Emotionsand

Health

EMOTIONS

Distinct Emotions Approach: 10+ Basic emotions

Joy, Interest/excitement, Surprise, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, Contempt, Fear, Shame, Guilt

You arrive home late, tired and slightly irritated after a hard day of work. You flip on the lights in your bathroom and glance downward at your green toothbrush. There, nestled in the slightly frayed bristles, lies a cockroach, reluctant to move, the insect waves its feelers at you

Disgust

Highly adaptive, often food-related

Marked by aversion towards something distasteful

Ensures people select & reject appropriate food

Facial expression:* wrinkling nose* gaping expression

But psychology of disgust extends beyond role in food recognition => model for acquisition of values

Would you use toothbrush again?

….even if it was dropped into boiling water & sterilized?

Paul Rozin

Thirsty subjects would not drink glass of juice with sterilized cockroach in it

But some people even refused to drink other juice poured into a different glass after witnessing this.

“Sympathetic magic”

People believe that when two objects come into contact they acquire like properties

Fundamental, universal process(although some disgust elicitors are cultural)

Contagion

Not a conscious, rational processes

Dog Soup(Korea)

Disgust Elicitors: 4 broad categories1. Core disgust elicitors

Objects potentially capable of contaminating foodsRoaches, flies, feces

Disgust Elicitors: 4 broad categories2. Animal-reminder disgust elicitors

Reminders of animal origins=> threatens sense of mortality“Terror Management Theory”

E.g., death, poor hygiene, bizarre forms of sexual behavior

Disgust Elicitors: 4 broad categories3. Sociomoral disgust

Emotional reaction due to moral senseE.g., rape, violence, murder

Disgust Elicitors: 4 broad categories4. Interpersonal disgust

From contact with someone of unsavory origins

E.g., would you wear sweatshirt that had been worn by serial murder Jeffrey Dahmer

Caste system, in India: 3,500-yr-old system based on degrees of dirt and disgust.

Untouchables perform most disgusting tasks (gravediggers, street sweepers)

Higher castes reluctant to eat food handled by lower caste

Fear

Adaptive response

Why so many fears?

* can learn to fear almost anything* e.g., cars, flying, failure, mice

Fear

Susan Mineka: Learning by observation

•Wild monkeys afraid of snakes• lab monkeys NOT afraid of snakes

Wild-reared Lab-reared

Fear

Predisposed to some fears

* Snakes, spiders, cliffs

* But NOT cars, electricity, bombs

Components of emotions

E.g., Happiness (experience) associated with decrease in heart rate (decreased arousal)smile

E.g., Fear (experience) associated with increased heart rate (among other things)wide eyes, clenched teeth, etc.

But…what comes first?

Do we smile because we are happy or are we happy because we smile?

Three theories of emotion provide different answers….

All agree that emotions related to autonomic nervous system & body in general

1. James-Lange TheoryFear

(emotion)Pounding

heart(arousal)

Sight of oncoming

car(perception of

stimulus)

Interpretation of event evokes autonomic changes in body=>emotion arises from perception of these changes

* contrasts with common sense view! * e.g,. We decide we are sad because we cry, smiling makes us happy Different patterns of autonomic response elicit different emotions

(e.g., “butterflies” & anxiety)

But is this plausible?

2. Cannon-Bard Theory

Sight of oncoming

car(perception of

stimulus)

Poundingheart

(arousal)

Fear(emotion)

• Emotion-arousing stimuli simultaneously trigger:– physiological responses

– subjective & cognitive aspects of emotion

3. Schacter-Singer two-factor theory

     subjects not warned about physiological arousal attributed it to either euphoria or anger

     subjects in either:o    euphoria conditon (playful confederate)o    anger condition (insulting questionnaire)

“which member of your immediate family does not bathe or wash regularly”“with how many men (other than your father) has your mother had extramarital relationships? 4 or fewer, 5-9, 10 or more”

     subjects told either:o    would have physiological effecto    would not have physiological effect

 injected student volunteers with hormone epinephrine (mimics effects of arousal for 20-30 mins.)

Schacter-Singer Experiment

3. Schacter-Singer two-factor theory

Situation determines cognitive appraisal, which determines the emotion

Physiological arousal determines intensity of emotion

Dutton & Aron, 1974

“Misattribution of arousal”

Condition 1: High bridge Condition 2: Low bridge

Implications for horror movies, amusement-park rides, etc.

39% called woman 9% called woman

Facial Feedback Theory (Ekman)

Subjects directed to pose expressions

Sensory feedback from the expression contributes to the emotional feeling

Facial expressions effect self-reported anger and happiness

Facial expressions affect the rest of the body

What are Emotions?

• What are emotions?– A motivated state consisting of

• Physiological arousal

• Expressive behaviors

• Cognitive/Conscious Experience

• Nature and Nurture side:– Everyone has emotions Nature side– Culture affects how we express them Nurture

side

The 10 Basic Emotions:

• Joy

• Surprise

• Anger

• Contempt

• Shame

• Interest – Excitement

• Sadness

• Disgust

• Fear

• Guilt

Biopsychology of Emotion:• The Brain: Key Areas

– Limbic System• Fighting, Fleeing, Feeding, Mating

– Important Parts:• Hypothalamus – Changes in breathing/heart rate

during “fight-or-flight”• Amygdala – Fear and Rage• Septum – Thin membrane in center of ventricle

– Suppresses negative emotional states (e.g., fear)

– Also: Frontal Lobe – “brake system” for amygdala

Biology & Emotion:

• With Arousal:– Autonomic NS kicks in and – Sympathetic NS activated– Epinephrine and Norepinephrine are released– Heart rate, blood pressure, and blood sugar rise,

preparing us for fight or flight– When we can calm down, parasympathetic NS

kicks in

Interesting Facts:

• Positive emotions activate the left hemisphere more, while negative emotions activate the right hemisphere more.

• Arousal and stress can actually help us, up to a certain point.– After we reach that point, performance declines– The point is different for easy and difficult

tasks

Yerkes-Dodson Curve:

Performancelevel

Low

Arousal

High

Difficult tasks Easy tasks

More Cool Facts:

• Body language can convey a *lot* of information!

• Body language and gestures mean different things in other cultures– Eye contact– “thumbs up” in Australia, Ghana “Up yours” – “OK sign” in Brazil Obscene

• Facial expressions are similar all over the world – “Nature” component

Health

How do our emotions affect our health?

Stress• Stressor: event or stimulus that threatens an

organism’s physical or psychological well-being

• Coping mechanism: response by the threatened organism to minimize or avoid the effects of the stressor

• Stressors may elicit the

“fight or flight” repsonse

General Adaptation Syndrome

• Alarm stage: immediate emergency response– Fight or flight

• Resistance stage: prepared for longer attack– Immune system increases to max capacity

• Exhaustion stage: body systems fail– Physiological and immune systems cannot

maintain elevated response any longer– Resistance drops below normal levels, leaving

the organism very vulnerable

Cortisol: The Stress Hormone

• Cortisol produces many of the body’s physiological responses to stress

• Converts protein to glucose for energy

• Regulates inflammation from injury

• Activates sympathetic nervous system

Stress

• Sex differences in response to stress– Males: fight or flight

• withdrawal

– Females: tend and befriend

• nurturing

Stress and Health• Long term effects of stress

– Heart disease– Immune deficiency– Decreased sexual interest – Growth problems– Reduced bone density – Reduced muscle mass– Blood sugar imbalances– Cancer

• Caused by chronically high cortisol levels

How to Cope with Stress:Boosting Your Immune System

• Get plenty of rest

• Exercise regularly, outdoors when possible– At least 4 times a week for 30 minutes

• Practice meditation or yoga

• Laugh as much as possible

• Eat lots of fruits and vegetables– At least one a day from each of the seven color

groups– One serving per 20 lbs of body weight

Eat for Immunity• Purple/Red: Grapes, grape products (red wine, grape juice),

prunes, cranberries, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, red peppers, plums, cherries, eggplant, red beets, raisins, red apples, red pears

• Red: Tomatoes, pink grapefruit, watermelon• Orange: Carrots, mangos, apricots, cantaloupes, pumpkin, acorn

squash, winter squash, sweet potatoes• Orange/Yellow: Orange juice, oranges, tangerines, yellow

grapefruit, lemon, line, peaches, papaya, pineapple, nectarines• Yellow/Green: Spinach, collard, mustard greens, turnip greens,

yellow corn, avocado, green peas, green beans, green peppers, yellow peppers, cucumber, kiwi, romaine lettuce, zucchini, honeydew melon, muskmelon

• Green: Broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese cabbage, bok choi, kale

• White: Bananas, garlic, onions, leeks, celery, asparagus, artichoke, endive, chives, mushrooms

The Importance of Touch

Evolutionary perspective

• Most primate species spend about 20% of their time grooming each other– Hygienic and social functions

• In humans, language replaced grooming about 50,000 years ago– We spend 20% of our day talking

The Importance of Touch

• Language is very recent; the vast majority of human evolution occurred prior to the development of language

• Our immune systems (and endocrine systems) evolved in a context of constant contact with other (grooming)

• Touching other humans boosts the immune system (particularly skin to skin contact)

• Also regulates growth, hormones, and development

The Importance of Touch

• Psychosocial dwarfism– “Failure to thrive”– Condition in which infants who are not touched

and held fail to develop– Orphanages

• Modern lifestyles

• Kangaroo care

Touching and Psychological Health

• Societies which have higher levels of affection between parents and children and which do not punish premarital sex have much lower levels of violence than societies which are less affectionate and in which premarital sex is punished– A study of 49 modern hunter-gatherer societies found that in

48 of them, the levels of violence and aggression could be accurately predicted by levels of affection and whether premarital sex is permissible

– Among industrialized nations, high touch cultures such as France have much lower violence/homicide rates than low touch cultures such as the United States

• The homicide rate in the U.S. is up to 22 times as high as the rate in France!

Massage Therapy

• Reduces aggression, hostility, and anxiety• Reduces chronic pain (back, legs, etc.)• Improves attentiveness and cognitive

performance• Improves neuromuscular function• Improves sleep patterns• Improves immune system functioning• Reduces the likelihood of relapse in cancer

patients

Why Massage Therapy Works

• Massage therapy helps regulate serotonin and dopamine levels– Dopamine regulates motivation and pleasure– Serotonin decreases substance P (pain) and regulates

sleep and mood

• Massage therapy decreases cortisol levels– High cortisol levels kill natural killer cells, the front

line of the immune system– Decreased cortisol → increased natural killer cells

→ better immune functioning

What to focus on from Chapter 10

• How emotions are adaptive• Facial expressions• Theories of emotion• Physiological and neurological components

of emotions (sympathetic nervous system)• Stress• The immune system• Behaviors affecting health (smoking, diet,

exercise, etc.)