My elaborate answers to the exam questions that were homework for the work groups. They have been edited and corrected in the discussions in the work groups. Now, they are excellent study material for the exam.
Week 1
Scherer explains that the subjective experience of emotions is only a part of the total emotion
process. Explain the elements of the emotion process and indicate the role of the subjective
experience within the total emotion process.
Social psychologists often refer to the ‘Emotional reaction triad’: this refers to 3 components of the
emotion process:
- Physiological arousal: the changes in the physical state in response to an emotion-evoking
experience
o This is for the provision of energy to prepare for action
- Motor expression: the expression patterns in the face & voice for the emotions
o This is constantly monitored and regulated for strategy & social acceptance
- Subjective feeling: how we label the whole experience
o Function is to regulate and monitor the experience of emotions and thereby integrate
it – important for communication as well
- ‘Action tendency’ (behaviors you might want to do, but don’t always do).
- Cognitive appraisal processes: how you evaluate the situation & your own abilities
Week 2:
Explain what the principle of functionality is. Based on this principle, explain the observation that
younger children are more likely to express their anger than older children.
Principle of functionality: emotion conveys a certain message to the individuals (social emotions)
According to the principle of functionality, anger is an emotional response to the threat of personal
concerns or goals within interpersonal conflict situations. Therefore, expressing your anger has the
function to restore this threat and overcome the interpersonal obstacles needed to fulfil the personal
goal. This is done through showing anger to alert the other person that they have crossed a line or
treated you unfairly.
When you get older, you learn how to express anger, and when to do it, and to whom. Anger is a very
difficult emotion, and you need to learn how to handle it. Actually, older children express more anger,
because they know how to.
Week 3
Explain the major features that distinguish social emotions from basic emotions. Discuss
why researchers assume that the link between moral emotions and social behaviors is stronger in
adults than in young children.
In contrast to basic emotions, social emotions involve self-evaluation. The major features that
distinguish social emotions from basic emotions are that they:
Require more complex cognitive abilities, namely self-awareness & self-representation,
theory of mind, moral standards and social norms
Serve primarily social needs (vs. the survival needs of basic emotions)
o Emerge later in childhood, because they require more complex cognitive abilities
& serve more complex social goals
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