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118-492: Coping refers to conscious or unconscious strategies used to reduce and manage unpleasant emotions . Coping strategies can be cognitions or behaviors and can be individual or social. To cope is to deal with struggles and difficulties in life. It is a way for people to maintain their mental and emotional well-being. Everybody has ways of handling difficult events that occur in life, and that is what it means to cope. Coping can be healthy and productive, or destructive and unhealthy. It

236-663: A fight-or-flight reaction to stress; whereas, females have a tend-and-befriend reaction. The "fight-or-flight" response activates the sympathetic nervous system in the form of increased focus levels, adrenaline, and epinephrine. Conversely, the "tend-and-befriend" reaction refers to the tendency of women to protect their offspring and relatives. Although these two reactions support a genetic basis to differences in behavior, one should not assume that in general females cannot implement "fight-or-flight" behavior or that males cannot implement "tend-and-befriend" behavior. Additionally, this study implied differing health impacts for each gender as

354-557: A subjective , conscious experience characterized primarily by psychophysiological expressions , biological reactions , and mental states . A similar multi-componential description of emotion is found in sociology . For example, Peggy Thoits described emotions as involving physiological components, cultural or emotional labels (anger, surprise, etc.), expressive body actions, and the appraisal of situations and contexts. Cognitive processes, like reasoning and decision-making, are often regarded as separate from emotional processes, making

472-434: A big role in emotions. He suggested that physiological reactions contributed to emotional experience by facilitating a focused cognitive appraisal of a given physiologically arousing event and that this appraisal was what defined the subjective emotional experience. Emotions were thus a result of two-stage process: general physiological arousal, and experience of emotion. For example, the physiological arousal, heart pounding, in

590-446: A blend of both techniques. In the early days, Folkman and Lazarus split the coping strategies into four groups, namely problem-focused, emotion-focused, support-seeking, and meaning-making coping. Weiten and Lloyd have identified four types of coping strategies: appraisal-focused (adaptive cognitive), problem-focused (adaptive behavioral), emotion-focused, and occupation-focused coping. Billings and Moos added avoidance coping as one of

708-511: A collective approach to emotional processing is taken. Emotional approach coping can be assessed using the emotional approach coping scales developed by Stanton, Kirk, Cameron, and Danoff-Burg in 2000. The scales involve two distinct subscales of items: emotional processing and emotional expression. Emotional processing and emotional expression scales are positively correlated but distinct. The emotional processing items reflect an attempt to understand, consider and examine emotions in response to

826-436: A community sample of African-American adults, emotional approach coping has also been found to be negatively associated with anger, trait anxiety and depressive symptoms. In addition, women who reported higher dispositional emotional processing also reported fewer depressive and anxious symptoms and greater life satisfaction; while for men, higher dispositional emotional expression was linked to greater life satisfaction. There

944-680: A community, and self-esteem is one's estimate of one's status. Somatic theories of emotion claim that bodily responses, rather than cognitive interpretations, are essential to emotions. The first modern version of such theories came from William James in the 1880s. The theory lost favor in the 20th century, but has regained popularity more recently due largely to theorists such as John T. Cacioppo , Antonio Damasio , Joseph E. LeDoux and Robert Zajonc who are able to appeal to neurological evidence. In his 1884 article William James argued that feelings and emotions were secondary to physiological phenomena. In his theory, James proposed that

1062-552: A continuum of intensity. Thus fear might range from mild concern to terror or shame might range from simple embarrassment to toxic shame. Emotions have been described as consisting of a coordinated set of responses, which may include verbal, physiological , behavioral, and neural mechanisms. Emotions have been categorized , with some relationships existing between emotions and some direct opposites existing. Graham differentiates emotions as functional or dysfunctional and argues all functional emotions have benefits. In some uses of

1180-485: A division between "thinking" and "feeling". However, not all theories of emotion regard this separation as valid. Nowadays, most research into emotions in the clinical and well-being context focuses on emotion dynamics in daily life, predominantly the intensity of specific emotions and their variability, instability, inertia, and differentiation, as well as whether and how emotions augment or blunt each other over time and differences in these dynamics between people and along

1298-420: A humorous outlook on life, stressful experiences can be and are often minimized. This coping method corresponds with positive emotional states and is known to be an indicator of mental health. Physiological processes are also influenced within the exercise of humor. For example, laughing may reduce muscle tension, increase the flow of oxygen to the blood, exercise the cardiovascular region, and produce endorphins in

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1416-597: A new scale for assessing emotional approach coping was proposed. In the context of natural disaster and crisis, mental health and supporting emotional coping styles has been found to be often be neglected by first responders. Research suggests that those experiencing crisis and trauma do better when they are able to engage with their emotional experiences by reflecting on them in order to make meaning of them. This process leads to an increase in tolerance of emotion, resilience, psychological flexibility, and community engagement. Furthermore, this process leads to greater growth when

1534-399: A pattern of physiological response (increased heart rate, faster breathing, etc.), which is interpreted as a particular emotion (fear). This theory is supported by experiments in which by manipulating the bodily state induces a desired emotional state. Some people may believe that emotions give rise to emotion-specific actions, for example, "I'm crying because I'm sad", or "I ran away because I

1652-544: A potential threat whatever they want, I will not be injured (physically or emotionally). This strategy includes neurotic needs one, two, and three. In Withdrawal, also known as "Moving away" or the "Resigning solution", individuals distance themselves from anyone perceived as a threat to avoid getting hurt – "the 'mouse-hole' attitude ... the security of unobtrusiveness." The argument is, "If I do not let anyone close to me, I won't get hurt." A neurotic, according to Horney desires to be distant because of being abused. If they can be

1770-529: A problem by altering their goals and values , such as by seeing the humor in a situation: "Some have suggested that humor may play a greater role as a stress moderator among women than men". The psychological coping mechanisms are commonly termed coping strategies or coping skills . The term coping generally refers to adaptive (constructive) coping strategies, that is, strategies which reduce stress. In contrast, other coping strategies may be coined as maladaptive, if they increase stress. Maladaptive coping

1888-599: A readiness remains to fall back on passive-receptive types of mastery." In adult cases of "acute and more or less 'traumatic' upsetting events in the life of normal persons", Fenichel stressed that in coping, "in carrying out a 'work of learning' or 'work of adjustment', [s]he must acknowledge the new and less comfortable reality and fight tendencies towards regression, towards the misinterpretation of reality", though such rational strategies "may be mixed with relative allowances for rest and for small regressions and compensatory wish fulfillment, which are recuperative in effect". In

2006-439: A reduction in perceived control (maladaptive coping). Lazarus "notes the connection between his idea of 'defensive reappraisals' or cognitive coping and Sigmund Freud 's concept of 'ego-defenses ' ", coping strategies thus overlapping with a person's defense mechanisms . Appraisal-focused (adaptive cognitive) strategies occur when the person modifies the way they think, for example: employing denial , or distancing oneself from

2124-551: A response to an evoking stimulus, the sight of a bear in the kitchen. The brain then quickly scans the area, to explain the pounding, and notices the bear. Consequently, the brain interprets the pounding heart as being the result of fearing the bear. With his student, Jerome Singer , Schachter demonstrated that subjects can have different emotional reactions despite being placed into the same physiological state with an injection of epinephrine. Subjects were observed to express either anger or amusement depending on whether another person in

2242-486: A result of the contrasting stress-processes. Emotions Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts , feelings , behavioral responses , and a degree of pleasure or displeasure . There is no scientific consensus on a definition. Emotions are often intertwined with mood , temperament , personality , disposition , or creativity . Research on emotion has increased over

2360-417: A snake. Emotional approach coping Coping is a conscious attempt to address and alleviate demands perceived as stressful. Research examining coping has suggested two broad categories of coping: emotion-focused and problem-focused coping. Emotion-focused coping involves attempts to regulate the negative emotional response to stress. Whereas problem-focused coping involves attempts to directly modify

2478-457: A specific stressor) and dispositional (i.e., what do you do in general) instruction sets. The scales are uncorrelated with social desirability. In addition to English, the emotional approach coping scale has also been validated in Norwegian and Turkish. Among heterosexual couples coping with infertility , emotional approach coping predicted decreased depressive symptoms for both members of

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2596-449: A stressful event. For example, “I acknowledge my feelings” and “I take time to figure out what I’m really feeling.” Emotional expression items assess attempts to verbally and non-verbally communicate and share emotions. Sample items include: “I allow myself to express my feelings” and “I feel free to express my emotions.” The emotional approach coping scales have been tested and validated using situational (i.e., what do you do in response to

2714-644: A stressor individuals appraise as more uncontrollable, they are more likely to endorse using emotional approach coping to manage it. There is some evidence to suggest that the utility of emotional approach coping varies by gender . In a longitudinal study, emotional approach coping was found to predict increased life satisfaction and decreased depressive symptoms over time in women; however, in men, emotional approach coping predicted poorer adjustment over time. Some samples have also found that women report using emotional processing and expression more than men. However, research of infertile couples found no differences in

2832-433: A subject with ventromedial frontal lobe damage described in the book Descartes' Error , Damasio demonstrated how loss of physiological capacity for emotion resulted in the subject's lost capacity to make decisions despite having robust faculties for rationally assessing options. Research on physiological emotion has caused modern neuroscience to abandon the model of emotions and rationality as opposing forces. In contrast to

2950-432: A theistic origin to humanity. God who created humans gave humans the ability to feel emotion and interact emotionally. Biblical content expresses that God is a person who feels and expresses emotion. Though a somatic view would place the locus of emotions in the physical body, Christian theory of emotions would view the body more as a platform for the sensing and expression of emotions. Therefore, emotions themselves arise from

3068-529: Is 'good' or 'bad'. Alternatively, there are 'good emotions' (like joy and caution) experienced by those that are wise, which come from correct appraisals of what is 'good' and 'bad'. Aristotle believed that emotions were an essential component of virtue . In the Aristotelian view all emotions (called passions) corresponded to appetites or capacities. During the Middle Ages , the Aristotelian view

3186-425: Is a felt tendency impelling people towards attractive objects and propelling them to move away from repulsive or harmful objects; a disposition to possess the object (greed), to destroy it (hatred), to flee from it (fear), to get obsessed or worried over it (anxiety), and so on. In Stoic theories, normal emotions (like delight and fear) are described as irrational impulses that come from incorrect appraisals of what

3304-445: Is a fundamental life skill ; some psychoanalytic thinkers, such as John Bowlby and D. W. Winnicott see this as the most essential of all psychic tools." Object relations theory has examined the childhood development both of "independent coping...capacity for self-soothing", and of "aided coping. Emotion-focused coping in infancy is often accomplished through the assistance of an adult." Gender differences in coping strategies are

3422-416: Is generally disposed to feel irritation more easily or quickly than others do. Finally, some theorists place emotions within a more general category of "affective states" where affective states can also include emotion-related phenomena such as pleasure and pain , motivational states (for example, hunger or curiosity ), moods, dispositions and traits. For more than 40 years, Paul Ekman has supported

3540-439: Is known as "core-SELF" to be generating these affects. Psychologists have used methods such as factor analysis to attempt to map emotion-related responses onto a more limited number of dimensions. Such methods attempt to boil emotions down to underlying dimensions that capture the similarities and differences between experiences. Often, the first two dimensions uncovered by factor analysis are valence (how negative or positive

3658-417: Is no single, universally accepted evolutionary theory. The most prominent ideas suggest that emotions have evolved to serve various adaptive functions: A distinction can be made between emotional episodes and emotional dispositions. Emotional dispositions are also comparable to character traits, where someone may be said to be generally disposed to experience certain emotions. For example, an irritable person

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3776-463: Is not as clear as it seems. Paul D. MacLean claims that emotion competes with even more instinctive responses, on one hand, and the more abstract reasoning, on the other hand. The increased potential in neuroimaging has also allowed investigation into evolutionarily ancient parts of the brain. Important neurological advances were derived from these perspectives in the 1990s by Joseph E. LeDoux and Antonio Damasio . For example, in an extensive study of

3894-445: Is reactive in that the coping response follows stressors. Anticipating and reacting to a future stressor is known as proactive coping or future-oriented coping. Anticipation is when one reduces the stress of some difficult challenge by anticipating what it will be like and preparing for how one is going to cope with it. Social coping recognises that individuals are bedded within a social environment, which can be stressful, but also

4012-502: Is recommended that an individual cope in ways that will be beneficial and healthy. "Managing your stress well can help you feel better physically and psychologically and it can impact your ability to perform your best." Hundreds of coping strategies have been proposed in an attempt to understand how people cope. Classification of these strategies into a broader architecture has not been agreed upon. Researchers try to group coping responses rationally, empirically by factor analysis, or through

4130-467: Is some evidence in the empirical literature that emotional expression can be functional and adaptive. Experimental research on expressive writing, involving emotional disclosure, has been shown to have benefits for performance on cognitive tasks and for psychological outcomes, such as depressive symptoms. Emotion regulation has also illustrated the importance of emotional processing and expression for well-being. Therapeutic approaches have also demonstrated

4248-784: Is some evidence to suggest associations between emotional approach coping and psychological well-being. In a study of individuals who met DSM-IV criteria for anxiety disorder and healthy controls, levels of emotional approach coping were lower in those individuals who met the criteria than in controls. Another study examined veterans and found that higher levels emotional expression (but not emotional processing) were associated with lower depressive symptoms and decreased post-traumatic stress disorder , even when statistically controlling for age, gender, and race. Cross-sectional research of cancer samples reveals some positive, negative and mixed links with emotional approach coping. Higher emotional processing and emotional expression in female cancer survivors

4366-400: Is the source of coping resources, such as seeking social support from others. (see help-seeking ) Humor used as a positive coping method may have useful benefits to emotional and mental health well-being. However, maladaptive humor styles such as self-defeating humor can also have negative effects on psychological adjustment and might exacerbate negative effects of other stressors. By having

4484-399: Is the subject of ongoing debate. Hormones also play a part in stress management. Cortisol , a stress hormone, was found to be elevated in males during stressful situations. In females, however, cortisol levels were decreased in stressful situations, and instead, an increase in limbic activity was discovered. Many researchers believe that these results underlie the reasons why men administer

4602-429: Is therefore also described, based on its outcome, as non-coping. Furthermore, the term coping generally refers to reactive coping , i.e. the coping response which follows the stressor . This differs from proactive coping , in which a coping response aims to neutralize a future stressor. Subconscious or unconscious strategies (e.g. defense mechanisms ) are generally excluded from the area of coping. The effectiveness of

4720-460: Is used to adaptively manage a response to a stressor. Other examples include relaxation training through deep breathing, meditation, yoga, music and art therapy, and aromatherapy. The health theory of coping overcame the limitations of previous theories of coping, describing coping strategies within categories that are conceptually clear, mutually exclusive, comprehensive, functionally homogenous, functionally distinct, generative and flexible, explains

4838-460: The Age of Enlightenment , Scottish thinker David Hume proposed a revolutionary argument that sought to explain the main motivators of human action and conduct. He proposed that actions are motivated by "fears, desires, and passions". As he wrote in his book A Treatise of Human Nature (1773): "Reason alone can never be a motive to any action of the will… it can never oppose passion in the direction of

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4956-475: The James–Lange theory . As James wrote, "the perception of bodily changes, as they occur, is the emotion". James further claims that "we feel sad because we cry, angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble, and either we cry, strike, or tremble because we are sorry, angry, or fearful, as the case may be". An example of this theory in action would be as follows: An emotion-evoking stimulus (snake) triggers

5074-499: The amygdala and increases in activation of the prefrontal cortex , possibly indicating beneficial emotion regulation. The use of emotional approach coping may signal to the social environment that an individual is in need of support. The responsiveness of the social environment will determine the adaptiveness of emotional approach coping. Emotional expression that is met with empathetic concern may lead to better adjustment than emotional expression met by rejection. Some evidence from

5192-418: The diencephalon (particularly the thalamus ), before being subjected to any further processing. Therefore, Cannon also argued that it was not anatomically possible for sensory events to trigger a physiological response prior to triggering conscious awareness and emotional stimuli had to trigger both physiological and experiential aspects of emotion simultaneously. Stanley Schachter formulated his theory on

5310-543: The neuroscience of emotion, using tools like PET and fMRI scans to study the affective picture processes in the brain . From a mechanistic perspective, emotions can be defined as "a positive or negative experience that is associated with a particular pattern of physiological activity". Emotions are complex, involving multiple different components, such as subjective experience, cognitive processes , expressive behavior, psychophysiological changes, and instrumental behavior. At one time, academics attempted to identify

5428-429: The " tend-and-befriend " response to stress, whereas men tend to use problem-focused coping and the " fight-or-flight " response, perhaps because societal standards encourage men to be more individualistic, while women are often expected to be interpersonal . An alternative explanation for the aforementioned differences involves genetic factors. The degree to which genetic factors and social conditioning influence behavior,

5546-467: The " wheel of emotions ", suggesting eight primary emotions grouped on a positive or negative basis: joy versus sadness; anger versus fear; trust versus disgust; and surprise versus anticipation. Some basic emotions can be modified to form complex emotions. The complex emotions could arise from cultural conditioning or association combined with the basic emotions. Alternatively, similar to the way primary colors combine, primary emotions could blend to form

5664-422: The "Expansive solution", the individual threatens those perceived as a threat to avoid getting hurt. Children might react to parental in-differences by displaying anger or hostility. This strategy includes neurotic needs four, five, six, seven, and eight. Related to the work of Karen Horney, public administration scholars developed a classification of coping by frontline workers when working with clients (see also

5782-478: The 1940s, the German Freudian psychoanalyst Karen Horney "developed her mature theory in which individuals cope with the anxiety produced by feeling unsafe, unloved, and undervalued by disowning their spontaneous feelings and developing elaborate strategies of defence." Horney defined four so-called coping strategies to define interpersonal relations, one describing psychologically healthy individuals,

5900-456: The English language. "No one felt emotions before about 1830. Instead they felt other things – 'passions', 'accidents of the soul', 'moral sentiments' – and explained them very differently from how we understand emotions today." Some cross-cultural studies indicate that the categorization of "emotion" and classification of basic emotions such as "anger" and "sadness" are not universal and that

6018-407: The absence of healthy coping strategies. Research has shown that everyone has personal healthy coping strategies (self-soothing, relaxation/distraction), however, access to social and professional support varies. Increasing distress and inadequate support results in the additional use of unhealthy coping strategies. Overwhelming distress exceeds the capacity of healthy coping strategies and results in

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6136-496: The ancient Greek ideal of dispassionate reason, the neuroscience of emotion shows that emotion is necessarily integrated with intellect. Research on social emotion also focuses on the physical displays of emotion including body language of animals and humans (see affect display ). For example, spite seems to work against the individual but it can establish an individual's reputation as someone to be feared. Shame and pride can motivate behaviors that help one maintain one's standing in

6254-426: The body. Using humor in coping while processing feelings can vary depending on life circumstance and individual humor styles. In regards to grief and loss in life occurrences, it has been found that genuine laughs/smiles when speaking about the loss predicted later adjustment and evoked more positive responses from other people. A person might also find comedic relief with others around irrational possible outcomes for

6372-562: The boundaries and domains of these concepts are categorized differently by all cultures. However, others argue that there are some universal bases of emotions (see Section 6.1). In psychiatry and psychology, an inability to express or perceive emotion is sometimes referred to as alexithymia . Human nature and the accompanying bodily sensations have always been part of the interests of thinkers and philosophers. Far more extensively, this has also been of great interest to both Western and Eastern societies. Emotional states have been associated with

6490-462: The brain and other parts of the physical body. The Lexico definition of emotion is "A strong feeling deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others". Emotions are responses to significant internal and external events. Emotions can be occurrences (e.g., panic ) or dispositions (e.g., hostility), and short-lived (e.g., anger) or long-lived (e.g., grief). Psychotherapist Michael C. Graham describes all emotions as existing on

6608-470: The components of the James-Lange theory of emotions. The James–Lange theory has remained influential. Its main contribution is the emphasis it places on the embodiment of emotions, especially the argument that changes in the bodily concomitants of emotions can alter their experienced intensity. Most contemporary neuroscientists would endorse a modified James–Lange view in which bodily feedback modulates

6726-636: The continuum of coping strategies. The usefulness of all coping strategies to reduce acute distress is acknowledged, however, strategies are categorized as healthy or unhealthy depending on their likelihood of additional adverse consequences. Healthy categories are self-soothing, relaxation/distraction, social support and professional support. Unhealthy coping categories are negative self-talk, harmful activities (e.g., emotional eating, verbal or physical aggression, drugs such as alcohol, self-harm), social withdrawal, and suicidality. Unhealthy coping strategies are used when healthy coping strategies are overwhelmed, not in

6844-437: The coping effort depends on the type of stress, the individual, and the circumstances. Coping responses are partly controlled by personality (habitual traits), but also partly by the social environment , particularly the nature of the stressful environment. People using problem-focused strategies try to deal with the cause of their problem. They do this by finding out information on the problem and learning new skills to manage

6962-497: The coping responses of a person refusing to work hard. For example, a student at school may learn to put in only minimal effort as they believe if they put in effort it could unveil their flaws. Otto Fenichel summarized early psychoanalytic studies of coping mechanisms in children as "a gradual substitution of actions for mere discharge reactions...[&] the development of the function of judgement" – noting however that "behind all active types of mastery of external and internal tasks,

7080-477: The couple after an unsuccessful insemination attempt. Emotional approach coping may also confer benefits for partners. Having a male partner high in emotional approach coping was protective against depressive symptoms for female partners low in emotional approach coping. Emotional approach coping may confer some benefits to victims of sexual assault . Among sexual assault survivors, increases in emotional expression were associated with greater perceived control over

7198-510: The deceased funeral service. It is also possible that humor would be used by people to feel a sense of control over a more powerless situation and used as way to temporarily escape a feeling of helplessness. Exercised humor can be a sign of positive adjustment as well as drawing support and interaction from others around the loss. Whereas adaptive coping strategies improve functioning, a maladaptive coping technique (also termed non-coping) will just reduce symptoms while maintaining or strengthening

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7316-443: The distinct facial expressions. Ekman's facial-expression research examined six basic emotions: anger , disgust , fear , happiness , sadness and surprise . Later in his career, Ekman theorized that other universal emotions may exist beyond these six. In light of this, recent cross-cultural studies led by Daniel Cordaro and Dacher Keltner , both former students of Ekman, extended the list of universal emotions. In addition to

7434-508: The divine and with the enlightenment of the human mind and body. The ever-changing actions of individuals and their mood variations have been of great importance to most of the Western philosophers (including Aristotle , Plato , Descartes , Aquinas , and Hobbes ), leading them to propose extensive theories—often competing theories—that sought to explain emotion and the accompanying motivators of human action, as well as its consequences. In

7552-408: The earlier work of a Spanish physician, Gregorio Marañón , who injected patients with epinephrine and subsequently asked them how they felt. Marañón found that most of these patients felt something but in the absence of an actual emotion-evoking stimulus, the patients were unable to interpret their physiological arousal as an experienced emotion. Schachter did agree that physiological reactions played

7670-728: The ego "through the mastery of new demands and tasks". In fact, according to his adaptive point of view , once infants were born they have the ability to be able to cope with the demands of their surroundings. In his wake, ego psychology further stressed "the development of the personality and of 'ego-strengths'...adaptation to social realities". Emotional intelligence has stressed the importance of "the capacity to soothe oneself, to shake off rampant anxiety, gloom, or irritability....People who are poor in this ability are constantly battling feelings of distress, while those who excel in it can bounce back far more quickly from life's setbacks and upsets". From this perspective, "the art of soothing ourselves

7788-432: The emotion with one of the components: William James with a subjective experience, behaviorists with instrumental behavior, psychophysiologists with physiological changes, and so on. More recently, emotion has been said to consist of all the components. The different components of emotion are categorized somewhat differently depending on the academic discipline. In psychology and philosophy , emotion typically includes

7906-641: The emotion-focused coping. Some scholars have questioned the psychometric validity of forced categorization as those strategies are not independent to each other. Besides, in reality, people can adopt multiple coping strategies simultaneously. Typically, people use a mixture of several functions of coping strategies, which may change over time. All these strategies can prove useful, but some claim that those using problem-focused coping strategies will adjust better to life . Problem-focused coping mechanisms may allow an individual greater perceived control over their problem, whereas emotion-focused coping may sometimes lead to

8024-409: The emotions that accompany the perception of stress". The five emotion-focused coping strategies identified by Folkman and Lazarus are: Emotion-focused coping is a mechanism to alleviate distress by minimizing, reducing, or preventing, the emotional components of a stressor. This mechanism can be applied through a variety of ways, such as: The focus of this coping mechanism is to change the meaning of

8142-862: The experience feels) and arousal (how energized or enervated the experience feels). These two dimensions can be depicted on a 2D coordinate map. This two-dimensional map has been theorized to capture one important component of emotion called core affect . Core affect is not theorized to be the only component to emotion, but to give the emotion its hedonic and felt energy. Using statistical methods to analyze emotional states elicited by short videos, Cowen and Keltner identified 27 varieties of emotional experience: admiration, adoration, aesthetic appreciation, amusement, anger, anxiety, awe, awkwardness, boredom, calmness, confusion, craving, disgust, empathic pain, entrancement, excitement, fear, horror, interest, joy, nostalgia, relief, romance, sadness, satisfaction, sexual desire, and surprise. In Hinduism, Bharata Muni enunciated

8260-434: The experience of emotion. (p. 583) Walter Bradford Cannon agreed that physiological responses played a crucial role in emotions, but did not believe that physiological responses alone could explain subjective emotional experiences. He argued that physiological responses were too slow and often imperceptible and this could not account for the relatively rapid and intense subjective awareness of emotion. He also believed that

8378-409: The extreme introvert, no one will ever develop a relationship with them. If there is no one around, nobody can hurt them. These "moving away" people fight personality, so they often come across as cold or shallow. This is their strategy. They emotionally remove themselves from society. Included in this strategy are neurotic needs three, nine, and ten. In Aggression, also known as the "Moving against" or

8496-436: The following: Śṛṅgāraḥ (शृङ्गारः): Romance / Love / attractiveness, Hāsyam (हास्यं): Laughter / mirth / comedy, Raudram (रौद्रं): Fury / Anger, Kāruṇyam (कारुण्यं): Compassion / mercy, Bībhatsam (बीभत्सं): Disgust / aversion, Bhayānakam (भयानकं): Horror / terror, Veeram (वीरं): Pride / Heroism, Adbhutam (अद्भुतं): Surprise / wonder. In Buddhism , emotions occur when an object is considered attractive or repulsive. There

8614-404: The form of judgments, evaluations, or thoughts were entirely necessary for an emotion to occur. Cognitive theories of emotion emphasize that emotions are shaped by how individuals interpret and appraise situations. These theories highlight: These theories acknowledge that emotions are not automatic reactions but result from the interplay of cognitive interpretations, physiological responses, and

8732-473: The full spectrum of human emotional experience. For example, interpersonal anger and disgust could blend to form contempt . Relationships exist between basic emotions, resulting in positive or negative influences. Jaak Panksepp carved out seven biologically inherited primary affective systems called SEEKING (expectancy), FEAR (anxiety), RAGE (anger), LUST (sexual excitement), CARE (nurturance), PANIC/GRIEF (sadness), and PLAY (social joy). He proposed what

8850-402: The important role of emotions in coping with difficult situations. Emotion-focused therapy is a clinical psychology approach that emphasizes the importance of acknowledging and tolerating negative emotions and enjoying positive emotions for healthy psychological adjustment. Researchers have attempted to disentangle the maladaptive and functional aspects of emotion-focused coping by examining

8968-488: The inclusion of cognitive appraisal as one of the elements is slightly controversial, since some theorists make the assumption that emotion and cognition are separate but interacting systems, the CPM provides a sequence of events that effectively describes the coordination involved during an emotional episode. Emotion can be differentiated from a number of similar constructs within the field of affective neuroscience : There

9086-449: The influence of emotions on health and behaviors, suggesting the need to manage emotions. Early modern views on emotion are developed in the works of philosophers such as René Descartes , Niccolò Machiavelli , Baruch Spinoza , Thomas Hobbes and David Hume . In the 19th century emotions were considered adaptive and were studied more frequently from an empiricist psychiatric perspective. Christian perspective on emotion presupposes

9204-457: The lifespan. The word "emotion" dates back to 1579, when it was adapted from the French word émouvoir , which means "to stir up". The term emotion was introduced into academic discussion as a catch-all term to passions , sentiments and affections . The word "emotion" was coined in the early 1800s by Thomas Brown and it is around the 1830s that the modern concept of emotion first emerged for

9322-474: The loss of a loved one). Some mechanisms of emotion focused coping, such as distancing or avoidance, can have alleviating outcomes for a short period of time, however they can be detrimental when used over an extended period. Positive emotion-focused mechanisms, such as seeking social support, and positive re-appraisal, are associated with beneficial outcomes. Emotional approach coping is one form of emotion-focused coping in which emotional expression and processing

9440-417: The main proponents of this view was Richard Lazarus who argued that emotions must have some cognitive intentionality . The cognitive activity involved in the interpretation of an emotional context may be conscious or unconscious and may or may not take the form of conceptual processing. Lazarus' theory is very influential; emotion is a disturbance that occurs in the following order: For example: Jenny sees

9558-429: The measurements of emotion-focused coping. Several studies have found that emotion-focused measurements of coping often aggregate approach and avoidance strategies. A second reason emotion-focused coping has been construed as maladaptive is that measures of emotion-focused coping are confounded with measures of distress . In an attempt to rectify these difficulties with the operationalization of emotion-focused coping,

9676-662: The mid-late 19th century with Charles Darwin 's 1872 book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals . Darwin argued that emotions served no evolved purpose for humans, neither in communication, nor in aiding survival. Darwin largely argued that emotions evolved via the inheritance of acquired characters. He pioneered various methods for studying non-verbal expressions, from which he concluded that some expressions had cross-cultural universality. Darwin also detailed homologous expressions of emotions that occur in animals . This led

9794-417: The neurotic does not experience these needs, they will experience anxiety. The ten needs are: In Compliance, also known as "Moving toward" or the "Self-effacing solution", the individual moves towards those perceived as a threat to avoid retribution and getting hurt, "making any sacrifice, no matter how detrimental." The argument is, "If I give in, I won't get hurt." This means that: if I give everyone I see as

9912-453: The nine rasas (emotions) in the Nātyasāstra , an ancient Sanskrit text of dramatic theory and other performance arts, written between 200 BC and 200 AD. The theory of rasas still forms the aesthetic underpinning of all Indian classical dance and theatre, such as Bharatanatyam , kathak , Kuchipudi , Odissi , Manipuri , Kudiyattam , Kathakali and others. Bharata Muni established

10030-445: The original six, these studies provided evidence for amusement , awe , contentment , desire , embarrassment , pain , relief , and sympathy in both facial and vocal expressions. They also found evidence for boredom , confusion , interest , pride , and shame facial expressions, as well as contempt , relief, and triumph vocal expressions. Robert Plutchik agreed with Ekman's biologically driven perspective but developed

10148-661: The others describing neurotic states. The healthy strategy she termed "Moving with" is that with which psychologically healthy people develop relationships. It involves compromise. In order to move with, there must be communication, agreement, disagreement, compromise, and decisions. The three other strategies she described – "Moving toward", "Moving against" and "Moving away" – represented neurotic, unhealthy strategies people utilize in order to protect themselves. Horney investigated these patterns of neurotic needs (compulsive attachments). The neurotics might feel these attachments more strongly because of difficulties within their lives. If

10266-436: The past two decades, with many fields contributing, including psychology , medicine , history , sociology of emotions , computer science and philosophy . The numerous attempts to explain the origin, function , and other aspects of emotions have fostered intense research on this topic. Theorizing about the evolutionary origin and possible purpose of emotion dates back to Charles Darwin . Current areas of research include

10384-447: The perception of what he called an "exciting fact" directly led to a physiological response, known as "emotion". To account for different types of emotional experiences, James proposed that stimuli trigger activity in the autonomic nervous system , which in turn produces an emotional experience in the brain. The Danish psychologist Carl Lange also proposed a similar theory at around the same time, and therefore this theory became known as

10502-662: The person's ability to unlearn, or break apart, the paired association between the situation and the associated anxiety symptoms. These are maladaptive strategies as they serve to maintain the disorder. Further examples of coping strategies include emotional or instrumental support, self-distraction, denial , substance use , self-blame , behavioral disengagement and the use of drugs or alcohol. Many people think that meditation "not only calms our emotions, but...makes us feel more 'together ' ", as too can "the kind of prayer in which you're trying to achieve an inner quietness and peace". Low-effort syndrome or low-effort coping refers to

10620-535: The person, or that which is "imago-dei" or Image of God in humans. In Christian thought, emotions have the potential to be controlled through reasoned reflection. That reasoned reflection also mimics God who made mind. The purpose of emotions in human life is therefore summarized in God's call to enjoy Him and creation, humans are to enjoy emotions and benefit from them and use them to energize behavior. Perspectives on emotions from evolutionary theory were initiated during

10738-400: The problem. Individuals who use appraisal coping strategies purposely alter their perspective on their situation in order to have a more positive outlook on their situation. An example of appraisal coping strategies could be individuals purchasing tickets to a football game, knowing their medical condition would likely cause them to not be able to attend. People may alter the way they think about

10856-502: The problem. Problem-focused coping is aimed at changing or eliminating the source of the stress. The three problem-focused coping strategies identified by Folkman and Lazarus are: taking control, information seeking, and evaluating the pros and cons. However, problem-focused coping may not be necessarily adaptive, but backfire, especially in the uncontrollable case that one cannot make the problem go away. Emotion-focused strategies involve: Emotion-focused coping "is oriented toward managing

10974-572: The recovery process and feelings of control were associated with decreased distress after the assault. There is mixed evidence for the utility of emotional approach coping in samples of women with breast cancer . In a longitudinal study of women with breast cancer, for women who perceived their social environments to be receptive, emotional expression predicted improved quality of life. Coping through emotional expression among women with breast cancer has also been found to predict an increase in post-traumatic growth . However, other studies have not found

11092-429: The result of a cognitive and conscious process which occurs in response to a body system response to a trigger. According to Scherer 's Component Process Model (CPM) of emotion, there are five crucial elements of emotion. From the component process perspective, emotional experience requires that all of these processes become coordinated and synchronized for a short period of time, driven by appraisal processes. Although

11210-424: The result of identifying goals, understanding barriers to achieving those goals, and finding new pathways to achieve them. Emotional expression and processing could help individuals direct attention to identify the most important goals in their lives. The effects of emotional approach coping could also be due to exposure to stressful stimuli when actively processing and expressing emotions. The repeated exposure to

11328-513: The richness, variety, and temporal course of emotional experiences could not stem from physiological reactions, that reflected fairly undifferentiated fight or flight responses. An example of this theory in action is as follows: An emotion-evoking event (snake) triggers simultaneously both a physiological response and a conscious experience of an emotion. Phillip Bard contributed to the theory with his work on animals. Bard found that sensory, motor, and physiological information all had to pass through

11446-432: The same link between emotional expression and post-traumatic growth. Cross-sectional studies illustrate the link between emotional approach coping and positive psychological adjustment, under certain conditions in student and community samples. In a cross-sectional study of undergraduate women, women who scored more highly on emotional approach coping reported more positive and less negative valenced repetitive thoughts. In

11564-469: The situation (a confederate) displayed that emotion. Hence, the combination of the appraisal of the situation (cognitive) and the participants' reception of adrenalin or a placebo together determined the response. This experiment has been criticized in Jesse Prinz's (2004) Gut Reactions . With the two-factor theory now incorporating cognition, several theories began to argue that cognitive activity in

11682-508: The social context. A prominent philosophical exponent is Robert C. Solomon (for example, The Passions, Emotions and the Meaning of Life , 1993 ). Solomon claims that emotions are judgments. He has put forward a more nuanced view which responds to what he has called the 'standard objection' to cognitivism, the idea that a judgment that something is fearsome can occur with or without emotion, so judgment cannot be identified with emotion. One of

11800-450: The stressor could result in physiological habituation . Repeated exposure to a stressor through emotional expression and processing could also lead to cognitive reappraisal of the stressor and related self-affirmations . The process of labeling the emotions (i.e., putting them into words) may lessen the intensity of the emotional experience. Studies have shown the process of affective labeling leads to decreases in brain regions such as

11918-421: The stressor or transfer attention away from it. For example, reappraising tries to find a more positive meaning of the cause of the stress in order to reduce the emotional component of the stressor. Avoidance of the emotional distress will distract from the negative feelings associated with the stressor. Emotion-focused coping is well suited for stressors that seem uncontrollable (ex. a terminal illness diagnosis, or

12036-609: The stressor. Coping processes have also been defined instead on whether they involve approaching the stressful situation or avoiding it. The experience of powerful emotions has been characterized by researchers as disruptive and dysfunctional, particularly for cognitive processes. Moreover, research also suggests links between emotion-focused coping and poor psychological outcomes. A review of over 100 studies found associations between emotion-focused coping and negative outcomes such as poor life satisfaction , greater depressive and anxious symptoms and neuroticism . However, there

12154-424: The stressor. Maladaptive techniques are only effective as a short-term rather than long-term coping process. Examples of maladaptive behavior strategies include anxious avoidance , dissociation , escape (including self-medication ), use of maladaptive humor styles such as self-defeating humor , procrastination , rationalization , safety behaviors , and sensitization . These coping strategies interfere with

12272-606: The use of coping through emotional approach less likely because expressing and processing emotions could lead to evaluations that result in acknowledgement of illusions of control. Personality attributes, such as hope, can also moderate the effectiveness of emotional approach coping. Women with breast cancer who were high in hope and reported coping with emotional expression, had fewer medical appointments for cancer-related complaints, enhanced physical health and decreased distress compared to women who did not cope using emotional expression. The effects of emotional approach coping could be

12390-512: The use of unhealthy coping strategies. Overwhelming distress is caused by problems in one or more biopsychosocial domains of health and wellbeing. The continuum of coping strategies (healthy to unhealthy, independent to social, and low harm to high harm) have been explored in general populations, university students, and paramedics. New evidence propose a more comprehensive view of a continuum iterative transformative process of developing coping competence among palliative care professionals Most coping

12508-425: The utility of emotional approach coping for men and women. Individual differences, such as skill at engaging active coping techniques and comfort with expressing emotions, may modify the tendency to successfully employ emotional approach coping. Individuals high in perceived emotional intelligence may also be more likely to use emotional approach coping skillfully. Holding unrealistic perceptions of control may make

12626-521: The view that emotions are discrete, measurable, and physiologically distinct. Ekman's most influential work revolved around the finding that certain emotions appeared to be universally recognized, even in cultures that were preliterate and could not have learned associations for facial expressions through media. Another classic study found that when participants contorted their facial muscles into distinct facial expressions (for example, disgust), they reported subjective and physiological experiences that matched

12744-452: The way for animal research on emotions and the eventual determination of the neural underpinnings of emotion. More contemporary views along the evolutionary psychology spectrum posit that both basic emotions and social emotions evolved to motivate (social) behaviors that were adaptive in the ancestral environment. Emotion is an essential part of any human decision-making and planning, and the famous distinction made between reason and emotion

12862-682: The ways in which men and women differ in managing psychological stress . There is evidence that males often develop stress due to their careers, whereas females often encounter stress due to issues in interpersonal relationships. Early studies indicated that "there were gender differences in the sources of stressors, but gender differences in coping were relatively small after controlling for the source of stressors"; and more recent work has similarly revealed "small differences between women's and men's coping strategies when studying individuals in similar situations." In general, such differences as exist indicate that women tend to employ emotion-focused coping and

12980-523: The will… The reason is, and ought to be, the slave of the passions, and can never pretend to any other office than to serve and obey them". With these lines, Hume attempted to explain that reason and further action would be subject to the desires and experience of the self. Later thinkers would propose that actions and emotions are deeply interrelated with social, political, historical, and cultural aspects of reality that would also come to be associated with sophisticated neurological and physiological research on

13098-487: The word, emotions are intense feelings that are directed at someone or something. On the other hand, emotion can be used to refer to states that are mild (as in annoyed or content) and to states that are not directed at anything (as in anxiety and depression). One line of research looks at the meaning of the word emotion in everyday language and finds that this usage is rather different from that in academic discourse. In practical terms, Joseph LeDoux has defined emotions as

13216-463: The work of Michael Lipsky on street-level bureaucracy ). This coping classification is focused on the behavior workers can display towards clients when confronted with stress. They show that during public service delivery there are three main families of coping: In their systematic review of 35 years of the literature, the scholars found that the most often used family is moving towards clients (43% of all coping fragments). Moving away from clients

13334-404: Was adopted and further developed by scholasticism and Thomas Aquinas in particular. In Chinese antiquity, excessive emotion was believed to cause damage to qi , which in turn, damages the vital organs. The four humors theory made popular by Hippocrates contributed to the study of emotion in the same way that it did for medicine . In the early 11th century, Avicenna theorized about

13452-608: Was associated with higher intrusive thoughts and neither emotional processing nor emotional expression were associated with cancer-related post-traumatic growth . There is from cross-sectional research that suggests the benefits of emotional processing for patients with diabetes. Among patients with type 2 diabetes , higher emotional processing was associated with greater diabetes-related knowledge, medication adherence and relevant self-care behaviors such as diet, physical activity and blood glucose monitoring. Similarly, in adolescent patients with Type 1 diabetes , emotional processing

13570-528: Was associated with higher positive emotions and lower negative emotions. In male cancer survivors, higher emotional processing has been linked to higher positive emotions and higher emotional expression has been linked with lower negative emotions and fewer intrusive thoughts . However, the links between emotional approach coping and psychological adjustment are not all positive some are negative or mixed. In one study of women who had received an abnormal result on an ovarian cancer screen, higher emotional processing

13688-458: Was found in 38% of all coping fragments and Moving against clients in 19%. In 1937, the psychoanalyst (as well as a physician, psychologist, and psychiatrist) Heinz Hartmann marked it as the evolution of ego psychology by publishing his paper, "Me" (which was later translated into English in 1958, titled, "The Ego and the Problem of Adaptation"). Hartmann focused on the adaptive progression of

13806-411: Was revealed to be associated with better metabolic control. The stressor and the individual's appraisal of the stressor may determine the effectiveness of emotional approach coping as a mechanism for managing stress. An appraisal of a stressful situation as uncontrollable may make emotional approach coping an advantageous coping mechanism. In fact, one study of undergraduates shows that when faced with

13924-466: Was scared". The issue with the James–Lange theory is that of causation (bodily states causing emotions and being a priori ), not that of the bodily influences on emotional experience (which can be argued and is still quite prevalent today in biofeedback studies and embodiment theory). Although mostly abandoned in its original form, Tim Dalgleish argues that most contemporary neuroscientists have embraced

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