Emotion Learning Objectives 1 What is a narrative identity What purpose does having a life story provide a Narrative Identity Pg 404 in late adolescence in order to provide their lives with purpose and meaning Integrative life story that people begin to construct i Persons internalized and evolving life story b Life stories are grounded in reality but they re imaginative i We make a life by making a story and the stories become a part of who we are ii They are the third level of psychological identity and they provide a unique kind of information on that identity 1 How a person see s there life overall and over time and what the overall meaning and purpose of that life might be 2 What is the difference between the paradigmatic and narrative modes a Paradigmatic mode Pg 391 tightly reasoned analyses propositional logic and cause and effect relationships in the psychochemical world human ability to understand reality through i Comprehend our world through logical proof and empirical observation we order our world into logical theories that explain events and help us to predict and control reality b Narrative Mode Pg 391 tendency to make sense of experiences through stories i Stories are centrally concerned with the changes usually bad but sometimes good of human intentions and are organized in time 1 Stories don t explain events in terms of physical or logical causes they re concerned with human wants needs and goals 2 They explain things in terms that describe the actions a person takes to reach a goal over time 3 What are two primary psychological functions of stories and storytelling Why does self disclosure of traumatic events help reduce health problems and unwanted ruminations of the event a Healing and integration are the two main functions of telling stories i They can help us bring our lives back together when we feel its fallen apart it can help us to cope with stress and move us toward psychological fulfillment and maturity b Self disclosure and Health i The process of actively inhibiting feelings and thoughts about negative events requires excessive physiological work increases blood pressure heart rate and skin conductance 1 If these heightened states of arousal are long term it does serious damage to your body and can lead to stress induced illnesses like infections ii The more you attempt to inhibit feelings the more likely you are to think about them which increases anxiety level trying to constantly avoid your own thoughts is a sure fire way to make yourself a nervous wreck 1 Consciously confronting the feelings and perceptions associated with a specific trauma allows you to cognitively reorganize the event a This is what s meant by putting it behind you b Confronting the issue out loud with another person forces you to put it into a story that s the only way to tell another person this lowers the psychological arousal and ends the need to obsess iii The degree of negative emotion expressed and the extent to which the event is reconstructed in a way that fits a well formed story impacts the health benefits obsessive thoughts 1 Higher levels of story organization the keys to writing a short 2 3 story in grade school characters setting plot etc Increasing degrees of acceptance this is done it can t be changed now it can only be dealt with Increasing degrees of optimism I have put it behind me it is no longer the issue it was and I can move forward a The higher the levels the better the benefits 4 According to Tomkins s script theory what is the role of affect with regard to behavior How does it relate to drives What are the 10 primary affects and what makes them distinct a Affect Pg 397 human emotion primary motivation of human behavior i Affects such as excitement jot and anger are independent from drives such as hunger and sex ii Sex drive is not a motivator of behavior purely on its own sex moves the person to act in a sexual manner but only when the desire for sex is amplified by excitement b Natural selection has operated to make humans favor differentiated and specialized emotions Interest excitement and enjoyment positive i ii Surprise can be positive or negative iii Distress anger disgust fear anxiety sadness shame guilt negative iv Each emotion feels different in a literal sense 1 The phenomenology of surprise the sudden increase in arousal in the wake of an unexpected event feels different than that of sadness 5 What tends to be universal about emotions What about emotions tend to be based on culture Hint display rules a The face is the organ of emotion there are particular facial expressions for specific emotions no matter where you are i Examples enjoyment is seen by a smile sadness is seen by the drooping of the mouth and the slackening of jaw muscles b Display rules Pg 398 societal norms for the expression of different emotions i Different cultures have different rules about the appropriateness of expressing certain emotions through facial expressions depending on the situation 6 What is the difference between a scene and a script What is the short term and long term importance of a particular scene What is the process of psychological magnification Be sure to include analogs and variants in your answer a Scene Pg 400 at least one affect and one object of the affect refers to a specific happening or event in ones life that contains i We each view our own lives as a series of scenes extending from birth to the present ii Short term importance of any particular scene is dependent on the quality of the affect in that scene 1 When thinking about yesterday a specific scene stands out because of the intense emotion that it created for you you had a phone call with your mom where you argued over your summer courses and it made you angry iii The long term importance of a scene is a function of psychological magnification Pg 400 process of connected related scenes into a meaningful pattern 1 To put scenes together in a meaningful and pattern you have to recognize the similarities and differences among various scenes a Analogs Pg 400 theme in that persons life story or script a scene that is similar to another i The argument with your mom example above reminded you of a disagreement that you once had with a professor it started out as a friendly exchange but ended as a shouting match over difference of opinions ii Mostly done with negative affect scenes when you look at the scenes of your life that hold negativity you re likely to find the ways that they are
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