Emotion and MotivationI. Universality of Facial Expressionsa. The facial expressions of some emotions are universal (Darwin, 1872)i. This universality suggest that they have adaptive communication value1. A fearful face – something dangerous is nearby2. An angry face – I need to fight or fleeb. Facial expressions across culturesi. People in other cultures correctly identify American facial expressions, and vice versaII. Theories of Emotiona. Three Theories of emotioni. William James and Carl Lange – Stimuli activate the autonomic nervous system, which then produce an emotional experience1. Emotion results from specific physiological experienceii. Cannon-Bard – Stimuli simultaneously activate the autonomic nervous system and an emotional experience1. Arousal and emotional label happen togetheriii. Two Factor Theory – Different emotions are different interpretations of general physiological arousal1. Two factors: General arousal, then an emotional labelb. The facial feedback hypothesis: Emotional expressions can cause the emotional experiences they signifyi. We experience emotions in part as a result of the positions of our facial musclesii. An example of james-lange: our emotional experience is a result of changes to our physiologyc. The schacter-singer experimenti. Two-factor theoryii. Participants are injected with adrenaliniii. IV #1: Information condition1. Half are told the truth 2. The other half are told the drug will have no effectiv. IV #2: Emotion condition:1. Half wait with a euphoric confederate2. Half wait with an angry confederate3. Resultsa. Informed conditioni. Drug is intense both euphoric and angryii. Physiological arousal is attributed to the drugb. Uninformed Conditioni. I feel euphoricii. I feel angryiii. Physiological arousal is attributed to one’semotionsIII. Social Threat and Emotiona. Being outperformed by a close other on a self-relevant task can lead tonegative emotionb. The Famous Scientist Studyi. Dissimilar occupation with father:65% of relationships are closeii. Similar occupation with father: 13% of relationships are closec. When a domain is important participants are tough on their friends:d. But if you get a chance to feel good about yourself first, then you give the friend the easiest cluesi. Feeling happy makes you a better friend IV. Emotion and Decision-Makinga. Classical phiosphy and conventional wisdomi. Rational and Emotional Processes conflict1. Chariot Metaphor2. Emotions interfere with effective decision-makingb. The somatic marker hypothesisi. Gut feelings often facilitate effective decision-makingii. c. The poster study i. Ps were allowed to take their preferred poster (of 5) for freeii. Before choosing, they either were or were not instructed to list pros and consiii. Results: Ps who listed pros and cons were less satisfied and less likely to put the poster on their walld. In sum, the gut is often wisee. Sadness and the “endowment effect”i. The endowment effect: the tendency for selling prices to exceed buying prices of the same object1. If we own something, we value it more ii. What if somebody is in a sad mood when making decisions about buying and selling?1. Sadness triggers the goal of changing one’s circumstances.2. So, the endowment effect should reverseV. Selected Specific Emotionsa. One of the universal emotionsi. Evolutionarily, the focus is on avoiding incorporation of offensive substances into the body1. You are what you eatii. When we are very young, taste alone determines whether something should be consumed or not1. Around 304, we find some things disgusting, even without trying them2. Around 7-8, we will start to reject foods that have become contaminated by briefly encountering a disgusting objectb. In adulthood, disgust is part of moralityc. Hypnotism and disgust study:i. Participants re hypnotized to experience disgust when they read the word “take” (or a control word)ii. Participants rate the congressman’s behavior as more disgusting and more morally wrong when they had been hypnotizedd. Regreti. Regrets of omission vs regrets of commission1. Omission: Things you wish you had done2. Commission: things you wish you hadn’t done ii. The temporal pattern of regret1. Commissions hurt more in the short term2. Omissions hurt more in the long-term iii. What causes the temporal pattern?1. People exert more effort—Interpersonally or psychologically—to fix commissions than omissions2. Retrospective confidence makes earlier omissions inexplicable3. Whereas the consequences of commissions are often finite, the consequences of omissions are infiniteVI. Motivationa. Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs1. Need for self-actualization, 2. Esteem needs3. Belongingness and love needs4. Safety and security needs5. Physiological needsii. Some needs have to be satisfied (typically) before othersiii. If you are hungry or thirsty or exhausted, you can’t pursue intellectual fulfillmentb. The hedonic principle: People are motivated to experience pleasure and avoid paini. Explains why some consequences are reinforcing and others are punishingii. 1. Approach vs. Avoidance motivation1. Approach = Motivation to experience a positive outcome2. Avoidance = Motivation not to experience a negative outcomeiii. How are these motivations measured?1. Approach:a. “I go out of my way to get things that I want”b. I often act on the spur of the momentc. I crave excitement and new sensations2. Avoidancea. I feel pretty worried or upset when I think or know somebody is agreeing at meb. Criticism or scolding hurts me quite a bitc. I worry about making mistakes3. For the average person, avoidance motivation is stronger than approachiv. 2. Loss Aversion1. People gravitate toward option A in the first case but option B in the second