Chapter

Emotions,
12

Stress,
and Health

PowerPoint

Presentation
by Jim Foley
2013 Worth Publishers

Schachter-Singer Twofactor Theory:

Emotion = Body Plus a
Cognitive
The Schachter- Label In a study by Stanley
Singer two-factor
theory suggests
that emotions do
not exist until we
add a label to
whatever body
sensations we are
feeling.

I face a stranger,
and my heart is
pounding. Is it fear?
Excitement? Anger?
Lust? Or did I have
too much caffeine?
The label completes

Schachter and Jerome

Singer in 1962, subjects
experienced a
spillover effect when
arousal was caused by
injections of what
turned out to be
adrenaline.
The subjects
interpreted their
agitation to whatever
emotion the others in
the room appeared to
be feeling; the
emotional label spilled
over from others.
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LeDoux,
and Richard Lazarus:
Emotions without
Awareness/Cognition
Theory: some emotional reactions,
especially fears, likes, and dislikes,
develop in a low road through the
brain, skipping conscious thought.

In one study,
people showed an
amygdala
response to
certain images
(above, left)
without being
aware of the

When Appraisal Affects

Emotion
Richard Lazarus noted that
Stanley Schachter and Jerome
Singer highlighted the role of
appraisal in labeling
consciously experienced
emotions: this agitation is
fear.

even in emotional
responses that operate
without conscious thought,
top-down cognitive
functions such as appraisal
of stimuli (is that a threat
or something I would
enjoy?) can be involved .

Detecting Emotion in
Others
People read a great deal
We are primed to quickly

of emotional content in
the eyes (the window to
the soul) and the faces.
Introverts are better at
detecting emotions;
extroverts have
emotions that are easier
to read.

detect negative
emotions, and even
negative emotion words.
Those who have been
abused are biased
toward seeing fearful
faces as angry, as in the
test below.

These faces morph from fear to anger.

Raise your hand when you first see anger under
the red box.

Detecting Lies and Fakes

Polygraphs (detecting
physiological arousal) fail
sometimes at correctly
identifying when people are
lying.
Visible signs of lying: eye
blinks decrease, and other
facial movements change.
In which image is
Paul Ekman
lying with a fake
smile?
A real smile
uses involuntary
muscles around
the eyes.

Brain signs of lying:

Culture and Emotional

Expression:
Are There Universally Recognized
Emotions?
There seem to be some
universally understood
facial expressions.
People of various
cultures agree on the
emotional labels for
the expressions on the
faces on the right.
People in other studies
did have more
accuracy judging
emotions from their
own culture.

Emotion Detection and

Context Cues
What emotions do you see below?
How can you tell what emotions he is
feeling?
Because the faces are exactly the same, our
detection of emotion must be based on
context: the situation, gestures, and the tears.

Is Experienced Emotion as
Universal as Expressed
Emotion?
Carroll Izzard
suggested that
there are ten
basic emotions:
those evident
at birth (seen
here) plus
contempt,
shame, and
guilt.

Closer Look at a Particular Emotion:

Anger
A flash of anger gives us

The catharsis myth

to the idea that
energy and initiative to fight refers
we can reduce anger
or otherwise take action
by releasing it, and
when necessary.
we do this by acting
aggressively (yelling,
Persistent anger can cause
punching a pillow).
more harm than whatever
In most cases,
were angry about.
expressing anger
Some ways to keep anger
worsens it, and any
from persisting: distraction,
release reinforces
constructive action,
the aggression,
problem-solving, exercise,
making it a
conditioned habit.
verbal expression, and
allowing others to be wrong. Sometimes, releasing
anger causes harm,
and results in guilt.
Instead, try calming
down and moving on.
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Closer Look at a Particular Emotion:

Happiness

There are behaviors that seem to go with

happiness.
Researchers have found that
happy people tend to:
Have high self-esteem (in
individualistic countries)
Be optimistic, outgoing, and
agreeable
Have close friendships or a
satisfying marriage
Have work and leisure that engage
their skills
Have an active religious faith
Sleep well and exercise

However, happiness seems

not much related to other
factors, such as:
Age (example: the woman
at the laptop in the picture)
Gender (women are more
often depressed, but also
more often joyful)
Parenthood (having children
or not)
Physical attractiveness

There also may be a genetic basis for a predisposition

to happiness. Whether because of genes, culture, or
personal history, we each seem to develop a mood set
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point, a level of happiness to which we keep returning.

Stress: A Focus of Health

Psychology
Many people report
being affected by stress.

Some terms psychologists use to talk about

stress:
Stress refers to
the process of
appraising and
a stressor is an event or
responding to
events which we
condition which we view as
consider
threatening, challenging, or
threatening or
overwhelming.
challenging.
Examples include poverty,
an explosion, a
psychology test, feeling
cold, being in a plane, and
loud noises.
appraisal refers to deciding
whether to view something
as a stressor.
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stress reaction refers to

Stressors
There may be a
spectrum of levels of
intensity and
persistence of stressors.
We can also see
stressors as falling into
one of three categories:

Stressors refer to the

events and conditions
that trigger our stress
response, because they
are perceived/ appraised
as overwhelmingly
challenging, threatening,
and/or harmful.

catastrophes.
significant life
changes.
chronic daily hassles.

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The Bodys Stress

Response System
When encountering a sudden trauma or other stressor, our
body acts to increase our resistance to threat and harm.

Phase 1: The fight or

Phase 2: The brain
flight sympathetic
sends signals to the
nervous system
outer part of the adrenal
responds, reducing pain glands to produce
and increasing the heart cortisol and other stress
rate.
hormones. These focus
us on planning adaptive
The core of the adrenal
coping strategies and
glands produces
resisting defeat by the
norepinephrine and
stressor.
epinephrine
(adrenaline).
Hans Selye (1907-1982)
indentified this extended
This system, identified
resistance phase of
by Walter Cannon
Phase
(1871-1945), gives
us 3: the stress response,
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energy to act. Exhaustion.followed by:

General Adaptation
Syndrome [GAS]
(Identified by Hans Selye):
Our stress response system
defends, then fatigues.

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Effects of Prolonged Stress

The General Adaptation Syndrome [GAS] works
well for single exposures to stress.
Repeated and prolonged stress, with too much
Phase 3 time, leads to various signs of physical
deterioration and premature aging:
the production of new neurons declines
neural circuits in the brain break down
DNA telomeres (chromosome tips) shorten,
cells lose ability to divide, cells die,
tissue stops regenerating, early aging and
death

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Health Consequences of
Chronic Stress: The Repeated
Release of Stress Hormones

The stress hormone

cortisol helps our bodies
respond to brief stress.
Chronically high cortisol
levels damage the body.

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Female and Male Stress

Response

In response to a stressor
such as the death of a
loved one, women may
tend and befriend:
nurture themselves and
others, and bond
together.
The bonding hormone
oxytocin may play a
role in this bonding.
Women show behavioral
and neurological signs of
becoming more
empathetic under stress.

Men under stress are

more likely to socially
withdraw and numb
themselves with alcohol.
Men are also more likely
to become aggressive
under stress.
In either case, mens
behavior and brains
show LESS empathy and
less tuning in to others
under stress.
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Type A
PersonalityStress
Heart Disease

Some personality traits

tend to cluster into
personality types.
People with a type A
personality are impatient,
verbally aggressive, and
always pushing themselves
and others to achieve.
People with a type B
personality are more
relaxed and go with the
flow.
In one study, heart attacks
ONLY struck people with
Type A traits.

Accomplishing goals is healthy, but a compulsion to always be

working, with little time spent smelling the flowers, is not. 19

Pessimism and Heart

Disease
It can be
helpful to
realistically
anticipate
negative
events that
may happen,
and to plan
how to
prevent or
cope
with
Pessimism
refers
them.
to the assumption

that negative
outcomes will
happen, and often
facing them by
complaining and/or

Men who are generally

pessimistic are more
likely to develop heart
disease within ten
years than optimists.
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Stress factor: Perceived

Level of Control

Experiment: the left and middle rats

below received shocks. The rat on the
left was able to turn off the shocks for
both rats. Which rat had the worst
stress and health problems?

Only the
middle,
subordinat
e rat had
increased
ulcers.
It is not
the level of
shock, but
the level of
control
over the
shock,
which
created
stress.
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Promoting Health: Social

Support
Having close relationships is
associated with improved
health, immune functioning,
and longevity.
Social support, including from
pets, provides a calming
effect that reduces blood
pressure and stress
hormones.
Confiding in others helps
manage painful feelings.
Laughter helps too.

Well, I think youre wonderful.

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Aerobic Exercise and

Health

Aerobic exercise
refers to sustained
activity that raises
heart rate and
Aerobic
oxygen
exercise triggers
certain
genes to produce
consumption.

proteins which guard

against more than 20
chronic diseases and
conditions.
Aerobic exercise reduces
the risk of heart disease,
cognitive decline and
dementia, and early death.

Aerobic exercise reduces

depression and anxiety, and
improves stress management,
and is correlated with high
confidence, vitality, and
energy, and good mood.

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