Theories of Emotion (College Board AP® Psychology): Study Guide

What is emotion?

• Emotion (also called affect) is a complex psychological process involving responses to internal and external stimuli

  • Emotion is distinct from reasoning as it involves subjective feeling, physiological change, and behavioral response

• Emotions are shaped by:

  • internal factors, e.g. biological state, memories, personality

  • external factors, e.g. events, social context, the behavior of others

• Emotion consists of three interacting components:

  • Physiological: bodily changes, such as heart rate, respiration, muscle tension, hormonal activity

  • Behavioral: facial expressions, body language, actions

  • Cognitive: the subjective experience and interpretation of the emotional state, i.e. what we think and feel about what is happening

Theories of emotion: physiological & cognitive experience

• A key debate in emotion concerns the relationship between physiological arousal and cognitive experience:

  • does physiological change come first and then we experience the emotion?

  • do both occur at the same time?

  • or does cognition determine the emotion we feel based on our physiological state?

• Different theories propose different answers

Theory 1: physiological experience precedes emotion (succession)

• This theory proposes that emotion follows a specific sequence:

  1. a stimulus is encountered

  2. the body produces a physiological response

  3. the person interprets that physiological response

  4. the experience of emotion occurs

• We experience emotion because we perceive our bodily changes; the subjective emotional experience is a result of perceiving that response

  • E.g. you encounter a dog barking aggressively, your heart races and your muscles tense. You interpret these physical sensations and then experience the emotion of fear

• A key challenge to this theory is that many emotions share similar physiological states (e.g. fear vs excitement), making them difficult to distinguish based on physiology alone

Theory 2: simultaneous experience

• This theory proposes that a stimulus activates physiological arousal and emotional experience at the same time, but via separate but parallel pathways

  • E.g. a threat produces both physical arousal (racing heart, sweating) and the feeling of fear simultaneously, not in sequence

• This theory avoids the problem of similar physiological states producing different emotions

• However, it is less clear about what determines which specific emotion is experienced when the physiological and cognitive responses occur together

Theory 3: cognitive labeling

• This theory proposes that cognitive interpretation of arousal determines the emotion experienced

• Physiological arousal is similar across emotions, but context and interpretation give it meaning

  • E.g. if your heart is racing at a wedding, you interpret your arousal as happiness or excitement; if your heart is racing at a funeral, you interpret the same arousal as sadness or grief

• This theory explains why the same physiological state can produce very different emotional experiences:

  • the emotion experienced depends not on the arousal itself, but on the situational context and the cognitive interpretation applied to it

• A key prediction of this theory is that if a person is already physiologically aroused and then encounters an emotion-provoking stimulus, they will experience the emotion more intensely

  • This is because the existing arousal adds to the total level of arousal attributed to the stimulus:

    • E.g. a person whose heart rate is already elevated after exercise will experience greater fear when startled than a person at rest

Facial feedback hypothesis

• The facial feedback hypothesis proposes that facial expressions influence emotional experience

  • Forming an expression sends feedback to the brain, shaping how we feel

    • E.g. smiling can increase feelings of happiness

• This hypothesis supports theories that propose physiology influences emotion

• Research on the facial-feedback hypothesis has produced mixed results:

  • Some studies support the hypothesis

  • Others have failed to replicate these findings, casting doubt on the strength and reliability of the effect

The broaden-and-build theory of emotion

• The broaden-and-build theory proposes that positive and negative emotions have different effects on thinking and behavior

Applying the broaden-and-build theory

• The broaden-and-build theory has practical implications for wellbeing, education, and health

• Increasing positive emotions can:

  • enhance cognitive flexibility

  • build resilience and wellbeing over time

• This supports the use of positive experiences in education and therapy

• The theory suggests that experiencing more positive than negative emotions overall supports wellbeing and psychological flourishing