Emotions: Scientific and Clinical Aspects
,Contents
1. The Riddle of Human Emotional Crying .................................................................................................................. 5
1.1. Developmental aspects of human emotional crying ........................................................................................ 5
1.2. Evolutionary background of crying................................................................................................................... 5
1.3. What makes adults cry?.................................................................................................................................... 6
1.4. Individual differences in crying ........................................................................................................................ 7
1.5. Functions of tearful crying................................................................................................................................ 7
2. Approaches to Understanding Emotions ................................................................................................................. 9
2.1. What is an emotion? – First ideas .................................................................................................................... 9
2.2. Nineteenth-century founders............................................................................................................................ 9
2.3. Philosophical and literary approaches ........................................................................................................... 10
2.4. Brain science, psychology, sociology ............................................................................................................ 11
2.5. What is an emotion? – Conceptions .............................................................................................................. 12
2.6. The emotional realm: Emotions, moods, dispositions ................................................................................... 13
3. Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, and Well-Being ............................................................................................... 14
3.1. Mindfulness .................................................................................................................................................... 14
3.2. Mindfulness and well-being ........................................................................................................................... 16
3.3. Emotion regulation and well-being ................................................................................................................ 17
3.4. Mindfulness and emotion regulation ............................................................................................................. 17
3.5. Does emotion regulation mediate the relationship between mindfulness and well-being?........................... 22
3.6. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 22
4. Appraisal, Knowledge, and Experience .................................................................................................................. 23
4.1. Emotions and psychopathology ..................................................................................................................... 23
4.2. Individual differences in emotions ................................................................................................................. 23
4.3. Appraisal and emotion.................................................................................................................................... 25
4.4. Primary appraisals, good and bad.................................................................................................................. 26
4.5. Secondary appraisals ..................................................................................................................................... 27
4.6. Extending appraisal research ......................................................................................................................... 31
4.7. A third phase in appraisal: Verbal sharing ..................................................................................................... 32
4.8. The importance of appraisal for emotional intelligence and therapy ............................................................ 35
4.9. Emotional experience ..................................................................................................................................... 36
4.10. Music-induced emotions ............................................................................................................................ 37
5. Individual Differences in Emotionality .................................................................................................................... 38
5.1. Biases of emotion in temperament and personality ....................................................................................... 38
5.2. Attachment and emotionality .......................................................................................................................... 38
5.3. Emotions associated with attachment styles .................................................................................................. 39
5.4. Beyond parenting: Influences of siblings and peers ...................................................................................... 42
, 5.5. Emotionality over the lifespan ........................................................................................................................ 43
6. Evolution of Emotions ............................................................................................................................................ 45
6.1. Elements of an evolutionary approach ........................................................................................................... 45
6.2. Three social motivations and on antisocial motivation .................................................................................. 46
6.3. Why human emotions are as they are............................................................................................................ 48
6.4. Emotions as bases of human relationships .................................................................................................... 51
6.5. Depression ..................................................................................................................................................... 52
7. Communication of Emotions.................................................................................................................................. 53
7.1. Five kinds of nonverbal behavior ................................................................................................................... 53
7.2. Emotions as social information ...................................................................................................................... 53
7.3. Facial expressions of emotion........................................................................................................................ 54
7.4. Vocal communication of emotions ................................................................................................................. 57
7.5. Communication of emotions by touch ........................................................................................................... 58
7.6. Emotional expression and the coordination of social interaction .................................................................. 58
7.7. Cultural variation in emotional expression ..................................................................................................... 58
7.8. Communication of emotion in art................................................................................................................... 59
8. Emotions in Social Relationships........................................................................................................................... 60
8.1. The interaction between emotions and social relationships .......................................................................... 60
8.2. Emotions within intimate relationships........................................................................................................... 60
8.3. Emotions in friendships.................................................................................................................................. 62
8.4. Emotions in hierarchical relationships ........................................................................................................... 63
8.5. Emotions within and between groups ............................................................................................................ 64
8.6. Emotional intelligence .................................................................................................................................... 65
9. Bodily Changes, Brain Mechanisms and Emotions ............................................................................................... 65
9.1. Parasympathetic response and positive emotion ........................................................................................... 65
9.2. The interplay between bodily reaction and emotional experience ................................................................. 66
9.3. Embodiment, cognition, and social interaction .............................................................................................. 66
9.4. Historical approaches to the neuroscience of emotion .................................................................................. 67
9.5. Emotion and subcortical processes in the brain ............................................................................................ 69
9.6. Emotion and cortical processes in the brain .................................................................................................. 72
9.7. Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 73
10. Cultural Understandings of Emotions .................................................................................................................. 74
10.1. The construction of emotions in the west .................................................................................................... 74
10.2. A cultural approach to emotion .................................................................................................................... 74
10.3. Approaches to studying cultural influences on emotion .............................................................................. 77
10.4. Integrating evolutionary and cultural approaches to emotion ...................................................................... 78
10.5. Lecture 8 ...................................................................................................................................................... 79
,11. Emotion-Focused Therapy ................................................................................................................................... 86
11.1. Emotion-focused therapy ............................................................................................................................. 86
11.2. Three problems with emotional processing ................................................................................................. 87
11.3. Universal human emotions in their adaptive forms .................................................................................... 90
11.4. Therapeutic tasks in EFT .............................................................................................................................. 90
12. Emotions and Cognition ...................................................................................................................................... 92
12.1. Passion and reason ...................................................................................................................................... 92
12.2. Emotions prioritize thoughts, goals, and actions ......................................................................................... 93
12.3. Three perspectives on emotions in cognitive functioning ........................................................................... 93
12.4. Effects of moods and emotions on cognitive functioning ............................................................................ 95
12.5. Emotions and the law ................................................................................................................................... 97
13. Mental Disorder and Well-Being in Adulthood .................................................................................................... 98
13.1. Psychiatric Disorders: Symptoms and Prevalence....................................................................................... 98
13.2. How disorders are caused............................................................................................................................ 99
13.3. Vulnerability factors .................................................................................................................................... 101
13.4. Recurrence, recovery, and prolongation of disorders................................................................................ 102
13.5. Well-being .................................................................................................................................................. 104
14. Consciousness, Regulation, Psychotherapy ...................................................................................................... 105
14.1. Consciousness ........................................................................................................................................... 105
14.2. Regulation................................................................................................................................................... 107
14.3. Emotional intelligence ................................................................................................................................ 111
14.4. Psychological therapies .............................................................................................................................. 112
15. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder ......................................................................................................................... 115
15.1. Criteria PTSD (DSM-IV) ............................................................................................................................. 115
15.2. Trauma........................................................................................................................................................ 115
15.3. Stress response syndromes ....................................................................................................................... 116
15.4. Trauma- and stressor-related disorders (DSM-5) ..................................................................................... 117
15.5. PTSD, anger and aggression: Epidemiology, etiology and clinical practice .............................................. 117
16. Mentalization-Based Treatment.......................................................................................................................... 125
16.1. Mentalizing ................................................................................................................................................. 125
16.2. Mentalizing as a multidimensional construct ............................................................................................. 127
16.3. Development of mentalization .................................................................................................................... 127
16.4. Psychic equivalence mode ......................................................................................................................... 130
16.5. Pretend mode ............................................................................................................................................. 130
16.6. Teleological mode ...................................................................................................................................... 130
16.7. Bio-behavioral “switch” model ................................................................................................................... 131
16.8. Overview of interventions ........................................................................................................................... 131
, 1.The Riddle of Human Emotional Crying
(Vingerhoets & Bylsma, 2016)
− Darwin: emotions and vocal crying are important
▪ Basal tears are important as well (e.g. protection of eyes)
▪ Emotional tears: no function
− Meibomian glands: basal tears
− Lacrimal gland: reflexive secretion of irritative tears (e.g. dust in eye) and emotional tears
▪ If irritation of eye is detected, a signal is sent to CNS
→ Causes crying
− Emotional crying = the shedding of tears from the lacrimal apparatus, in the absence of any irritation of the eyes
▪ Often accompanied by alteration in some facial muscles, vocalizations, and sobbing
▪ Only humans cry with tears in response to emotional events
▪ Brain activity in limbic system
→ Not the case for irritative tears
− Behavior that obeys the laws of operant conditioning and is under the influence of biological, psychological, and
social factors
▪ ≠ reflex-like symptom
1.1.Developmental aspects of human emotional crying
− Changes in emotional crying over lifespan
▪ Decrease in frequency with increasing age
▪ Decrease of crying because of physical pain
▪ Increase in crying because of sympathy/ empathy and morality/ sentimentality
▪ Increase in significance of tears relative to vocal aspects
▪ Change in antecedents of the crying episodes
→ Connected to normal developmental processes
→ E.g. fear of strangers, development of theory of mind, empathy, etc.
▪ Development of gender differences
▪ Older adults increasingly cry because of positive situations
− Bowlby: acoustical crying = attachment behavior
▪ Serves to maintain the proximity of the parent and to solicit care and assistance
1.2.Evolutionary background of crying
− Crying plays role in soliciting care and attention
▪ Vocal crying in animals
▪ Distress vocalizations in animals
− Human crying consists of two components
▪ The acoustical component
→ Emitted in all directions (the acoustical umbilical cord)
, → Attracts attention of caregivers, neutral others, and potential predators/ aggressors
▪ The visual component (= tears)
→ Important for close interactions
→ Effects depend on relationship with the other
• Attachment figure: caregiving, providing comfort and succor
• Neutral person (stranger): social bonding
• Aggressor: reduction of aggressive impulses, dis-armament, appeasement
1.3.What makes adults cry?
− Hypothetical situations: loss, romantic break-ups, sad movies,
physical pain, reunions, weddings, music, etc.
− In reality: conflict, minor personal failures, criticism, rejection, etc.
▪ Most of the strongest elicitors of tears are quite rare
▪ We cry most often for quite mundane and common
situations that tend to be rather idiosyncratic
→ Depend partially on previous experiences
→ Don’t seem to have a strong, universal tear-
eliciting capacity
− For someone to start crying, exposure to an emotional event by
itself often doesn’t suffice
▪ Person needs to be in particular mental/ physical state
▪ Situational factors shouldn’t too strongly discourage crying
− Emotions that are typically associated with tears
▪ Feeling of powerlessness/ helplessness
→ Often in combination with other emotions (e.g. sadness, anger, fear, or disappointment)
▪ Positive emotions: being overwhelmed with joy, elation, or gratitude
→ Tears may reflect feelings that cannot be expressed in other behavior
− Types of emotional tears
▪ Physical pain tears
▪ (Egocentric) attachment-related pain tears
▪ Empathic-compassionate pain tears
▪ Societal pain tears
▪ Sentimental/ morally based tears
− Development of crying over the lifespan can be seen as starting from exclusively egocentric reasons and later
broadening to more societal reasons
− If we know what makes an individual cry, we have a good insight into their socioemotional development
− Why do only humans weep?
▪ Humans are unique with regards to their prolonged childhood
▪ Motorically fully developed but still in many respects dependent on adults
→ Crying with tears is in terms of survival a better option than just distress vocalizations
− Adult crying: when, where, and with whom?
▪ Evening/ at night
, → Because they’re at home, in the company of an attachment figure, tired, watching a movie/
listening to music, etc.
▪ At home
▪ In the company of attachment figures
− Why tears?
▪ Crying of infants puts mechanical pressure on the eyes
→ Activates lacrimal glands
1.4.Individual differences in crying
− Individual characteristics affect one’s crying behavior
▪ Gender differences in frequency and antecedents of crying
→ Women cry more in conflict situations
→ Men cry more often due to positive reasons
▪ Personality, attachment style, mental health, culture, socialization, previous exposure to traumatic
events, etc.
− Temporary changes in crying behavior
▪ May result from sleep deprivation, fatigue, stress, mood, mental health, becoming a parent, physical
health status, alcohol consumption, the use of other recreational substances/ medications, etc.
− Personality features
▪ Individuals high on neuroticism and/ or empathy cry more
▪ Individuals that are dismissively attached cry less
− Bekker and Vingerhoets: Factors responsible for individual differences in crying
▪ Differences in the degree of exposure to emotional situations
▪ Appraisal/ How individuals differ in the way they perceive and evaluate potentially emotional situations
▪ Crying threshold
→ Under the influence of physical and psychological factors
▪ (Learned) capacity to control one’s tears and social acceptance of tears
1.5.Functions of tearful crying
− Two broad categories of theories
▪ Intraindividual effects
→ Focus on effects on the criers themselves
▪ Interindividual effects
→ Focus on effects on others
1.5.1. Intraindividual effects
− Theories focusing on intraindividual effects mainly originate from the psychodynamic tradition
▪ Strongly connected with concept of catharsis
▪ Tears = safety valve
→ Release of emotional energy/ tension
→ If energy isn’t released via tears, it can have major impact on bodily processes and result in
psychosomatic dysfunction
− Frey: biochemical explanation
▪ Emphasis on blood clearance functions of lacrimal glands
→ Fits physiological concept of homeostasis
▪ Removal of stress hormones and other toxic substances produced during distress
, → Explains relief after crying
− Empirical findings
▪ People believe crying is beneficial
→ Lay public as well as mental health professionals
▪ BUT: Crying doesn’t always result in mood improvement
▪ For whom, and in what conditions does crying benefit the crying individual?
→ Personality and psychological state, characteristics of the eliciting event, and how others react
to crying all influence this
→ Controllable events: crying brings relief; uncontrollable events: mood worsening
− In retrospect, people report relief after having cried, while immediate measurements consistently show opposite
effect
▪ BUT: Later mood better than baseline mood before crying
→ Mood improvement after crying may need some time to develop
− Mood improvement might also reflect biases and a variety of physiological, cognitive, behavioral, and social
processes
▪ Intrapersonal effects may be intertwined with interpersonal effects
→ E.g. positive effects have been provoked by emotional support and comfort
▪ Mood improvement may also result from…
→ An increase in parasympathetic nervous system activity
→ Stimulation of release of substances (e.g. oxytocin, nerve growth factor, endogenous opioids)
which have mood-improving effects
→ Rhythmic sobbing/ inhalation of cool air
→ Application of various cognitive and behavioral mood management techniques by the
individual due to experience of low mood
− Criers score higher on empathy, connectedness with others, and perceived social support
▪ No difference in well-being!
▪ Interpersonal function!
1.5.2. Interindividual effects
− Nelson: attachment value of crying (Bowlby) is maintained throughout the lifespan
▪ Crying has been designed to be directed to attachment figures, to trigger their attention and support
− Hasson: tears serve interpersonal purposes
▪ Promote social bonding
▪ Inhibit aggression and violence in others
− Reactions to crying
▪ Male crier: negative response from men
▪ Female crier: sympathy, acceptance, and a greater willingness to help
▪ Male witnesses often confused and irritated
▪ Female witnesses tend to react positively and with understanding
▪ Crying generally elicits positive reactions of observers
→ Criers are considered more agreeable but also more neurotic
− Tears have a strong impact on…
, ▪ How the crying individual is perceived
▪ The emotions of the observer
→ E.g. greater empathy for crier, feel more connected with crier, greater willingness to help, etc.
▪ The self-reported behavior tendencies of the observer
− (In-)appropriate tears can make or break people
▪ Crying at work depends on circumstances (e.g. after loss accepted)
▪ Tears of public person may have strong effect on popularity
▪ Delicate balance between warm, empathic, honest, sensitive and emotionally not stable, incompetent,
not fit for the job, manipulative, etc.
− Vingerhoets: factors that influence effect of crying
▪ The situation and its perceived appropriateness
▪ The characteristics of the crying person
▪ The characteristics of the observer
▪ The relationship between crying person and observer
▪ The characteristics of the crying
2.Approaches to Understanding Emotions
Chapter 1 (pp. 3-30)
2.1.What is an emotion? – First ideas
− Emotion = psychological state or process that mediates between our concerns (or goals) and events of our
world
▪ At any one time an emotion gives priority to one concern over others
▪ Emotions aren’t irrational but locally rational
− Emotions are the source of our values
− Emotions help us form and engage in relationships
2.2.Nineteenth-century founders
2.2.1. Charles Darwin: The evolutionary approach
− Charles Darwin: The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals
▪ How are emotions expressed in humans and other animals?
▪ Where do our emotions come from?
→ Emotional expressions derive largely from habits that in our evolutionary/ individual past had
once been useful
→ Reflex-like mechanisms that can be triggered in circumstances analogous to those that
triggered the original habits
− Emotions are no longer functional
▪ Only link us to the past of our species and to our own infancy
− Despite his reservations, Darwin thought that emotions have useful functions
▪ They help us navigate our social interactions
