March 24, 2024

Is Love An Emotion Psychology

Don't Miss

Research Focus: Misattributing Arousal

So is love just an emotion? Soul Psychologist Cynthia Hickman explains

If you think a bit about your own experiences of different emotions, and if you consider the equation that suggests that emotions are represented by both arousal and cognition, you might start to wonder how much was determined by each. That is, do we know what emotion we are experiencing by monitoring our feelings or by monitoring our thoughts ? The bridge study you just read about might begin to provide you with an answer: The men seemed to be more influenced by their perceptions of how they should be feeling rather than by how they actually were feeling .

Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer ;directly tested this prediction of the two-factor theory of emotion in a well-known experiment. Schachter and Singer believed that the cognitive part of the emotion was critical in fact, they believed that the arousal that we experience;could be interpreted as any emotion, provided we had the right label for it. Thus they hypothesized that if an individual is experiencing arousal for which there is;no immediate explanation, that individual;will label this state in terms of the cognitions that are created in his or her environment. On the other hand, they argued that people who already have a clear label for their arousal would have no need to search for a relevant label, and therefore should not experience an emotion.

Keeping The Fires Burning

Some of us may have committed ourselves to the fantastical notion that romance is just an act of spontaneous combustion. But, Needle says its time to ditch the myth.

Get rid of the myth that these things should just happen spontaneously and that there is something wrong with the relationship because you are not all over each other every minute, as when you began the relationship, Needle says. The truth is that you have to put in time and energy and make a conscious effort to sustain the relationship and the passion.

Healthy relationships require regular communication, she adds.

Basic communication with your partner on a daily basis is important to continue connecting on an emotional level, Needle says. Also, remind yourself why you fell in love with this person.

Predictability can also dampen desires, so couples should strive to keep a sense of adventure and surprise alive in their relationships.

Break the predictable pattern every so often, Needle advises.

People can let their partners know how much they love them by the little things they do every day.

To be romantic is to make a choice to wake up each day and ask yourself what you can do today to let your lover know they are adored, Kane says. Have fun in your romance and remember that the more effort you put into your romantic relationship, the more love you will receive in return. Be the partner that you seek and live a life filled with passion and romance.

Why Do Guys Fall In Love In A Woman’s Absence

Men fall in love in your absence and not your presence. It is because men don’t want you to fall too soon or too late for them. … They want to feel like they are trying really hard to win your heart because that way you make them feel like they are trying to win something that is worthy and not easily conquerable.

Read also

Also Check: Geometry Segment Addition Postulate Worksheet

Agreement On Components And Characteristics Of Emotion

Though there is no consensus on a general definition of the term emotion , many experts do agree that emotions have a limited set of components and characteristics . Although they do not agree in all details, they agree that emotions have an infrastructure that includes neural systems dedicated, at least in part, to emotion processes and that emotions motivate cognition and action and recruit response systems. We may also be reaching a consensus that there are different forms of emotions, e.g., basic emotions rooted and defined primarily in evolution and biology and emotion schemas that include cognitive components that differ across individuals and cultures .

Transitions From Basic Emotions To Emotion Schemas

What is the Emotion Wheel?

In early development, the first steps in the transition from basic positive emotions to positive emotion schemas consists simply of the infant using her increasing cognitive and emotion processing capacities to make connections between positive emotion feelings and positive thoughts, memories, and anticipations of people, events, and situations. Through learning and experience, the same stimuli that once elicited a basic positive emotion may become stimuli for positive emotion schemas and greater expectations .

Basic negative emotions occur relatively more frequently in infancy than in later development. Moreover, the transition from basic negative emotions to basic negative emotion schemas and the regulatory advantage provided by their cognitive component may prove difficult and challenging. The transition from basic anger and sadness of a toddler being separated from mom, to the interest-joy response of a four-year-old being dropped off at kindergarten, may involve several rather stressful times for many children.

Recommended Reading: Dot Structure For Ccl4

Feeling Is The Key Psychological Aspect Of Emotion: Motivation And Information

Feeling is the dynamic component in emotion and in two related psychobiological processesentrainment and individuation . The motivational, cue-producing, and informational functions of feelings enable them to entrain, or simplify and organize, what might become an overwhelming number of impulses into focused cognitive processes and a few adaptive actions . Such feeling-mediated entrainment of impulses across situations and developmental time facilitates the formation of feeling-cognition-action patterns that constitute individuationthe organization of traits and their assembly into a unique personality. However, feeling an emotion does not guarantee that it will be labeled, articulated, or sensed in reflective consciousness or at a high level of awareness. The level of awareness of an emotion feeling depends in part on its intensity and expression, and after language acquisition, on labeling, articulating, and acknowledging the emotion experience. These capacities, critical to personality and social development, depend on the neural activity and resultant processes involved in symbolization and language.

Through development, the conceptual self becomes important to the process of feeling and expressing an emotion, but a higher-order conceptual self is not essential for either. Infants experience and express basic emotions long before they can provide any evidence of a self-concept , and so do children without a cerebral cortex .

Triangular Theory Of Love

Psychologist Robert Sternberg proposed a triangular theory suggesting that there are three components of love:

  • Intimacy
  • Passion
  • Commitment

Different combinations of these three components result in different types of love. For example, combining intimacy and commitment results in compassionate love, while combining passion and intimacy leads to romantic;love.

According to Sternberg, relationships built on two or more elements are more enduring than those based on a single component. Sternberg uses the term consummate love to describe combining intimacy, passion, and commitment. While this type of love is the strongest and most enduring, Sternberg suggests that this type of love is rare.

Don’t Miss: Is Michael Jackson The Biological Father Of Paris

Benefits Of Understanding Emotions

As discussed, emotions have helped humans evolve and survive. According to Ekman, who developed the wheel of emotion, It would be very dangerous if we didnt have emotions. It would also be a very dull life. Because, basically, our emotions drive us excitement, pleasure, even anger. That is why its important that were able to understand emotions as they play such an important role in how we behave.

Ekman argues that emotions are fundamentally constructive. They are influenced by what is good for our species overall and what we learned during our upbringing. They guide our behavior in a way that should lead us to a positive outcome. However, emotions can become destructive if the emotions weve learned are the correct response no longer fit our situation, or if subconscious emotions cause reactions that we are unable to understand. Being in touch with your emotions and turning your understanding into action is called emotional awareness. Being able to do this with others as well is referred to as emotional intelligence.

The components of emotional intelligence include:

  • Appraising and expressing emotions in the self and others: Recognizing or expressing verbal or nonverbal cues about emotion
  • Regulating emotion in the self and others: Managing emotions so that all parties are motivated towards a positive outcome.
  • Using emotions in adaptive ways: Using emotion and the interpretation of emotions to result in positive outcomes.

Edited By Christopher Grau And Aaron Smuts

What is Emotional Masochism?
Subject:
Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, Philosophy of Mind
Online Publication Date:
  • or copy the link directly:https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199395729.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199395729-e-10The link was not copied. Your current browser may not support copying via this button.Link copied successfully

date: 26 September 2021

You May Like: What Is Standardization In Chemistry

Exercises And Critical Thinking

  • Consider the three theories of emotion that we have discussed and provide an example of a situation in which a person might experience each of the three proposed patterns of arousal and emotion.
  • Describe a time when you used nonverbal behaviours to express your emotions or to detect the emotions of others. What specific nonverbal techniques did you use to communicate?
  • Process Of Disaffection: Breaking Up

    When relationships are new, partners tend to give one another the benefit of the doubt and focus on what they like about one another.;Flaws and imperfections do not go unnoticed; rather, they are described as endearing qualities.;So, for example, the partner who has a very large nose is described as distinguished or as having a striking feature.;This is very exhilarating because features that someone may have previously felt self-conscious about are now accepted or even appreciated.;However, once partners begin the process of breaking up, these views are abandoned and questionable qualities are once again flaws and imperfections.

    Kersten provides a look at the dynamics of breaking up.;Although this work is primarily about divorce, the dynamics of dissolving any long-term relationship are similar.;The;beginning phase;of breaking up involves seeing imperfections in the relationship but remaining hopeful that things will improve.;This;improvement will require the partners cooperation because they are primarily at fault.;So, as long as the offending partner makes the necessary changes, and of course the offended partner will provide the advice, support, and guidance required, the relationship will continue.;

    In the;end phase, the decision to leave has been made.;The;specific details are being worked out.;Turning a relationship around is very difficult at this point.;Trust has diminished, and thoughts have turned elsewhere.;This;stage is one of hopelessness.

    Don’t Miss: What Is The Molecular Geometry Of Ccl4

    List Of The Six Basic Emotions

    • Sadness
    • Surprise
    • Disgust

    Similarly, in the 1980s, psychologist Robert Plutchik identified eight basic emotions which he grouped into pairs of opposites, including joy and sadness, anger and fear, trust and disgust, and surprise and anticipation. This classification is known as a wheel of emotions and can be compared to a color wheel in that certain emotions mixed together can create new complex emotions.

    More recently, a new study from the Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology at the University of Glasgow in 2014 found that instead of six, there may only be four easily recognizable basic emotions. The study discovered that anger and disgust shared similar facial expressions, as did surprise and fear. This suggests that the differences between those emotions are sociologically-based and not biologically-based. Despite all the conflicting research and adaptations, most research acknowledge that there are a set of universal basic emotions with recognizable facial features.

    On The Origins And Nature Of Emotions

    Opposite Emotions

    None of the many efforts to make a widely acceptable definition of emotion has proved successful . Yet, I dare once again to raise the 124-year-old storied question asked by : What is emotion? It happens that the answer James gave to his own question has a rather popular reprieve in the annals of contemporary neuroscience. Like James, argued that brain responses constitute emotion or the body expression of emotion and that emotion feeling is a consequence of the neurobiological expression. In contrast, I propose that emotion feeling should be viewed as a phase of the neurobiological activity or body expression of emotion .

    Don’t Miss: Is Ap Physics 1 Hard In High School

    But Whats The Point Of Love

    Love is an emotion that keeps people bonded and committed to one another. From an evolutionary psychology perspective, love evolved to keep the parents of children together long enough for them to survive and reach sexual maturity.

    The period of childhood is much longer for humans than other species. As offspring rely on adults for many years to survive and to develop the skills and abilities needed for successful living, love is especially important for humans.

    Without love, its difficult to see how the human species could have evolved.

    Sternbergs Duplex Theory Of Love

    Now let us take another psychological look at love, this time from the point of view of Robert J. Sternberg, Professor of Human Development at Cornell University. He came up with the Duplex Theory of Love, called as such because it is comprised of two theories, which were used to be treated separately the Triangular Theory of Love and the Theory of Love as a Story.

    Recommended Reading: What Does Abiotic Mean In Biology

    Emotion Management Is The Management Of The Chemical Pharmacy In The Brain

    Man is not just a feeling. Its not just a thought. Our culture has united mind and heart. What is meant by the heart is emotion. Its not the physical heart. The heart here comes from the Arabic word revolution. The heart is the organ that converts sound energy into electrical energy, converts, converts or converts thermal energy into electrical energy. Hence, the connection of the heart with our emotions and chemicals in the brain has been determined. Emotion management actually means managing the chemical pharmacy in our brain. Having a good command of a persons psychology means having a good command of their brain chemistry. he said.

    Physical Pain Dies Lost Love Doesnt

    Emotion, Stress, and Health: Crash Course Psychology #26

    Psychologists believe that physical pain has two separate components. There is the sensory component, which gives basic information about the damage, such as its intensity and location. Theres also an affective component, which is a more qualitative interpretation of the injury, such as how distressing it is.

    Initial studies that followed Eisenbergers pioneering work focused on the affective component. As a result, researchers began to think that while the qualitative aspects of social and physical pain might overlap, the sensory components might not.

    Recently that thinking has changed. A group of researchers, led by Ethan Kross of the University of Michigan, believed that social pain might have a hidden sensory component that hadnt been found because games like Cyberball just werent painful enough. So instead they recruited 40 test participants and subjected them to a far more intense social injury: the sight of an ex-lover whod broken up with them.

    Kross and colleagues brought test participants into a brain imaging machine and had them complete two multi-part tasks. One was a social task: Participants viewed pictures of the former romantic partner while thinking about the breakup, then viewed pictures of a good friend. The other was a physical task: Participants felt a very hot stimulation on their forearm, and also felt another that was just warm.

    You May Like: What Is The Molecular Geometry Of Ccl4

    The Biology Of Emotions

    Earlier, you learned about the limbic system, which is the area of the brain involved in emotion and memory . The limbic system includes the hypothalamus, thalamus, amygdala, and the hippocampus. The hypothalamus plays a role in the activation of the sympathetic nervous system that is a part of any given emotional reaction. The thalamus serves as a sensory relay center whose neurons project to both the amygdala and the higher cortical regions for further processing. The amygdala plays a role in processing emotional information and sending that information on to cortical structures .The hippocampus integrates emotional experience with cognition .

    The limbic system, which includes the hypothalamus, thalamus, amygdala, and the hippocampus, is involved in mediating emotional response and memory.

    Link to Learning

    Work through this Open Colleges interactive 3D brain simulator for a refresher on the brains parts and their functions. To begin, click the Start Exploring button. To access the limbic system, click the plus sign in the right-hand menu .

    The Origins Of Emotions

    Russell proposed that core affect is continuous in the brain and provides information on the pleasure/displeasure and arousal value of stimuli. In contrast, I have maintained that a discrete emotion or pattern of interacting emotions are always present in the conscious brain . suggested that discrete emotions arise as a result of a conceptual act on core affect or as a function of conceptual structure that is afforded by language . In contrast, we have proposed that discrete emotion feelings cannot be created, taught, or learned via cognitive processes . As observed, emotions are fundamental both to the origins of and the appetite for conscious thought . So, perceptual and conceptual processes and consciousness itself are more like effects of emotions than sources of their origin. Discrete emotion experiences emerge in ontogeny well before children acquire language or the conceptual structures that adequately frame the qualia we know as discrete emotion feelings. Moreover, acquiring language does not guarantee that emotion experiences can always be identified and communicated verbally. Even adults have great difficulty articulating a precise description of their emotion feelings .

    You May Like: Who Are Paris Jackson’s Biological Parents

    Comparison Of Scientific Models

    Biological models of love tend to see it as a mammalian drive, similar to hunger or thirst. Psychology sees love as more of a social and cultural phenomenon. Certainly, love is influenced by hormones , neurotrophins , and pheromones, and how people think and behave in love is influenced by their conceptions of love. The conventional view in biology is that there are two major drives in love: sexual attraction and attachment. Attachment between adults is presumed to work on the same principles that lead an infant to become attached to its mother. The traditional psychological view sees love as being a combination of companionate love and passionate love. Passionate love is intense longing, and is often accompanied by physiological arousal ; companionate love is affection and a feeling of intimacy not accompanied by physiological arousal.

    More articles

    Popular Articles