View source for Emotion

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{{Short description|Conscious subjective experience of humans}}
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{{Emotion}}

[[File:Sixteen faces expressing the human passions. Wellcome L0068375 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Sixteen faces expressing the human passions – colored [[engraving]] by J. Pass, 1821, after [[Charles Le Brun]]|371x371px]]

'''Emotions''' are physical and [[mental state]]s brought on by [[neurophysiology|neurophysiological]] changes, variously associated with [[thought]]s, [[feelings]], [[behavior|behavioral responses]], and a degree of [[pleasure]] or [[suffering|displeasure]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Panksepp|first1=Jaak|title=Affective neuroscience: the foundations of human and animal emotions|date=2005|publisher=Oxford Univ. Press|location=Oxford [u.a.]|isbn=978-0195096736|pages=9|edition=[Reprint]|quote=Our emotional feelings reflect our ability to subjectively experience certain states of the nervous system. Although conscious feeling states are universally accepted as major distinguishing characteristics of human emotions, in animal research the issue of whether other organisms feel emotions is little more than a conceptual embarrassment}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Damasio AR|s2cid=8504450|title=Emotion in the perspective of an integrated nervous system|journal=Brain Research. Brain Research Reviews|volume=26|issue=2–3|pages=83–86|date=May 1998|pmid=9651488|doi=10.1016/s0165-0173(97)00064-7 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last2=Davidson|first1=Paul|last1=Ekman|first2=Richard J.|title=The Nature of emotion: fundamental questions|date=1994|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=New York|isbn=978-0195089448|pages=291–293|quote=Emotional processing, but not emotions, can occur unconsciously.}}</ref><ref name="Schacter">{{cite book |last1=Schacter |first1=Daniel L. |url=https://archive.org/details/psychology0000scha/page/310 |title=Psychology |last2=Gilbert |first2=Daniel T. |last3=Wegner |first3=Daniel M. |publisher=Worth Publishers |year=2011 |isbn=978-1429237192 |edition=2nd |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/psychology0000scha/page/310 310] |author-link1=Daniel Schacter |author-link2=Daniel Gilbert (psychologist) |author-link3=Daniel Wegner}}</ref> There is no [[scientific consensus]] on a definition.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cabanac |first=Michel |year=2002 |title=What is emotion? |journal=Behavioural Processes |volume=60 |number=2 |pages=69–83 |doi=10.1016/S0376-6357(02)00078-5 |pmid=12426062 |s2cid=24365776 |quote=There is no consensus in the literature on a definition of emotion. The term is taken for granted in itself and, most often, emotion is defined with reference to a list: anger, disgust, fear, joy, sadness, and surprise. [...] I propose here that emotion is any mental experience with high intensity and high hedonic content (pleasure/displeasure).}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Handbook of emotions |date=2016 |editor=Lisa Feldman Barrett |editor2=Michael Lewis |editor3=Jeannette M. Haviland-Jones |isbn=978-1462525348 |edition=Fourth |location=New York |oclc=950202673}}</ref> Emotions are often [[reciprocal determinism|intertwine]]d with [[mood (psychology)|mood]], [[temperament]], [[personality psychology|personality]], [[disposition]], or [[creativity]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Averill|first=James R.|date=February 1999|title=Individual Differences in Emotional Creativity: Structure and Correlates|journal=Journal of Personality|language=en|volume=67|issue=2|pages=331–371|doi=10.1111/1467-6494.00058|issn=0022-3506|pmid=10202807}}</ref>

[[Research]] on emotion has increased over the past two decades,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Iancarelli |first=Alessia |last2=Rypkema |first2=Nicholas R. |last3=Ritchey |first3=Maureen |last4=Satpute |first4=Ajay B. |date=2025-02-01 |title=The Affective Science Network: A Fieldwide Map of over 1 Million Citations |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-024-00292-8 |journal=Affective Science |language=en |doi=10.1007/s42761-024-00292-8 |issn=2662-205X|doi-access=free }}</ref> with many fields contributing, including [[psychology]], [[medicine]], [[history]], [[sociology of emotions]], [[computer science]] and [[philosophy]]. The numerous attempts to explain the origin, [[functional accounts of emotion|function]], and other aspects of emotions have fostered intense research on this topic. Theorizing about the [[evolution]]ary origin and possible purpose of emotion dates back to [[Charles Darwin]]. Current areas of research include the [[neuroscience]] of emotion, using tools like [[positron emission tomography|PET]] and [[functional magnetic resonance imaging|fMRI]] scans to study the [[International Affective Picture System|affective picture]] processes in the [[brain]].<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1146/annurev.psych.50.1.191|title=Emotion|year=1999|last1=Cacioppo|first1=John T.|last2=Gardner|first2=Wendi L.|journal=Annual Review of Psychology|volume=50|pages=191–214|pmid=10074678}}</ref>

From a mechanistic perspective, emotions can be defined as "a positive or negative experience that is associated with a particular pattern of [[Physiology|physiological]] activity".<ref name="Schacter" /> Emotions are complex, involving multiple different components, such as subjective experience, [[cognition|cognitive process]]es, expressive behavior, psychophysiological changes, and instrumental behavior.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Cabral |first1=J. Centurion |last2=de Almeida |first2=Rosa Maria Martins |date=2022 |title=From social status to emotions: Asymmetric contests predict emotional responses to victory and defeat. |url=http://doi.apa.org/getdoi.cfm?doi=10.1037/emo0000839 |journal=Emotion |language=en |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=769–779 |doi=10.1037/emo0000839 |pmid=32628033 |s2cid=220371464 |issn=1931-1516|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":1" /> At one time, academics attempted to identify the emotion with one of the components: [[William James]] with a subjective experience, [[behaviorism|behaviorist]]s with instrumental behavior, [[psychophysiology|psychophysiologist]]s 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 a [[subjectivity|subjective]], [[consciousness|conscious]] [[qualia|experience]] characterized primarily by [[psychophysiology|psychophysiological]] [[emotional expression|expression]]s, [[metabolism|biological reaction]]s, and [[mental state]]s. 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.<ref name="Thoits, P. A. 1989">{{cite journal |vauthors=Thoits PA |year=1989 |title=The sociology of emotions |journal=[[Annual Review of Sociology]] |volume=15 |pages=317–342 |doi=10.1146/annurev.soc.15.1.317}}</ref> Cognitive processes, like reasoning and decision-making, are often regarded as separate from emotional processes, making a division between "thinking" and "feeling". However, not all theories of emotion regard this separation as valid.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Barrett LF, Mesquita B, Ochsner KN, Gross JJ |date=January 2007 |title=The experience of emotion |journal=[[Annual Review of Psychology]] |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=373–403 |doi=10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085709 |pmc=1934613 |pmid=17002554}}</ref>

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 the lifespan.<ref name="EmotionDynamics">{{Cite journal|last1=Reitsema|first1=A.M. |date=2021|title=Emotion dynamics in children and adolescents: A meta-analytic and descriptive review|journal=Emotion|volume=22|issue=2|pages=374–396|doi=10.1037/emo0000970|pmid=34843305 |s2cid=244748515 |url=https://research.rug.nl/en/publications/ef6d161b-b81f-4a49-81f3-b6c5cf95c1be }}</ref><ref name="Charles">{{cite journal |last1=Charles |first1=Susan T. |last2=Carstensen |first2=Laura L. |title=Social and Emotional Aging |journal=Annual Review of Psychology |date=1 January 2010 |volume=61 |issue=1 |pages=383–409 |doi=10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100448 |pmid=19575618 |language=en |issn=0066-4308|pmc=3950961 }}</ref>

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== Etymology ==
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 (philosophy)|passion]]s, [[feeling|sentiment]]s and [[affection]]s.<ref>{{cite book | last=Dixon | first=Thomas | title=From passions to emotions: the creation of a secular psychological category | publisher=Cambridge University Press | date=2003 | isbn=978-0521026697 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B9c8tNQVI4YC | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009004144/https://books.google.com/books?id=B9c8tNQVI4YC | archive-date=9 October 2021 | url-status=live}}</ref> 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 the English language.<ref name="Smith Human Emotions">{{cite book|title=The Book of Human Emotions|last1=Smith|first1=Tiffany Watt|date=2015|publisher=Little, Brown, and Company|isbn=978-0316265409|pages=4–7|name-list-style=vanc}}</ref> "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."<ref name="Smith Human Emotions" />

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 the boundaries and domains of these concepts are categorized differently by all cultures.<ref name="Russell">{{cite journal|vauthors=Russell JA|s2cid=4830394|date=November 1991|title=Culture and the categorization of emotions|journal=Psychological Bulletin|volume=110|issue=3|pages=426–450|doi=10.1037/0033-2909.110.3.426|pmid=1758918}}</ref> However, others argue that there are some universal bases of emotions (see Section 6.1).<ref name="Wierzbicka, Anna">Wierzbicka, Anna. ''Emotions across languages and cultures: diversity and universals''. Cambridge University Press. 1999.{{ISBN?}}{{page needed|date=October 2022}}</ref> In psychiatry and psychology, an inability to express or perceive emotion is sometimes referred to as [[alexithymia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Taylor |first=Graeme J. |date=June 1984 |title=Alexithymia: concept, measurement, and implications for treatment |url=http://psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/ajp.141.6.725 |journal=American Journal of Psychiatry |language=en |volume=141 |issue=6 |pages=725–732 |doi=10.1176/ajp.141.6.725 |pmid=6375397 |issn=0002-953X|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== History ==
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 the divine and with the enlightenment of the human mind and body.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kagan|first=Jerome|title=What is emotion?: History, measures, and meanings|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2007|pages=10, 11}}</ref> 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 the [[Age of Enlightenment]], Scottish thinker [[David Hume]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Mossner|first=Ernest Campbell|title=The Life of David Hume|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2001|pages=2 |isbn=978-0-199-24336-5}}</ref> 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 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".<ref>{{cite book|last=Hume|first=David|title=A treatise of human nature|publisher=Courier Corporation|year=2003}}{{ISBN?}}</ref> 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 the brain and other parts of the physical body.

== Definitions ==
The [[Lexico]] definition of emotion is "A strong [[feeling]] deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lexico.com/definition/emotion|title=Emotion &#124; Definition of Emotion by Oxford Dictionary on Lexico.com also meaning of Emotion|website=Lexico Dictionaries &#124; English|access-date=2 March 2021|archive-date=9 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009004612/https://www.lexico.com/definition/emotion|url-status=dead}}</ref> Emotions are responses to significant internal and external events.<ref>Schacter, D.L., Gilbert, D.T., Wegner, D.M., & Hood, B.M. (2011). ''Psychology'' (European ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.{{ISBN?}}{{page?|date=May 2023}}</ref>

Emotions can be occurrences (e.g., [[panic]]) or dispositions (e.g., hostility), and short-lived (e.g., anger) or long-lived (e.g., [[grief]]).<ref>{{cite book|title=The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy|publisher=Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University|year=2018|chapter=Emotion|chapter-url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/emotion/#DefiEmotWhatDesi|access-date=16 November 2018|archive-date=11 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181211114052/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/emotion/#DefiEmotWhatDesi|url-status=live}}</ref> Psychotherapist Michael C. Graham describes all emotions as existing on a continuum of intensity.<ref>{{cite book|title=Facts of Life: ten issues of contentment|last1=Graham|first1=Michael C.|date=2014|publisher=Outskirts Press|isbn=978-1478722595|page=63|name-list-style=vanc}}</ref> Thus fear might range from mild concern to terror or shame might range from simple embarrassment to toxic shame.<ref>{{cite book|title=Facts of Life: Ten Issues of Contentment|last1=Graham|first1=Michael C.|date=2014|publisher=Outskirts Press|isbn=978-1478722595|name-list-style=vanc}}</ref> Emotions have been described as consisting of a coordinated set of responses, which may include verbal, [[physiology|physiological]], behavioral, and [[nervous system|neural]] mechanisms.<ref name="Fox2008">{{cite book |last=Fox |first=Elaine |title=Emotion Science: An Integration of Cognitive and Neuroscientific Approaches |publisher=Palgrave MacMillan |year=2008 |isbn=978-0230005174 |pages=16–17 |name-list-style=vanc}}</ref>

Emotions have been [[emotion classification#Lists of emotions|categorize]]d, 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.<ref>{{cite book|title=Facts of Life: ten issues of contentment|last1=Graham|first1=Michael C.|date=2014|publisher=Outskirts Press|isbn=978-1478722595|name-list-style=vanc}}</ref>

In some uses of the word, emotions are intense feelings that are directed at someone or something.<ref name="ReferenceA">Hume, D. Emotions and Moods. Organizational Behavior, 258–97.</ref> 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.<ref name="Fehr & Russell">{{cite journal|vauthors=Fehr B, Russell JA|year=1984|title=Concept of Emotion Viewed from a Prototype Perspective|journal=Journal of Experimental Psychology: General|volume=113|issue=3|pages=464–486|doi=10.1037/0096-3445.113.3.464|s2cid=4825988 }}</ref>

In practical terms, [[Joseph E. LeDoux|Joseph LeDoux]] has defined emotions as the result of a cognitive and conscious process which occurs in response to a body system response to a trigger.<ref name=LeDoux>{{cite web|url=https://brainworldmagazine.com/on-fear-emotions-and-memory-an-interview-with-dr-joseph-ledoux/2/|title=On Fear, Emotions, and Memory: An Interview with Dr. Joseph LeDoux – Page 2 of 2 – Brain World|date=2018-06-06|access-date=16 November 2018|archive-date=9 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009004614/https://brainworldmagazine.com/on-fear-emotions-and-memory-an-interview-with-dr-joseph-ledoux/2/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Components ==
According to [[Klaus Scherer|Scherer]]'s Component Process Model (CPM) of emotion,<ref name=":1">{{cite journal|vauthors=Scherer KR|s2cid=145575751|title=What are emotions? And how can they be measured?|journal=Social Science Information|year=2005|volume=44|issue=4|pages=693–727|doi=10.1177/0539018405058216}}</ref> 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 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.
* ''Cognitive appraisal'': provides an evaluation of events and objects.
* ''Bodily symptoms'': the [[physiology|physiological]] component of emotional experience.
* ''Action tendencies'': a [[motivation]]al component for the preparation and direction of motor responses.
* ''Expression'': [[facial expression|facial]] and [[human voice|vocal]] expression almost always accompanies an emotional state to communicate reaction and intention of actions.
* ''Feelings'': the subjective experience of emotional state once it has occurred.

== Differentiation ==
{{multiple image
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| caption1 = Plutchik's emotional dyads.
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| caption2 = The above dyads sorted into opposites.
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{{see also|Affect measures#Differentiating affect from other terms}}
Emotion can be differentiated from a number of similar constructs within the field of [[affective neuroscience]]:<ref name='Fox2008'/>
* Emotions: predispositions to a certain type of action in response to a specific stimulus, which produce a cascade of rapid and synchronized physiological and cognitive changes.<ref name=":0" />
* [[Feeling]]: not all feelings include emotion, such as the [[feeling#Knowing or not knowing|feeling of knowing]]. In the context of emotion, feelings are best understood as a [[subjectivity|subjective]] representation of emotions, private to the individual experiencing them. Emotions are often described as the raw, instinctive responses, while feelings involve our interpretation and awareness of those responses.<ref name="Givens" /><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Haviland-Jones |first1=Jeannette M. |title=Handbook of emotions |last2=Lewis |first2=Michael |last3=Barrett |first3=Lisa Feldman |date=2016 |publisher=Guilford press |isbn=978-1-4625-2534-8 |edition=4 |location=New York (N.Y.)}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=UWA |date=2019-06-27 |title=Science of Emotion: The Basics of Emotional Psychology {{!}} UWA |url=https://online.uwa.edu/news/emotional-psychology/ |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=UWA Online |language=en-US}}</ref>
* [[Mood (psychology)|Mood]]s: enduring affective states that are considered less intense than emotions and appear to lack a contextual stimulus.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* [[Affect (psychology)|Affect]]: a broader term used to describe the emotional and cognitive experience of an emotion, feeling or mood.<ref>{{Cite web |title=APA Dictionary of Psychology |url=https://dictionary.apa.org/affect |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=dictionary.apa.org |language=en}}</ref> It can be understood as a combination of three components: emotion, mood, and affectivity (an individual's overall disposition or [[temperament]], which can be characterized as having a generally positive or negative affect).{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

== Evolutionary approach: Emotions' purpose and value ==
There is no single, universally accepted evolutionary theory. The most prominent ideas suggest that emotions have evolved to serve various adaptive functions:<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9780470939376 |title=The Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology |date=2015-09-05 |publisher=Wiley |isbn=978-0-471-26403-3 |editor-last=Buss |editor-first=David M. |edition=1 |language=en |doi=10.1002/9780470939376}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=LeDoux |first=J. E. |title=The Emotional Brain: The Mysterious Underpinnings of Emotional Life |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1996}}</ref>

# '''Survival, threat detection, decision-making, and motivation'''. One view is that emotions [[functional accounts of emotion|facilitate adaptive responses to environmental challenge]]s. Emotions like fear, anger, and disgust are thought to have evolved to help humans and other animals detect and respond to threats and dangers in their environment. For example, fear helps individuals react quickly to potential dangers, anger can motivate self-defense or assertiveness, and disgust can protect against harmful substances. In addition, happiness might reinforce behaviors that lead to positive outcomes. For example, the anticipation of the reward associated with a pleasurable emotion like joy can motivate individuals to engage in behaviors that promote their well-being.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ekman|first=Paul|name-list-style=vanc|title=An argument for basic emotions|journal=Cognition & Emotion|year=1992|volume=6|issue=3|pages=169–200|doi=10.1080/02699939208411068|url=http://www.emotional.economics.uni-mainz.de/Dateien/Ekman_1992_Psy_Review_Basic_Emotions.pdf|citeseerx=10.1.1.454.1984|access-date=25 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181015022148/http://www.emotional.economics.uni-mainz.de/Dateien/Ekman_1992_Psy_Review_Basic_Emotions.pdf|archive-date=15 October 2018|url-status=dead }}</ref>
# '''Memory enhancement''': Emotions can enhance memory. Events or experiences that trigger strong emotions are often remembered more vividly, which can be advantageous for learning from past experiences and avoiding potential threats or repeating successful behaviors.
# '''Social communication.''' Emotions play a crucial role in social interactions. Expressing emotions through facial expressions, body language, and vocalizations helps convey information to others about one's internal state. This, in turn, facilitates cooperation, bonding, and the maintenance of social relationships. For example, a smile communicates happiness and friendliness, while a frown may signal distress or disapproval. Emotions can also ignite conversations about values and ethics.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/finding-your-authentic-pu_b_8342280|title=Listening to Your Authentic Self: The Purpose of Emotions|date=2015-10-21|website=HuffPost|access-date=2019-09-15|archive-date=28 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211028175154/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/finding-your-authentic-pu_b_8342280|url-status=live}}</ref> However some emotions, such as some forms of [[anxiety]], are sometimes regarded as part of a [[mental disorder|mental illness]] and thus possibly of negative value.<ref>Some people regard mental illnesses as having evolutionary value, see e.g. [[evolutionary approaches to depression]].</ref>

== Classification ==
{{main|Emotion classification}}
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 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 [[suffering|pain]], motivational states (for example, [[hunger (physiology)|hunger]] or [[curiosity]]), moods, dispositions and traits.<ref>Schwarz, N.H. (1990). "Feelings as information: Informational and motivational functions of affective states". ''Handbook of motivation and cognition: Foundations of social behavior'', 2, 527–561.{{ISBN?}}</ref>

=== Basic emotions theory ===
[[File:Emotions - 3.svg|thumb|330px|Examples of basic emotions]]
[[File:Plutchik-wheel.svg|thumb|330px|The emotion wheel]]
For more than 40 years, [[Paul Ekman]] has supported 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 the distinct facial expressions. Ekman's facial-expression research examined six basic emotions: [[anger]], [[disgust]], [[fear]], [[happiness]], [[sadness]] and [[surprise (emotion)|surprise]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Shiota|first=Michelle N.|date=2016|chapter=Ekman's theory of basic emotions|editor-last=Miller|editor-first=Harold L.|title=The Sage encyclopedia of theory in psychology|location=Thousand Oaks, CA|publisher=[[SAGE Publications]]|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=7C45DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA248 248–250]|isbn=978-1452256719|doi=10.4135/9781483346274.n85|quote=Some aspects of Ekman's approach to basic emotions are commonly misunderstood. Three misinterpretations are especially common. The first and most widespread is that Ekman posits exactly six basic emotions. Although his original facial-expression research examined six emotions, Ekman has often written that evidence may eventually be found for several more and has suggested as many as 15 likely candidates.}}</ref>

Later in his career,<ref name="Ekman and Cordaro">{{cite journal|last1=Ekman|first1=Paul|last2=Cordaro|first2=Daniel|s2cid=52833124|title=What is Meant by Calling Emotions Basic|journal=Emotion Review|date=20 September 2011|volume=3|issue=4|pages=364–370|doi=10.1177/1754073911410740|issn=1754-0739}}</ref> 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 the original six, these studies provided evidence for [[amusement]], [[awe]], [[contentment]], [[desire]], [[embarrassment]], [[pain]], [[Relief (emotion)|relief]], and [[sympathy]] in both facial and vocal expressions. They also found evidence for [[boredom]], [[confusion]], [[interest (emotion)|interest]], [[pride]], and [[shame]] facial expressions, as well as [[contempt]], relief, and [[wikt:triumph|triumph]] vocal expressions.<ref name="Cordaro, Keltner, Tshering, Wangchuk and Flynn">{{cite journal|last1=Cordaro|first1=Daniel T.|last2=Keltner|first2=Dacher|last3=Tshering|first3=Sumjay|last4=Wangchuk|first4=Dorji|last5=Flynn|first5=Lisa M.|title=The voice conveys emotion in ten globalized cultures and one remote village in Bhutan.|journal=Emotion|date=2016|volume=16|issue=1|pages=117–128|doi=10.1037/emo0000100|pmid=26389648|language=en|issn=1931-1516}}</ref><ref name="Cordaro, Sun, Keltner, Kamble and Huddar and McNeil">{{cite journal|last1=Cordaro|first1=Daniel T.|last2=Sun|first2=Rui|last3=Keltner|first3=Dacher|last4=Kamble|first4=Shanmukh|last5=Huddar|first5=Niranjan|last6=McNeil|first6=Galen|s2cid=3436764|title=Universals and cultural variations in 22 emotional expressions across five cultures.|journal=Emotion|date=February 2018|volume=18|issue=1|pages=75–93|doi=10.1037/emo0000302|pmid=28604039|language=en|issn=1931-1516}}</ref><ref name="Keltner, Oatley and Jenkins">{{cite book|last1=Keltner|first1=Dacher|last2=Oatley|first2=Keith|last3=Jenkins|first3=Jennifer M|title=Understanding emotions|date=2019|publisher=Wiley Global Education |isbn=978-1119492535|language=en|oclc=1114474792 }}{{page needed|date=July 2021}}</ref>

[[Robert Plutchik]] agreed with Ekman's biologically driven perspective but developed the "[[emotion classification#Plutchik's wheel of emotions|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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Plutchik|first=Robert|date=2000|title=Emotions in the practice of psychotherapy: clinical implications of affect theories|location=Washington, DC|publisher=[[American Psychological Association]]|isbn=1557986940|oclc=44110498|doi=10.1037/10366-000}}</ref> 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 color]]s combine, ''primary emotions'' could blend to form 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.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Plutchik R|year=2002|title=Nature of emotions|journal=American Scientist|volume=89|issue=4|page=349|doi=10.1511/2001.28.739}}</ref>

[[Jaak Panksepp]] carved out seven [[heredity|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 is known as "core-SELF" to be generating these affects.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Panksepp|first1=Jaak|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bVdxXN_vVGEC&q=at+least+seven+basic+affective+systems|title=The Archaeology of Mind: Neuroevolutionary Origins of Human Emotions (Norton Series on Interpersonal Neurobiology)|last2=Biven|first2=Lucy|year=2012|publisher=W. W. Norton & Company|isbn=978-0393707311|language=en|access-date=21 July 2021|archive-date=21 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210721142921/https://books.google.com/books?id=bVdxXN_vVGEC&q=at+least+seven+basic+affective+systems|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Multi-dimensional analysis theory ===
[[File:Geneva Emotion Wheel - English.png|alt=Sorting emotions into unpleasant-pleasant and activated-calm.|thumb|330px|Two dimensions of emotions, made accessible for practical use<ref>{{citation|last1=Scherer|first1=Klaus R.|title=The GRID meets the Wheel: Assessing emotional feeling via self-report1|year=2013|work=Components of Emotional Meaning|pages=281–298|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199592746|last2=Shuman|first2=Vera|last3=Fontaine|first3=Johnny R. J.|last4=Soriano|first4=Cristina|doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199592746.003.0019|url=https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:97384|access-date=20 December 2019|archive-date=29 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129140826/https://archive-ouverte.unige.ch/unige:97384|url-status=live}}</ref>]]

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.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Measurement of Meaning|last1=Osgood|first1=Charles Egerton|last2=Suci|first2=George J.|last3=Tannenbaum|first3=Percy H.|name-list-style=vanc|date=1957|publisher=University of Illinois Press|isbn=978-0252745393|location=Urbana, Illinois}}{{page needed|date=July 2021}}</ref> Often, the first two dimensions uncovered by factor analysis are [[valence (psychology)|valence]] (how negative or positive the experience feels) and [[arousal]] (how energized or enervated the experience feels). These two dimensions can be depicted on a 2D coordinate map.<ref name="Schacter" /> This two-dimensional map has been theorized to capture one important component of emotion called [[theory of constructed emotion#Core affect|core affect]].<ref name="Barrett and Russell">{{cite journal|vauthors=Russell JA, Barrett LF|title=Core affect, prototypical emotional episodes, and other things called emotion: dissecting the elephant|journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology|volume=76|issue=5|pages=805–819|date=May 1999|pmid=10353204|doi=10.1037/0022-3514.76.5.805 }}</ref><ref name="Russell 2003">{{cite journal|vauthors=Russell JA|title=Core affect and the psychological construction of emotion|journal=Psychological Review|volume=110|issue=1|pages=145–172|date=January 2003|pmid=12529060|doi=10.1037/0033-295X.110.1.145|citeseerx=10.1.1.320.6245 |s2cid=2890641 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite journal| vauthors=Cowen AS, Keltner D|title=Self-report captures 27 distinct categories of emotion bridged by continuous gradients|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=114|number=38|pages=E7900–7909|year=2017|doi=10.1073/pnas.1702247114|doi-access=free|publisher=National Academy of Sciences|pmid=28874542|pmc=5617253|bibcode=2017PNAS..114E7900C |issn=0027-8424}}</ref>

== Theories<span class="anchor" id="Theory"></span> ==
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{{see also|Functional accounts of emotion}}

=== Pre-modern history ===
In Hinduism, [[Bharata Muni]] enunciated 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.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |title=Natyashastra |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780195399318/obo-9780195399318-0071.xml |access-date=2024-05-23 |website=obo |language=en}}</ref> The theory of [[Rasa (aesthetics)|rasas]] still forms the [[Aesthetics|aesthetic]] underpinning of all Indian classical dance and theatre, such as [[Bharatanatyam]], [[kathak]], [[Kuchipudi]], [[Odissi]], [[Manipuri dance|Manipuri]], [[Kudiyattam]], [[Kathakali]] and others.<ref name=":2" /> [[Bharata Muni]] established the following: [[Srungara|Śṛṅgāraḥ]] (शृङ्गारः): Romance / Love / attractiveness, [[Hāsya|Hāsyam]] (हास्यं): Laughter / mirth / comedy, Raudram (रौद्रं): Fury / Anger, [[Karuṇā|Kāruṇyam]] (कारुण्यं): Compassion / mercy, Bībhatsam (बीभत्सं): Disgust / aversion, [[Bhayānaka|Bhayānakam]] (भयानकं): Horror / terror, Veeram (वीरं): Pride / Heroism, Adbhutam (अद्भुतं): Surprise / wonder.<ref>{{Cite book |title=A rasa reader: classical Indian aesthetics |date=2016 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-17390-2 |editor-last=Pollock |editor-first=Sheldon I. |series=Historical sourcebooks in classical Indian thought |location=New York}}</ref>

In [[Buddhism]], emotions occur when an object is considered attractive or repulsive. There 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.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Psychology of Emotions in Buddhist Perspective|vauthors=de Silva P|year=1976|url=https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/desilva-p/wheel237.html|access-date=3 August 2020|archive-date=9 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109030102/https://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/desilva-p/wheel237.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In [[Stoicism|Stoic]] theories, normal emotions (like delight and fear) are described as irrational impulses that come from incorrect appraisals of what 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'.<ref>{{cite book|last=Arius Didymus|title="Epitome of Stoic Ethics" in the Anthology of Stobaeus|at=Book 2. Chapter 7. Section 10|url=https://www.stoictherapy.com/elibrary-epitome#10|access-date=18 January 2021|archive-date=18 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118014519/https://www.stoictherapy.com/elibrary-epitome#10|url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Cicero|title=Tusculan Disputations|at=Book 4. Section 6|url=http://www.john-uebersax.com/plato/passions.htm|access-date=18 January 2021|archive-date=14 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414123551/http://www.john-uebersax.com/plato/passions.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Aristotle]] believed that emotions were an essential component of [[virtue]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Aristotle|title=Nicomachean Ethics|at=Book 2. Chapter 6|url=http://www.constitution.org/ari/ethic_02.htm#2.6|access-date=5 February 2013|archive-date=29 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121029104527/http://www.constitution.org/ari/ethic_02.htm#2.6|url-status=live}}</ref> In the Aristotelian view all emotions (called passions) corresponded to appetites or capacities. During the [[Middle Ages]], the Aristotelian view was adopted and further developed by [[scholasticism]] and [[Thomas Aquinas]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Aquinas|first=Thomas|name-list-style=vanc|title=Summa Theologica|at=Q.59, Art.2|url=http://www.newadvent.org/summa/2059.htm|access-date=5 February 2013|archive-date=27 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127221643/http://newadvent.org/summa/2059.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> in particular.

In Chinese antiquity, excessive emotion was believed to cause damage to ''[[qi]]'', which in turn, damages the vital organs.<ref name="Suchy 2011">{{cite book|last=Suchy|first=Yana|name-list-style=vanc|title=Clinical neuropsychology of emotion|year=2011|publisher=Guilford|location=New York}}</ref> The [[humorism|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 the influence of emotions on health and behaviors, suggesting the need to manage emotions.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Haque|first=Amber|s2cid=38740431|name-list-style=vanc|date=2004|title=Psychology from Islamic Perspective: Contributions of Early Muslim Scholars and Challenges to Contemporary Muslim Psychologists|jstor=27512819|journal=Journal of Religion and Health|volume=43|issue=4|pages=357–377|doi=10.1007/s10943-004-4302-z}}</ref>

Early modern views on emotion are developed in the works of philosophers such as [[René Descartes]], [[Niccolò Machiavelli]], [[Baruch Spinoza]],<ref>See for instance Antonio Damasio (2005) ''Looking for Spinoza''.{{ISBN?}}{{page?|date=May 2023}}</ref> [[Thomas Hobbes]]<ref>Leviathan (1651), VI: Of the Interior Beginnings of Voluntary Notions, Commonly called the Passions; and the Speeches by which They are Expressed</ref> and [[David Hume]]. In the 19th century emotions were considered adaptive and were studied more frequently from an [[empiricism|empiricist]] psychiatric perspective.

=== Western theological ===
Christian perspective on emotion presupposes 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 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.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Roberts |first1=Robert |title=Emotions in the Christian Tradition |url=https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/emotion-Christian-tradition/ |website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=Department of Philosophy, Stanford University |access-date=10 June 2022 |date=10 March 2021 |archive-date=10 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610090841/https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/emotion-Christian-tradition/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=Robert |title=Spiritual Emotions: A Psychology of Christian Virtues |date=2007 |publisher=Eerdmans Publishing Company |isbn=978-0802827401 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L-l40X8-S5AC |access-date=10 June 2022 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730080615/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Spiritual_Emotions/L-l40X8-S5AC |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Evolutionary theories ===
{{main|Evolution of emotion|Evolutionary psychology}}
[[File:Expression of the Emotions Figure 15.png|thumb|Illustration from [[Charles Darwin]]'s ''[[The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals]]'' (1872)]]

==== 19th century ====
Perspectives on emotions from evolutionary theory were initiated during the mid-late 19th century with [[Charles Darwin]]'s 1872 book ''[[The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals]]''.<ref>Darwin, Charles (1872). ''The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals''. Note: This book was originally published in 1872, but has been reprinted many times thereafter by different publishers</ref> Darwin argued that emotions served no evolved purpose for humans, neither in communication, nor in aiding survival.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Hess|first1=Ursula|last2=Thibault|s2cid=31276371|title=Darwin & Emotion Expression|date=2009|department=The Principle of Serviceable Habits|journal=American Psychologist|volume=64|issue=2|pages=120–128|doi=10.1037/a0013386|pmid=19203144|quote=for most emotion expressions, Darwin insisted that they were functional in the past or were functional in animals but not in humans.}}</ref> 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 [[emotion in animals|occur in animals]]. This led the way for animal research on emotions and the eventual determination of the neural underpinnings of emotion.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

==== Contemporary ====
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.<ref name="Gaulin 6">Gaulin, Steven J.C. and Donald H. McBurney (2003). ''Evolutionary Psychology''. Prentice Hall. {{ISBN|978-0131115293}}, Chapter 6, pp. 121–142.</ref> Emotion is an essential part of any human decision-making and planning, and the famous distinction made between reason and emotion is not as clear as it seems.<ref name="pmid25251484">{{cite journal|vauthors=Lerner JS, Li Y, Valdesolo P, Kassam KS|title=Emotion and decision making|journal=[[Annual Review of Psychology]]|volume=66|pages=799–823|date=January 2015|pmid=25251484|doi=10.1146/annurev-psych-010213-115043|s2cid=5622279 |url=https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/jenniferlerner/files/annual_review_manuscript_june_16_final.final_.pdf|access-date=8 July 2019|archive-date=17 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717154321/https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/jenniferlerner/files/annual_review_manuscript_june_16_final.final_.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> 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 a subject with [[ventromedial prefrontal cortex|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.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Damásio|first1= António |title= Descartes' Error: Emotion, Reason, and the Human Brain |date= 1994 |publisher=Putnam |isbn=0-399-13894-3|author1-link=António Damásio}}</ref> Research on physiological emotion has caused modern neuroscience to abandon the model of emotions and rationality as opposing forces. In contrast to the ancient Greek ideal of dispassionate reason, the neuroscience of emotion shows that emotion is necessarily integrated with intellect.<ref>{{cite book|last1=de Waal |first1= Frans |title=Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves|date= 2019|isbn=978-0-393-63506-5|publisher=W.W. Norton|location=New York |author1-link=Frans de Waal}}</ref>

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.<ref name="Gaulin 6"/> Shame and pride can motivate behaviors that help one maintain one's standing in a community, and self-esteem is one's estimate of one's status.<ref name="Gaulin 6"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Wright |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Wright (journalist) |title=The Moral Animal |title-link=The Moral Animal |year=1994 |isbn=0-679-76399-6 |oclc=33496013 |publisher=Vintage Books}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=March 2023}}

=== Somatic theories ===
[[Somatic marker hypothesis|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]],<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Cacioppo JT|year=1998|title=Somatic responses to psychological stress: The reactivity hypothesis|journal=Advances in Psychological Science|volume=2|pages=87–114 }}</ref> [[Antonio Damasio]],<ref name="pmid18472250">{{cite journal|vauthors=Aziz-Zadeh L, Damasio A|s2cid=44371175|title=Embodied semantics for actions: findings from functional brain imaging|journal=Journal of Physiology, Paris|volume=102|issue=1–3|pages=35–39|date=2008|pmid=18472250|doi=10.1016/j.jphysparis.2008.03.012 }}</ref> [[Joseph E. LeDoux]]<ref>LeDoux J.E. (1996) ''The Emotional Brain''. New York: Simon & Schuster.</ref> and [[Robert Zajonc]]<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=McIntosh DN, Zajonc RB, Vig PB, Emerick SW|year=1997|title=Facial movement, breathing, temperature, and affect: Implications of the vascular theory of emotional efference|journal=Cognition & Emotion|volume=11|issue=2|pages=171–95|doi=10.1080/026999397379980}}</ref> who are able to appeal to neurological evidence.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Pace-Schott EF, Amole MC, Aue T, Balconi M, Bylsma LM, Critchley H, Demaree HA, Friedman BH, Gooding AE, Gosseries O, Jovanovic T, Kirby LA, Kozlowska K, Laureys S, Lowe L, Magee K, Marin MF, Merner AR, Robinson JL, Smith RC, Spangler DP, Van Overveld M, VanElzakker MB|display-authors=6|title=Physiological feelings|journal=Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews|volume=103|pages=267–304|date=August 2019|pmid=31125635|doi=10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.05.002|quote=Currently the predominant opinion is that somatovisceral and central nervous responses associated with an emotion serve to prepare situationally adaptive behavioral responses.|department=Theories of emotion & physiology|doi-access=free |hdl=10919/100456|hdl-access=free}}</ref>

==== James–Lange theory ====
{{main|James–Lange theory}}
[[File:James-Lange Theory of Emotion.png|thumb|357x357px|Simplified graph of [[James–Lange theory|James-Lange Theory of Emotion]]]]
In his 1884 article<ref name="James">{{cite journal|last1=James|first1=William|name-list-style=vanc|author-link=William James|year=1884|title=What Is an Emotion?|url=http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/James/emotion.htm|journal=[[Mind (journal)|Mind]]|volume=9|issue=34|pages=188–205|doi=10.1093/mind/os-ix.34.188|access-date=4 April 2011|archive-date=20 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920164538/http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/James/emotion.htm|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref> [[William James]] argued that feelings and emotions were ''secondary'' to [[physiology|physiological]] phenomena. In his theory, James proposed that the perception of what he called an "exciting fact" directly led to a physiological response, known as "emotion".<ref>{{cite book|last=Carlson|first=Neil|name-list-style=vanc|title=Physiology of Behavior|publisher=Pearson|series=Emotion|volume=11th edition|year=2012|page=388|isbn=978-0205239399}}</ref> 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 (physician)|Carl Lange]] also proposed a similar theory at around the same time, and therefore this theory became known as 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".<ref name=James/>

An example of this theory in action would be as follows: An emotion-evoking stimulus (snake) triggers 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.<ref name="Laird">Laird, James, ''Feelings: the Perception of Self'', Oxford University Press</ref> 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 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).<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Reisenzein R|year=1995|title=James and the physical basis of emotion: A comment on Ellsworth|journal=Psychological Review|volume=102|issue=4|pages=757–761|doi=10.1037/0033-295X.102.4.757 }}</ref>

Although mostly abandoned in its original form, Tim Dalgleish argues that most contemporary neuroscientists have embraced the components of the James-Lange theory of emotions.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Dalgleish T|s2cid=148864726|year=2004|title=The emotional brain|journal=Nature Reviews Neuroscience|volume=5|issue=7|pages=582–589|doi=10.1038/nrn1432|pmid=15208700 }}</ref>

{{blockquote|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 the experience of emotion. (p. 583)}}

==== Cannon–Bard theory ====
{{main|Cannon–Bard theory}}
[[Walter Bradford Cannon]] agreed that physiological responses played a crucial role in emotions, but did not believe that physiological responses alone could explain [[subjectivity|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.<ref>{{cite book|last=Carlson|first=Neil|name-list-style=vanc|title=Physiology of Behavior|publisher=Pearson|series=Emotion|edition=11th|year=2012|page=389|isbn=978-0205239399}}</ref> He also believed that the richness, variety, and temporal course of emotional experiences could not stem from physiological reactions, that reflected fairly undifferentiated fight or flight responses.<ref name="Cannon 1929 399–421">{{cite journal|last=Cannon|first=Walter B.|name-list-style=vanc|title=Organization for Physiological Homeostasis|journal=Physiological Reviews|year=1929|volume=9|issue=3|pages=399–421|doi=10.1152/physrev.1929.9.3.399|s2cid=87128623 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Cannon|first=Walter B.|name-list-style=vanc|title=The James-Lange theory of emotion: A critical examination and an alternative theory.|journal=The American Journal of Psychology|year=1927|volume=39|issue=1/4|pages=106–124|doi=10.2307/1415404|jstor=1415404|s2cid=27900216 }}</ref> 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 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.<ref name="Cannon 1929 399–421"/>

==== Two-factor theory ====
{{main|Two-factor theory of emotion}}
[[Stanley Schachter]] formulated his theory on the earlier work of a Spanish physician, [[Gregorio Marañón]], who injected patients with [[adrenaline|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 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 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.<ref name="Schacter" /> With his student, [[Jerome E. Singer|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 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''.<ref name="Prinz2004">{{cite book|last=Prinz|first=Jesse J.|title=Gut Reactions: A Perceptual Theory of Emotion|year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0195348590}}{{page needed|date=October 2022}}</ref>

=== Cognitive theories ===
With the two-factor theory now incorporating cognition, several theories began to argue that cognitive activity in 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:

# The role of [[cognitive appraisal]]s in evaluating the significance of events.
# The subjectivity of emotions and the influence of individual differences.
# The cognitive labeling of emotional experiences.
# The complexity of emotional responses, influenced by cognitive processes, physiological reactions, and situational factors.

These theories acknowledge that emotions are not automatic reactions but result from the interplay of cognitive interpretations, physiological responses, and the social context. A prominent philosophical exponent is [[Robert C. Solomon]] (for example, ''The Passions, Emotions and the Meaning of Life'', 1993<ref>{{cite book |last=Solomon |first=Robert C. |url=https://archive.org/details/passions00robe |title=The Passions: Emotions and the Meaning of Life |publisher=Hackett Publishing |year=1993 |isbn=0872202267 |location=Indianapolis |url-access=registration}}</ref>). 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.

==== Cognitive Appraisal Theory ====
One of 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:
# '''Cognitive appraisal''': The individual assesses the event cognitively, which cues the emotion.
# '''Physiological changes''': The cognitive reaction starts biological changes such as increased heart rate or pituitary adrenal response.
# '''Action''': The individual feels the emotion and chooses how to react.

For example: Jenny sees a snake.
# Jenny cognitively assesses the snake in her presence. Cognition allows her to understand it as a danger.
# Her brain activates the adrenal glands which pump adrenalin through her blood stream, resulting in increased heartbeat.
# Jenny screams and runs away.

Lazarus stressed that the quality and intensity of emotions are controlled through cognitive processes. These processes underline [[coping strategies]] that form the emotional reaction by altering the relationship between the person and the environment.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

==== Two-Process Theory ====
[[George Mandler]] provided an extensive theoretical and empirical discussion of emotion as influenced by cognition, consciousness, and the autonomic nervous system in two books (''Mind and Emotion'', 1975,<ref>{{cite book|last=Mandler|first=George|title=Mind and Emotion|year=1975|publisher=R.E. Krieger Publishing Company|location=Malabar|isbn=978-0898743500}}</ref> and ''Mind and Body: Psychology of Emotion and Stress'', 1984<ref>{{cite book|last=Mandler|first=George|title=Mind and Body: Psychology of Emotion and Stress|year=1984|publisher=W.W. Norton|location=New York|oclc=797330039}}</ref>)

George Mandler, a prominent psychologist known for his contributions to the study of cognition and emotion, proposed the "Two-Process Theory of Emotion". This theory offers insights into how emotions are generated and how cognitive processes play a role in emotional experiences. Mandler's theory focuses on the interplay between primary and secondary appraisal processes in the formation of emotions. Here are the key components of his theory:

# '''Primary Appraisal''': This initial cognitive appraisal involves evaluating a situation for its relevance and implications for one's well-being. It assesses whether a situation is beneficial, harmful, or neutral. A positive primary appraisal may lead to positive emotions, while a negative primary appraisal may lead to negative emotions.
# '''Secondary Appraisal''': Secondary appraisal follows the primary appraisal and involves an assessment of one's ability to cope with or manage the situation. If an individual believes they have the resources and skills to cope effectively, this may result in a different emotional response than if they perceive themselves as unable to cope.
# '''Emotion Generation''': The combination of the primary and secondary appraisals contributes to the generation of emotions. The specific emotion experienced is determined by these appraisals. For instance, if a person appraises a situation as relevant to their well-being (positive or negative) and believes they have the resources to cope, this might lead to an emotion such as joy or relief. Conversely, if the situation is appraised negatively, and coping resources are perceived as lacking, emotions like fear or sadness may result.

Mandler's Two-Process Theory of Emotion emphasizes the importance of cognitive appraisal processes in shaping emotional experiences. It recognizes that emotions are not just automatic reactions but result from complex evaluations of the significance of situations and one's ability to manage them effectively. This theory underscores the role of cognition in the emotional process and highlights the interplay of cognitive factors in the formation of emotions.

==== The [[Affect infusion model|Affect Infusion Model]] (AIM) ====
The Affect Infusion Model (AIM) is a psychological framework that was developed by Joseph Forgas in the 1990s. This model focuses on how affect, or mood and emotions, can influence cognitive processes and decision-making. The central idea of the AIM is that affect, whether it is a positive or negative mood, can "infuse" or influence various cognitive activities, including information processing and judgments.

Key components and principles of the Affect Infusion Model include:

# '''Affect as Information''': The AIM posits that individuals use their current mood or emotional state as a source of information when making judgments or decisions. In other words, people consider their emotional experiences as part of the decision-making process.
# '''Information Processing Strategies''': The model suggests that affect can influence the strategies people use to process information. Positive affect might lead to a more heuristic or "top-down" processing style, whereas negative affect might lead to a more systematic, detail-oriented "bottom-up" processing style.
# '''Affect Congruence''': The AIM suggests that when the affective state is congruent with the information being processed, it can enhance processing efficiency and lead to more favorable judgments. For example, a positive mood might lead to more positive evaluations of positive information.
# '''Affect Infusion''': The concept of "affect infusion" refers to the idea that affect can "infuse" or bias cognitive processes, potentially leading to decision-making that is influenced by emotional factors.
# '''Moderating Factors''': The model acknowledges that various factors, such as individual differences, task complexity, and the extent of attention paid to one's mood, can moderate the degree to which affect influences cognition.

The Affect Infusion Model has been applied to a wide range of areas, including consumer behavior, social judgment, and interpersonal interactions. It emphasizes the idea that emotions and mood play a more significant role in cognitive processes and decision-making than traditionally thought. While it has been influential in understanding the interplay between affect and cognition, it is important to note that the AIM is just one of several models in the field of emotion and cognition that help explain the intricate relationship between emotions and thinking.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

==== Appraisal-Tendency Theory ====
The Appraisal-Tendency Theory,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lerner |first1=Jennifer S. |last2=Han |first2=Seunghee |last3=Keltner |first3=Dacher |date=July 2007 |title=Feelings and Consumer Decision Making: Extending the Appraisal-Tendency Framework |url=https://myscp.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1016/S1057-7408%2807%2970027-X |journal=Journal of Consumer Psychology |language=en |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=181–187 |doi=10.1016/S1057-7408(07)70027-X |issn=1057-7408|url-access=subscription }}</ref> developed by Joseph P. Forgas, is a theory that focuses on how people have dispositional tendencies to appraise and interpret situations in specific ways, leading to consistent emotional reactions to particular types of situations. This theory suggests that certain individuals may have stable, habitual patterns of appraising and attributing emotional significance to events, and these tendencies can influence their emotional responses and judgments.

Key features and concepts of the Appraisal-Tendency Theory include:

# '''Cognitive Appraisals''': Appraisal tendencies refer to the habitual or characteristic ways that individuals appraise or evaluate situations. Appraisals involve cognitive judgments about the personal relevance, desirability, and significance of events or situations.
# '''Stable and Individual Differences''': The theory posits that these appraisal tendencies are stable and relatively consistent across time. They are also seen as individual differences, meaning that people may differ in the specific appraisal tendencies they exhibit.
# '''Emotional Responses''': Appraisal tendencies influence emotional responses to situations. For instance, individuals with a tendency to appraise situations as threatening may consistently experience fear or anxiety in response to a range of situations perceived as threats.
# '''Influence on Social Judgments''': The theory extends beyond emotions to include the impact of appraisal tendencies on social judgments and evaluations. For example, individuals with a tendency to perceive events as unfair may make consistent social judgments related to fairness and justice.
# '''Context Dependence''': Appraisal tendencies may interact with situational factors. In some situations, the tendency to appraise a situation as threatening, for instance, may lead to fear, while in different contexts, it may not produce the same emotional response.

Appraisal-Tendency Theory suggests that these cognitive tendencies can shape an individual's overall emotional disposition, influencing their emotional reactions and social judgments. This theory has been applied in various contexts, including studies of personality, social psychology, and decision-making, to better understand how cognitive appraisal tendencies influence emotional and evaluative responses.

==== Laws of Emotion ====
[[Nico Frijda]] was a prominent psychologist known for his work in the field of emotion and affective science. One of the key contributions of Frijda are his "Laws of Emotion",<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Haviland-Jones |first1=Jeannette M. |title=Handbook of emotions |last2=Lewis |first2=Michael |last3=Barrett |first3=Lisa Feldman |date=2016 |publisher=Guilford press |isbn=978-1-4625-2534-8 |edition=4 |location=New York (N.Y.)}}</ref> which outline a set of principles that help explain how emotions function and how they are experienced. Frijda's Laws of Emotion are as follows:

# '''The Law of Situational Meaning''': This law posits that emotions are elicited by events or situations that have personal significance and meaning for the individual. Emotions are not random but are a response to the perceived meaning of the situation.
# '''The Law of Concern''': Frijda suggests that emotions are fundamentally concerned with the individual's well-being and adaptation. Emotions serve as signals or reactions to situations that impact one's goals, needs, or values.
# '''The Law of Appraisal''': This law acknowledges the role of cognitive appraisal processes in the emotional experience. Individuals appraise or evaluate a situation based on factors such as its relevance, congruence with goals, and coping potential, which in turn shapes the specific emotional response.
# '''The Law of Readiness''': Frijda's theory suggests that emotions prepare individuals for action. Emotions are associated with physiological changes and action tendencies that ready the individual to respond to the situation. For example, fear may prepare someone to escape a threat.
# '''The Law of Concerned Expectancy''': Emotions are influenced by both what is happening now and what is anticipated to occur in the future. Emotions can reflect an individual's expectations about the consequences of a situation.

Frijda's theory emphasizes the adaptive function of emotions and the role of cognitive appraisal in shaping emotional experiences. It highlights that emotions are not simply reactions to external events but are intimately tied to the individual's goals, values, and perceptions of the situation's meaning. Frijda's work has had a significant influence on the study of emotions and has contributed to a more comprehensive understanding of how emotions operate.

=== Emotion Attribution Theory ===
[[Jesse Prinz]] is a contemporary philosopher and cognitive scientist who has contributed to the field of emotion theory. One of his influential theories is the "Emotion Attribution Theory",<ref>{{Cite book |last=Prinz |first=Jesse J. |title=Gut reactions: a perceptual theory of emotion |date=2006 |publisher=Oxford university press |isbn=978-0-19-530936-2 |series=Philosophy of mind series |location=Oxford}}</ref> which provides a perspective on how people recognize and understand emotions in themselves and others.

Emotion Attribution Theory, proposed by Jesse Prinz, focuses on the role of emotion attributions in the experience and understanding of emotions. Key ideas and components of Prinz's theory include:

# '''Emotion Attribution''': Prinz suggests that emotions are recognized through a process of attributing specific emotional states to oneself and others based on observed or perceived cues. These cues can include facial expressions, body language, vocal tone, and context.
# '''Basic Emotions''': Prinz's theory is associated with the idea of basic emotions, which are a limited set of universal and biologically driven emotional states. He argues that attributions of basic emotions are part of human cognitive architecture and that these attributions are made automatically and rapidly.
# '''Social and Cultural Influence''': While basic emotions are seen as universal, Prinz acknowledges the role of social and cultural factors in shaping how emotions are expressed and interpreted. Culture can influence the display rules for emotions and how emotions are perceived in various contexts.
# '''Emotion and Moral Evaluation''': Prinz's theory also explores the connection between emotions and moral evaluation. He suggests that emotions are linked to our moral judgments and evaluations of actions and events. Emotion attributions are crucial in the moral assessment of others' behaviors.

Overall, Prinz's Emotion Attribution Theory emphasizes the role of attributions in the recognition and understanding of emotions. It highlights the automatic and cognitive processes involved in identifying and interpreting emotional states in oneself and others. This theory has implications for fields such as psychology, philosophy, and cognitive science and contributes to our understanding of the social and cultural aspects of emotions.

=== Affective Events Theory (AET) ===
The [[Affective events theory|Affective Events Theory]] (AET)<ref>Weiss HM, Cropanzano R. (1996). Affective events theory: a theoretical discussion of the structure, causes and consequences of affective experiences at work. ''Research in Organizational Behavior'' 8: 1±74</ref> is a psychological theory that focuses on the role of workplace events in shaping employees' emotions, attitudes, and behaviors in the context of their job. This theory was developed by organizational psychologists Howard M. Weiss and Russell Cropanzano in the late 1990s. AET primarily concerns itself with how emotional experiences at work can impact job satisfaction, performance, and other outcomes.

Key concepts and principles of the Affective Events Theory include:

# '''Affective Events''': AET centers on "affective events", which are specific events or occurrences in the workplace that trigger emotional responses in employees. These events can be positive (e.g., receiving praise or a promotion) or negative (e.g., conflicts with coworkers or work-related stressors).
# '''Emotion Generation''': The theory suggests that these affective events generate emotions in employees. These emotions can be either discrete (specific emotions like happiness, anger, or sadness) or general mood states (e.g., feeling generally positive or negative).
# '''Emotion-Driven Outcomes''': AET posits that emotions generated by affective events at work have consequences for employee attitudes and behaviors. For example, positive emotions may lead to increased job satisfaction, improved performance, and greater commitment to the organization, while negative emotions might result in reduced job satisfaction and increased turnover intentions.
# '''Moderating Factors''': AET recognizes that individual and situational factors can moderate the relationship between affective events and outcomes. Personal characteristics, job roles, and organizational culture can influence how employees respond to affective events.
# '''Feedback Loop''': The theory also suggests that there can be a feedback loop where the emotional reactions of employees influence their perceptions of subsequent events. In other words, an employee's emotional state may color their perception of future events and experiences in the workplace.
# '''Time Lag''': AET acknowledges that the effects of affective events may not be immediate and can manifest over time. The theory allows for the consideration of both short-term and long-term emotional influences on employees.

AET has been influential in the field of organizational psychology and has helped shed light on how workplace events can have a significant impact on employee well-being and organizational outcomes. It highlights the importance of understanding and managing the emotional experiences of employees in the context of their work.

=== Situated perspective on emotion ===
A situated perspective on emotion, developed by Paul E. Griffiths and Andrea Scarantino, emphasizes the importance of external factors in the development and communication of emotion, drawing upon the [[situationism (psychology)|situationism]] approach in psychology.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/2448/ |last1=Griffiths |first1=Paul Edmund |last2=Scarantino |first2=Andrea |year=2009 |chapter=Emotions in the wild: The situated perspective on emotion |isbn=978-0-521-61286-9 |title=The Cambridge Handbook of Situated Cognition |publisher=Cambridge University Press |editor-first1=Murat |editor-last1=Aydede |editor-first2=Philip |editor-last2=Robbins |access-date=7 March 2023 |archive-date=6 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706042455/http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/2448/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This theory is markedly different from both cognitivist and neo-Jamesian theories of emotion, both of which see emotion as a purely internal process, with the environment only acting as a stimulus to the emotion. In contrast, a situationist perspective on emotion views emotion as the product of an organism investigating its environment, and observing the responses of other organisms. Emotion stimulates the evolution of social relationships, acting as a signal to mediate the behavior of other organisms. In some contexts, the expression of emotion (both voluntary and involuntary) could be seen as strategic moves in the transactions between different organisms. The situated perspective on emotion states that conceptual thought is not an inherent part of emotion, since emotion is an action-oriented form of skillful engagement with the world. Griffiths and Scarantino suggested that this perspective on emotion could be helpful in understanding phobias, as well as the emotions of infants and animals.

=== Genetics ===
Emotions can motivate social interactions and relationships and therefore are directly related with basic [[physiology]], particularly with the [[stress (biology)|stress]] systems. This is important because emotions are related to the anti-stress complex, with an oxytocin-attachment system, which plays a major role in bonding. Emotional [[phenotype]] [[temperament]]s affect social connectedness and fitness in complex social systems.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kotrschal|first=Kurt|editor1-last=Watanabe|editor1-first=Shigeru|editor2-last=Kuczaj|editor2-first=Stan A.|title=Emotions of Animals and Humans: Comparative Perspectives|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y3-Tjx9yKZMC&pg=PA4|chapter=Emotions are at the core of individual social performance|date=2013|publisher=Springer Science+Business Media|isbn=978-4431541226|page=4|access-date=2019-07-08|quote=emotional phenotype ('temperament') affects social connectedness, 'social efficiency' and finally, fitness, in complex social systems.|archive-date=1 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801101620/https://books.google.com/books?id=y3-Tjx9yKZMC&pg=PA4|url-status=live}}</ref> These characteristics are shared with other species and taxa and are due to the effects of [[gene]]s and their continuous transmission. Information that is encoded in the DNA sequences provides the blueprint for assembling proteins that make up our cells. [[Zygote]]s require genetic information from their parental germ cells, and at every [[speciation]] event, heritable traits that have enabled its ancestor to survive and reproduce successfully are passed down along with new traits that could be potentially beneficial to the offspring.

In the five million years since the [[lineage (evolution)|lineage]]s leading to modern humans and [[pan (genus)|chimpanzee]]s split, only about 1.2% of their genetic material has been modified. This suggests that everything that separates us from chimpanzees must be encoded in that very small amount of DNA, including our behaviors. Students that study animal behaviors have only identified intraspecific examples of gene-dependent behavioral phenotypes. In [[vole]]s (Microtus spp.) minor genetic differences have been identified in a [[vasopressin receptor]] gene that corresponds to major species differences in [[social organization]] and the [[mating system]].<ref name="HammockYoung2005">{{cite journal |vauthors=Hammock EA, Young LJ |date=June 2005 |title=Microsatellite instability generates diversity in brain and sociobehavioral traits |journal=Science |volume=308 |issue=5728 |pages=1630–1634 |bibcode=2005Sci...308.1630H |doi=10.1126/science.1111427 |pmid=15947188 |s2cid=18899853}}</ref> Another potential example with behavioral differences is the [[FOXP2]] gene, which is involved in neural circuitry handling [[speech]] and [[language]].<ref name="Vargha-Khademetal2005">{{cite journal |vauthors=Vargha-Khadem F, Gadian DG, Copp A, Mishkin M |date=February 2005 |title=FOXP2 and the neuroanatomy of speech and language |journal=Nature Reviews. Neuroscience |volume=6 |issue=2 |pages=131–138 |doi=10.1038/nrn1605 |pmid=15685218 |s2cid=2504002}}</ref> Its present form in humans differed from that of the chimpanzees by only a few mutations and has been present for about 200,000 years, coinciding with the beginning of modern humans.<ref name="Enardetal2002">{{cite journal |vauthors=Enard W, Khaitovich P, Klose J, Zöllner S, Heissig F, Giavalisco P, Nieselt-Struwe K, Muchmore E, Varki A, Ravid R, Doxiadis GM, Bontrop RE, Pääbo S |date=April 2002 |title=Intra- and interspecific variation in primate gene expression patterns |journal=Science |volume=296 |issue=5566 |pages=340–343 |bibcode=2002Sci...296..340E |doi=10.1126/science.1068996 |pmid=11951044 |s2cid=17564509}}</ref> Speech, language, and social organization are all part of the basis for emotions.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lindquist |first1=Kristen A. |last2=MacCormack |first2=Jennifer K. |last3=Shablack |first3=Holly |date=2015 |title=The role of language in emotion: predictions from psychological constructionism |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |volume=6 |pages=444 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00444 |doi-access=free |issn=1664-1078 |pmc=4396134 |pmid=25926809}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-03-27 |title=Emotion - Social Structures, Physiology, Psychology {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/emotion/Social-structures-of-emotion |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>

== Formation ==
[[File:Timeline of brain models of emotion.svg|thumb|250x250px|Timeline of some of the most prominent brain models of emotion in [[affective neuroscience]]]]

=== Neurobiological explanation ===
Based on discoveries made through neural mapping of the [[limbic system]], the [[neuroscience|neurobiological]] explanation of human emotion is that emotion is a pleasant or unpleasant mental state organized in the limbic system of the mammalian [[brain]]. If distinguished from reactive responses of [[reptile]]s, emotions would then be mammalian elaborations of general [[vertebrate]] arousal patterns, in which [[neurochemical]]s (for example, [[dopamine]], [[norepinephrine|noradrenaline]], and [[serotonin]]) step-up or step-down the brain's activity level, as visible in body movements, gestures and postures. Emotions can likely be mediated by [[pheromone]]s (see [[fear]]).<ref name="Givens">{{cite web|last=Givens|first=David B.|name-list-style=vanc|title=Emotion|url=http://center-for-nonverbal-studies.org/htdocs/emotion.htm|work=Center for Nonverbal Studies|access-date=7 May 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140523192511/http://center-for-nonverbal-studies.org/emotion.htm|archive-date=23 May 2014 }}</ref>

For example, the emotion of [[love]] is proposed to be the expression of complex [[Neural network (biology)|neural networks]] of the mammalian brain, involving the [[ventral tegmental area]], [[thalamus]], [[substantia nigra]], [[putamen]], [[caudate nucleus]], and [[anterior cingulate cortex]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shih |first1=Hsuan-Chu |last2=Kuo |first2=Mu-En |last3=Wu |first3=Changwei W. |last4=Chao |first4=Yi-Ping |last5=Huang |first5=Hsu-Wen |last6=Huang |first6=Chih-Mao |date=2022-06-26 |title=The Neurobiological Basis of Love: A Meta-Analysis of Human Functional Neuroimaging Studies of Maternal and Passionate Love |journal=Brain Sciences |volume=12 |issue=7 |pages=830 |doi=10.3390/brainsci12070830 |doi-access=free |issn=2076-3425 |pmc=9313376 |pmid=35884637}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bartels |first1=A. |last2=Zeki |first2=S. |date=2000-11-27 |title=The neural basis of romantic love |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11117499 |journal=NeuroReport |volume=11 |issue=17 |pages=3829–3834 |doi=10.1097/00001756-200011270-00046 |issn=0959-4965 |pmid=11117499}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Song |first1=Hongwen |last2=Zou |first2=Zhiling |last3=Kou |first3=Juan |last4=Liu |first4=Yang |last5=Yang |first5=Lizhuang |last6=Zilverstand |first6=Anna |last7=d'Oleire Uquillas |first7=Federico |last8=Zhang |first8=Xiaochu |date=2015 |title=Love-related changes in the brain: a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study |journal=Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |volume=9 |pages=71 |doi=10.3389/fnhum.2015.00071 |doi-access=free |issn=1662-5161 |pmc=4327739 |pmid=25762915}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Acevedo |first1=Bianca P. |last2=Aron |first2=Arthur |last3=Fisher |first3=Helen E. |last4=Brown |first4=Lucy L. |date=February 2012 |title=Neural correlates of long-term intense romantic love |journal=Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=145–159 |doi=10.1093/scan/nsq092 |issn=1749-5024 |pmc=3277362 |pmid=21208991}}</ref>

Other emotions like fear and anxiety long thought to be exclusively generated by the most primitive parts of the brain (stem) and more associated to the fight-or-flight responses of behavior, have also been associated as adaptive expressions of defensive behavior whenever a threat is encountered. Although defensive behaviors have been present in a wide variety of species, Blanchard et al. (2001) discovered a correlation of given stimuli and situation that resulted in a similar pattern of defensive behavior towards a threat in human and non-human mammals.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Caroline Blanchard|first1=D|last2=Hynd|first2=April L|last3=Minke|first3=Karl A|last4=Minemoto|first4=Tiffanie|last5=Blanchard|first5=Robert J|s2cid=24732701|date=2001-12-01|title=Human defensive behaviors to threat scenarios show parallels to fear- and anxiety-related defense patterns of non-human mammals|url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763401000562|journal=Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews|language=en|volume=25|issue=7|pages=761–770|doi=10.1016/S0149-7634(01)00056-2|pmid=11801300|issn=0149-7634|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Whenever potentially dangerous stimuli are presented, additional brain structures activate that previous thought (hippocampus, thalamus, etc.). Thus, giving the amygdala an important role in coordinating the following behavioral input based on the presented neurotransmitters that respond to threat stimuli. These biological functions of the amygdala are not only limited to the "fear-conditioning" and "processing of aversive stimuli", but also are present on other components of the amygdala. Therefore, it can referred the amygdala as a key structure to understand the potential responses of behavior in danger like situations in human and non-human mammals.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Steimer|first=Thierry|date=2002|title=The biology of fear-and anxiety-related behaviors|journal=Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience|volume=4|issue=3|pages=231–249|doi=10.31887/DCNS.2002.4.3/tsteimer|pmid=22033741|pmc=3181681}}</ref>

The motor centers of [[reptile]]s react to sensory cues of vision, sound, touch, chemical, gravity, and motion with pre-set body movements and programmed postures. With the arrival of night-active [[mammal]]s, smell replaced vision as the dominant sense, and a different way of responding arose from the [[sense of smell|olfactory]] sense, which is proposed to have developed into [[mammal]]ian emotion and emotional memory. The mammalian brain invested heavily in [[sense of smell|olfaction]] to succeed at night as reptiles slept – one explanation for why olfactory lobes in mammalian brains are proportionally larger than in the reptiles. These odor pathways gradually formed the neural blueprint for what was later to become our limbic brain.<ref name="Givens"/>

Emotions are thought to be related to certain activities in brain areas that direct our attention, motivate our behavior, and determine the significance of what is going on around us. Pioneering work by [[Paul Broca]] (1878),<ref>{{cite journal|last=Broca|first=P.|title=Anatomie comparée des circonvolutions cérébrales: le grande lobe limbique et la scissure limbique dans la série des mammifères|journal=Rev Anthropol|year=1878|number=1|pages=385–498}}</ref> [[James Papez]] (1937),<ref>{{cite journal|title=A proposed mechanism of emotion. 1937 [classical article]|journal=The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences|volume=7|issue=1|year=1995|pages=103–112|issn=0895-0172|doi=10.1176/jnp.7.1.103|pmid=7711480|last1=Papez|first1=J. W.}}</ref> and [[Paul D. MacLean]] (1952)<ref>{{cite journal|first1=P.D.|last1=MacLean|title=Some psychiatric implications of physiological studies on frontotemporal portion of limbic system (visceral brain)|journal=Electroencephalography and Clinical Neurophysiology|year=1952|volume=4|issue=4|pages=407–418|pmid=12998590|doi=10.1016/0013-4694(52)90073-4 }}</ref> suggested that emotion is related to a group of structures in the center of the brain called the [[limbic system]], which includes the [[hypothalamus]], [[cingulate cortex]], [[hippocampus|hippocampi]], and other structures. More recent research has shown that some of these [[limbic system|limbic structure]]s are not as directly related to emotion as others are while some non-limbic structures have been found to be of greater emotional relevance.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pessoa |first=Luiz |date=May 2017 |title=A Network Model of the Emotional Brain |journal=Trends in Cognitive Sciences |volume=21 |issue=5 |pages=357–371 |doi=10.1016/j.tics.2017.03.002 |issn=1879-307X |pmc=5534266 |pmid=28363681}}</ref>

==== Prefrontal cortex ====
There is ample evidence that the left [[prefrontal cortex]] is activated by stimuli that cause positive approach.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Kringelbach ML, O'Doherty J, Rolls ET, Andrews C|title=Activation of the human orbitofrontal cortex to a liquid food stimulus is correlated with its subjective pleasantness|journal=Cerebral Cortex|volume=13|issue=10|pages=1064–1071|date=October 2003|pmid=12967923|doi=10.1093/cercor/13.10.1064|citeseerx=10.1.1.67.541 }}</ref> If attractive stimuli can selectively activate a region of the brain, then logically the converse should hold, that selective activation of that region of the brain should cause a stimulus to be judged more positively. This was demonstrated for moderately attractive visual stimuli<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Drake RA|year=1987|title=Effects of gaze manipulation on aesthetic judgments: Hemisphere priming of affect|journal=Acta Psychologica|volume=65|issue=2|pages=91–99|doi=10.1016/0001-6918(87)90020-5|pmid=3687478 }}</ref> and replicated and extended to include negative stimuli.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Merckelbach H, van Oppen P|title=Effects of gaze manipulation on subjective evaluation of neutral and phobia-relevant stimuli. A comment on Drake's (1987) 'Effects of Gaze Manipulation on Aesthetic Judgments: Hemisphere Priming of Affect'|journal=Acta Psychologica|volume=70|issue=2|pages=147–151|date=March 1989|pmid=2741709|doi=10.1016/0001-6918(89)90017-6 }}</ref>

Two neurobiological models of emotion in the prefrontal cortex made opposing predictions. The valence model predicted that anger, a [[negative emotion]], would activate the right prefrontal cortex. The direction model predicted that anger, an approach emotion, would activate the left prefrontal cortex. The second model was supported.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Harmon-Jones E, Vaughn-Scott K, Mohr S, Sigelman J, Harmon-Jones C|title=The effect of manipulated sympathy and anger on left and right frontal cortical activity|journal=Emotion|volume=4|issue=1|pages=95–101|date=March 2004|pmid=15053729|doi=10.1037/1528-3542.4.1.95 }}</ref>

This still left open the question of whether the opposite of approach in the prefrontal cortex is better described as moving away (direction model), as unmoving but with strength and resistance (movement model), or as unmoving with passive yielding (action tendency model). Support for the action tendency model (passivity related to right prefrontal activity) comes from research on shyness<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Schmidt LA|s2cid=145482474|year=1999|title=Frontal brain electrical activity in shyness and sociability|journal=Psychological Science|volume=10|issue=4|pages=316–320|doi=10.1111/1467-9280.00161}}</ref> and research on behavioral inhibition.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Táborský I, Dolník V|title=Physico-chemical properties of interferon produced by a mixed leukocyte suspension|journal=Acta Virologica|volume=21|issue=5|pages=359–364|date=September 1977|pmid=22229 }}</ref> Research that tested the competing hypotheses generated by all four models also supported the action tendency model.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Drake RA, Myers LR|s2cid=144134109|year=2006|title=Visual attention, emotion, and action tendency: Feeling active or passive|journal=Cognition and Emotion|volume=20|issue=5|pages=608–22|doi=10.1080/02699930500368105}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Wacker J, Chavanon ML, Leue A, Stemmler G|title=Is running away right? The behavioral activation-behavioral inhibition model of anterior asymmetry|journal=Emotion|volume=8|issue=2|pages=232–249|date=April 2008|pmid=18410197|doi=10.1037/1528-3542.8.2.232 }}</ref>

==== Homeostatic/primordial emotion<span class="anchor" id="Homeostatic emotion"></span> ====
Another neurological approach proposed by [[Arthur Craig|Bud Craig]] in 2003 distinguishes two classes of emotion: "classical" emotions such as love, anger and fear that are evoked by environmental stimuli, and "[[homeostatic feeling|homeostatic emotion]]s"{{snd}}attention-demanding feelings evoked by body states, such as pain, hunger and fatigue, that motivate behavior (withdrawal, eating or resting in these examples) aimed at maintaining the body's internal milieu at its ideal state.<ref name="Craig2003">{{cite journal|vauthors=Craig AD|s2cid=16369323|title=Interoception: the sense of the physiological condition of the body|journal=Current Opinion in Neurobiology|volume=13|issue=4|pages=500–555|date=August 2003|pmid=12965300|doi=10.1016/S0959-4388(03)00090-4|url=http://www.jsmf.org/meetings/2007/oct-nov/CONB%20Craig%202003.pdf|access-date=6 September 2009|archive-date=4 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190504070045/https://www.jsmf.org/meetings/2007/oct-nov/CONB%20Craig%202003.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Derek Denton]] calls the latter "primordial emotions" and defines them as "the subjective element of the instincts, which are the genetically programmed behavior patterns which contrive [[homeostasis]]. They include thirst, hunger for air, hunger for food, pain and hunger for specific minerals etc. There are two constituents of a primordial emotion – the specific sensation which when severe may be imperious, and the compelling intention for gratification by a consummatory act".<ref name="Denton2009">{{cite journal|vauthors=Denton DA, McKinley MJ, Farrell M, Egan GF|s2cid=14995914|title=The role of primordial emotions in the evolutionary origin of consciousness|journal=Consciousness and Cognition|volume=18|issue=2|pages=500–514|date=June 2009|pmid=18701321|doi=10.1016/j.concog.2008.06.009 }}</ref>

=== Emergent explanation ===
Emotions are seen by some researchers to be constructed (emerge) in social and cognitive domain alone, without directly implying [[Heredity|biologically inherited]] characteristics.

[[Joseph E. LeDoux|Joseph LeDoux]] differentiates between the human's defense system, which has evolved over time, and emotions such as fear and [[anxiety]]. He has said that the [[amygdala]] may release hormones due to a trigger (such as an innate reaction to seeing a snake), but "then we elaborate it through cognitive and conscious processes".<ref name="LeDoux" />

[[Lisa Feldman Barrett]] highlights differences in [[emotions and culture|emotions between different cultures]], and says that emotions (such as anxiety) are socially constructed (see [[theory of constructed emotion]]). She says that they "are not triggered; you create them. They emerge as a combination of the physical properties of your body, a flexible brain that wires itself to whatever environment it develops in, and your culture and upbringing, which provide that environment".<ref>{{cite book|last=Barrett |first=Lisa Feldman |author-link=Lisa Feldman Barrett |title=How Emotions Are Made |chapter=Introduction |publisher=Houghton Mifflin Harcourt |year=2017 |isbn=978-0544133310}}</ref> She has termed this approach the [[theory of constructed emotion]].

== Disciplinary approaches ==
Many different disciplines have produced work on the emotions. In [[psychiatry]], emotions are examined as part of the discipline's study and treatment of mental disorders in humans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kraiss |first1=Jannis T. |last2=ten Klooster |first2=Peter M. |last3=Moskowitz |first3=Judith T. |last4=Bohlmeijer |first4=Ernst T. |date=2020-10-01 |title=The relationship between emotion regulation and well-being in patients with mental disorders: A meta-analysis |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010440X20300316 |journal=Comprehensive Psychiatry |volume=102 |pages=152189 |doi=10.1016/j.comppsych.2020.152189 |pmid=32629064 |issn=0010-440X}}</ref> [[Nursing]] studies emotions as part of its approach to the provision of holistic health care to humans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ambushe |first1=Selamawit Ataro |last2=Awoke |first2=Nefsu |last3=Demissie |first3=Birhanu Wondimeneh |last4=Tekalign |first4=Tiwabwork |date=2023-10-18 |title=Holistic nursing care practice and associated factors among nurses in public hospitals of Wolaita zone, South Ethiopia |journal=BMC Nursing |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=390 |doi=10.1186/s12912-023-01517-0 |doi-access=free |issn=1472-6955 |pmc=10583383 |pmid=37853394}}</ref> [[Psychology]] examines emotions from a scientific perspective by treating them as mental processes and behavior and they explore the underlying physiological and neurological processes, e.g., [[cognitive behavioral therapy]]. In [[neuroscience]] sub-fields such as [[social neuroscience]] and [[affective neuroscience]], scientists study the neural mechanisms of emotion by combining neuroscience with the psychological study of personality, emotion, and mood.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://socialaffectiveneuro.org/#:~:text=What%20is%20Social%20and%20Affective,atypical%20social%20and%20affective%20outcomes. |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=Social Affective Neuroscience Society |language=en-US}}</ref> In [[linguistics]], the expression of emotion may change to the meaning of sounds.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lindquist |first=Kristen A. |date=2021 |title=Language and Emotion: Introduction to the Special Issue |journal=Affective Science |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=91–98 |doi=10.1007/s42761-021-00049-7 |issn=2662-205X |pmc=8144866 |pmid=34056621}}</ref> In [[education]], the role of emotions in relation to learning is examined.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Tan |first1=Jing |last2=Mao |first2=Jie |last3=Jiang |first3=Yizhang |last4=Gao |first4=Ming |date=2021-09-14 |title=The Influence of Academic Emotions on Learning Effects: A Systematic Review |journal=International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health |volume=18 |issue=18 |pages=9678 |doi=10.3390/ijerph18189678 |doi-access=free |issn=1660-4601 |pmc=8472431 |pmid=34574602}}</ref>

[[Social science]]s often examine emotion for the role that it plays in human culture and social interactions. In [[sociology]], emotions are examined for the role they play in human society, social patterns and interactions, and culture.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bericat |first=Eduardo |date=2016-05-01 |title=The sociology of emotions: Four decades of progress |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0011392115588355 |journal=Current Sociology |language=EN |volume=64 |issue=3 |pages=491–513 |doi=10.1177/0011392115588355 |issn=0011-3921|url-access=subscription }}</ref> In [[anthropology]], the study of humanity, scholars use ethnography to undertake contextual analyzes and cross-cultural comparisons of a range of human activities. Some anthropology studies examine the role of emotions in human activities.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Anthropology of Emotion |url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/document/obo-9780199766567/obo-9780199766567-0161.xml |access-date=2025-04-25 |website=Oxford Bibliography |language=en}}</ref> In the field of [[communication studies]], critical organizational scholars have examined the role of emotions in organizations, from the perspectives of managers, employees, and even customers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Yue |first1=Cen April |last2=Men |first2=Linjuan Rita |last3=Ferguson |first3=Mary Ann |date=March 2020 |title=Examining the Effects of Internal Communication and Emotional Culture on Employees' Organizational Identification |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/2329488420914066 |journal=International Journal of Business Communication |language=en |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=169–195 |doi=10.1177/2329488420914066 |issn=2329-4884|url-access=subscription }}</ref> A focus on emotions in organizations can be credited to [[Arlie Russell Hochschild]]'s concept of [[emotional labor]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} The University of Queensland hosts EmoNet,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.emotionsnet.org|title=EmoNet|publisher=Uq.edu.au|access-date=11 November 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218131800/http://www.uq.edu.au/emonet/|archive-date=18 February 2013 }}</ref> an e-mail distribution list representing a network of academics that facilitates scholarly discussion of all matters relating to the study of emotion in organizational settings. The list was established in January 1997 and has over 700 members from across the globe.

In [[economics]], the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services, emotions are analyzed in some sub-fields of microeconomics, in order to assess the role of emotions on purchase decision-making and [[risk#Risk and emotion|risk perception]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} In [[criminology]], a social science approach to the study of crime, scholars often draw on behavioral sciences, sociology, and psychology; emotions are examined in criminology issues such as [[anomie]] theory and studies of "toughness", aggressive behavior, and hooliganism.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} In [[law]], which underpins civil obedience, politics, economics and society, evidence about people's emotions is often raised in [[tort]] law claims for compensation and in [[criminal law]] prosecutions against alleged lawbreakers (as evidence of the defendant's state of mind during trials, sentencing, and parole hearings).{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} In [[political science]], emotions are examined in a number of sub-fields, such as the analysis of voter decision-making.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

In [[philosophy]], emotions are studied in sub-fields such as [[ethics]], the [[aesthetics|philosophy of art]] (for example, sensory–emotional values, and matters of [[taste (sociology)|taste]] and [[sentimentality]]), and the [[philosophy of music]] (see also [[music and emotion]]).{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} In [[history]], scholars examine documents and other sources to interpret and analyze past activities; speculation on the emotional state of the authors of historical documents is one of the tools of interpretation.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} In [[literature]] and film-making, the expression of emotion is the cornerstone of genres such as drama, melodrama, and romance. In [[communication studies]], scholars study the role that emotion plays in the dissemination of ideas and messages.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} Emotion is also studied in non-human animals in [[ethology]], a branch of zoology which focuses on the scientific study of animal behavior. Ethology is a combination of laboratory and field science, with strong ties to ecology and evolution. Ethologists often study one type of behavior (for example, [[aggression]]) in a number of unrelated animals.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}}

=== History of emotions ===
{{main|History of emotions}}
The [[history of emotions]] has become an increasingly popular topic recently, with some scholars{{who|date=June 2017}} arguing that it is an [[essentialism|essential]] category of analysis, not unlike [[social stratification|class]], [[race (human categorization)#Social constructions|race]], or [[gender]]. Historians, like other social scientists, assume that emotions, feelings and their expressions are regulated in different ways by both different cultures and different historical times, and the [[social constructivism|constructivist]] school of history claims even that some sentiments and [[meta-emotion]]s, for example [[schadenfreude]], are learnt and not only regulated by culture. Historians of emotion trace and analyze the changing norms and rules of feeling, while examining emotional regimes, codes, and lexicons from social, cultural, or political history perspectives. Others focus on the history of [[medicine]], [[science]], or [[psychology]]. What somebody can and may feel (and show) in a given situation, towards certain people or things, depends on [[social norm]]s and rules; thus historically variable and open to change.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/en/research/history-of-emotions|title=History of Emotions &#124; Max Planck Institute for Human Development|publisher=Mpib-berlin.mpg.de|access-date=11 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150505125400/https://www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/en/research/history-of-emotions|archive-date=5 May 2015|url-status=dead }}</ref> Several research centers have opened in the past few years in Germany, England, Spain,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unav.edu/web/instituto-cultura-y-sociedad/cultura-emocional-e-identidad|title=Cultura Emocional E Identidad|publisher=unav.edu|access-date=11 November 2013|archive-date=1 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160501104802/http://www.unav.edu/web/instituto-cultura-y-sociedad/cultura-emocional-e-identidad|url-status=live}}</ref> Sweden, and Australia.

Furthermore, research in [[historical trauma]] suggests that some [[psychological trauma|traumatic]] emotions can be passed on from parents to offspring to second and even third generation, presented as examples of [[transgenerational trauma]].

=== Sociology ===
{{main|Sociology of emotions}}
A common way in which emotions are conceptualized in sociology is in terms of the multidimensional characteristics including cultural or emotional labels (for example, anger, pride, fear, happiness), physiological changes (for example, increased perspiration, changes in pulse rate), expressive facial and body movements (for example, smiling, frowning, baring teeth), and appraisals of situational [[sensory cue|cue]]s.<ref name="Thoits, P. A. 1989"/> One comprehensive theory of emotional arousal in humans has been developed by Jonathan Turner (2007: 2009).<ref name="Turner2007">Turner, J.H. (2007). Human emotions: A sociological theory. London: Routledge.</ref><ref name="Turner2009">{{cite journal|vauthors=Turner JH|s2cid=146259730|year=2009|title=The sociology of emotion: Basic Theoretical arguments|journal=Emotion Review|volume=1|issue=4|pages=340–354|doi=10.1177/1754073909338305}}</ref> Two of the key eliciting factors for the arousal of emotions within this theory are expectations states and sanctions. When people enter a situation or encounter with certain expectations for how the encounter should unfold, they will experience different emotions depending on the extent to which expectations for Self, other and situation are met or not met. People can also provide positive or negative sanctions directed at Self or other which also trigger different emotional experiences in individuals. Turner analyzed a wide range of emotion theories across different fields of research including sociology, psychology, evolutionary science, and neuroscience. Based on this analysis, he identified four emotions that all researchers consider being founded on human neurology including assertive-anger, aversion-fear, satisfaction-happiness, and disappointment-sadness. These four categories are called primary emotions and there is some agreement amongst researchers that these primary emotions become combined to produce more elaborate and complex emotional experiences. These more elaborate emotions are called first-order elaborations in Turner's theory, and they include sentiments such as pride, triumph, and awe. Emotions can also be experienced at different levels of intensity so that feelings of concern are a low-intensity variation of the primary emotion aversion-fear whereas depression is a higher intensity variant.

Attempts are frequently made to regulate emotion according to the conventions of the society and the situation based on many (sometimes conflicting) demands and expectations which originate from various entities. The expression of anger is in many cultures discouraged in girls and women to a greater extent than in boys and men (the notion being that an angry man has a valid complaint that needs to be rectified, while an angry women is hysterical or oversensitive, and her anger is somehow invalid), while the expression of sadness or fear is discouraged in boys and men relative to girls and women (attitudes implicit in phrases like "man up" or "don't be a sissy").<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/27/books/review/rebecca-traister-good-and-mad-soraya-chemaly-rage-becomes-her.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/27/books/review/rebecca-traister-good-and-mad-soraya-chemaly-rage-becomes-her.html|archive-date=2022-01-01|url-access=limited|title=The Power of Enraged Women|last=Blair|first=Elaine|date=2018-09-27|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-12-09|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/17/magazine/i-used-to-insist-i-didnt-get-angry-not-anymore.html|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/17/magazine/i-used-to-insist-i-didnt-get-angry-not-anymore.html|archive-date=2022-01-01|url-access=limited|title=I Used to Insist I Didn't Get Angry. Not Anymore.|last=Jamison|first=Leslie|date=2018-01-17|work=The New York Times|access-date=2018-12-09|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}</ref> Expectations attached to social roles, such as "acting as man" and not as a woman, and the accompanying "feeling rules" contribute to the differences in expression of certain emotions. Some cultures encourage or discourage happiness, sadness, or jealousy, and the free expression of the emotion of disgust is considered socially unacceptable in most cultures. Some social institutions are seen as based on certain emotion, such as [[love]] in the case of contemporary institution of [[marriage]]. In advertising, such as health campaigns and political messages, emotional appeals are commonly found. Recent examples include no-smoking health campaigns and political campaigns emphasizing the fear of terrorism.<ref>{{cite book|last=Singh|first=Virendra|title=Ethics – Integrity & Aptitude|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qTD2DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA75|date=2016|publisher=Neelkanth Pralashan|asin=B01BKSC2BK|page=75|access-date=2019-07-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218043642/https://books.google.ca/books?id=qTD2DQAAQBAJ&pg=PA75|archive-date=18 February 2020|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Sociological attention to emotion has varied over time. [[Émile Durkheim]] (1915/1965)<ref>Durkheim, E. (1915/1912). The elementary forms of the religious life, trans. J.W. Swain. New York: Free Press.</ref> wrote about the collective effervescence or emotional energy that was experienced by members of totemic rituals in Australian Aboriginal society. He explained how the heightened state of emotional energy achieved during totemic rituals transported individuals above themselves giving them the sense that they were in the presence of a higher power, a force, that was embedded in the sacred objects that were worshipped. These feelings of exaltation, he argued, ultimately lead people to believe that there were forces that governed sacred objects.

In the 1990s, sociologists focused on different aspects of specific emotions and how these emotions were socially relevant. For Cooley (1992),<ref>Cooley, C.H. (1992). Human nature and the social order. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.</ref> pride and shame were the most important emotions that drive people to take various social actions. During every encounter, he proposed that we monitor ourselves through the "looking glass" that the gestures and reactions of others provide. Depending on these reactions, we either experience pride or shame and this results in particular paths of action. Retzinger (1991)<ref>Retzinger, S.M. (1991). ''Violent emotions: Shame and rage in marital quarrels''. London: Sage. {{ISBN?}}{{page?|date=May 2023}}</ref> conducted studies of married couples who experienced cycles of rage and shame. Drawing predominantly on Goffman and Cooley's work, Scheff (1990)<ref>Scheff, J. (1990). ''Microsociology: discourse, emotion and social structure''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.{{ISBN?}}{{page?|date=May 2023}}</ref> developed a micro sociological theory of the social bond. The formation or disruption of social bonds is dependent on the emotions that people experience during interactions.

Subsequent to these developments, Randall Collins (2004)<ref>Collins, R. (2004). Interaction ritual chains. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.</ref> formulated his interaction ritual theory by drawing on Durkheim's work on totemic rituals that was extended by Goffman (1964/2013; 1967)<ref>Goffman, E. (1967). ''Interaction ritual''. New York: Anchor Books.</ref><ref>Goffman, E. (1964/2013). ''Encounters: Two studies in the sociology of interactions''. Mansfiled Centre, CT: Martino Publishing.</ref> into everyday focused encounters. Based on interaction ritual theory, we experience different levels or intensities of emotional energy during face-to-face interactions. Emotional energy is considered to be a feeling of confidence to take action and a boldness that one experiences when they are charged up from the collective effervescence generated during group gatherings that reach high levels of intensity.

There is a growing body of research applying the sociology of emotion to understanding the learning experiences of students during classroom interactions with teachers and other students (for example, Milne & Otieno, 2007;<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Milne C, Otieno T|year=2007|title=Understanding engagement: Science demonstrations and emotional energy|journal=Science Education|volume=91|issue=4|pages=532–553|doi=10.1002/sce.20203|bibcode=2007SciEd..91..523M }}</ref> Olitsky, 2007;<ref>Olitsky, S. (2007). "Science learning, status and identity formation in an urban middle school". In W.-M. Roth & K.G. Tobin (Eds.),'' Science, learning, identity: Sociocultural and cultural-historical perspectives''. (pp. 41–62). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense.</ref> Tobin, et al., 2013;<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Tobin K, Ritchie SM, Oakley J, Mergard V, Hudson P|s2cid=140384593|year=2013|title=Relationships between emotional climate and the fluency of classroom interactions|journal=Learning Environments Research|volume=16|pages=71–89|doi=10.1007/s10984-013-9125-y|url=https://eprints.qut.edu.au/219010/1/57687.pdf|access-date=8 July 2022|archive-date=30 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730080619/https://eprints.qut.edu.au/219010/1/57687.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Zembylas, 2002<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Zembylas M|year=2002|title=Constructing genealogies of teachers' emotions in science teaching|journal=Journal of Research in Science Teaching|volume=39|issue=1|pages=79–103|doi=10.1002/tea.10010|bibcode=2002JRScT..39...79Z }}</ref>). These studies show that learning subjects like science can be understood in terms of classroom interaction rituals that generate emotional energy and collective states of emotional arousal like [[emotional climate]].

Apart from interaction ritual traditions of the sociology of emotion, other approaches have been classed into one of six other categories:<ref name="Turner2009"/>
* evolutionary/biological theories
* symbolic interactionist theories
* dramaturgical theories
* ritual theories
* power and status theories
* stratification theories
* exchange theories

This list provides a general overview of different traditions in the sociology of emotion that sometimes conceptualize emotion in different ways and at other times in complementary ways. Many of these different approaches were synthesized by Turner (2007) in his sociological theory of human emotions in an attempt to produce one comprehensive sociological account that draws on developments from many of the above traditions.<ref name="Turner2007"/>

=== Psychotherapy and regulation ===
Emotion regulation refers to the cognitive and behavioral strategies people use to influence their own emotional experience.<ref>Schacter, Daniel. "Psychology". Worth Publishers. 2011. p. 316</ref> For example, a behavioral strategy in which one avoids a situation to avoid unwanted emotions (trying not to think about the situation, doing distracting activities, etc.).<ref>Schacter, Daniel. ''Psychology''. Worth Publishers. 2011. p. 340</ref> Depending on the particular school's general emphasis on either cognitive components of emotion, physical energy discharging, or on symbolic movement and facial expression components of emotion different schools of [[psychotherapy]] approach the regulation of emotion differently. Cognitively oriented schools approach them via their cognitive components, such as [[rational emotive behavior therapy]]. Yet others approach emotions via symbolic movement and facial expression components (like in contemporary [[Gestalt therapy]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.123webpages.co.uk/user/index.php?user=mgc&pn=10713|title=On Emotion – an article from Manchester Gestalt Centre website|publisher=123webpages.co.uk|access-date=11 November 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120512181355/http://www.123webpages.co.uk/user/index.php?user=mgc&pn=10713|archive-date=12 May 2012 }}</ref>

=== Cross-cultural research ===
Research on emotions reveals the strong presence of cross-cultural differences in emotional reactions and that emotional reactions are likely to be culture-specific.<ref>Shaver, Phillip R.; Wu, Shelley; Schwartz, Judith C. "Cross-cultural similarities and differences in emotion and its representation" In: Clark, Margaret S. (Ed), (1992). ''Emotion. Review of personality and social psychology'', No. 13., (pp. 175–212). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc, ix, 326 pp</ref> In strategic settings, [[cross-cultural psychology|cross-cultural]] research on emotions is required for understanding the psychological situation of a given population or specific actors. This implies the need to comprehend the current emotional state, mental disposition or other behavioral motivation of a target audience located in a different culture, basically founded on its national, political, social, economic, and psychological peculiarities but also subject to the influence of circumstances and events.<ref>North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO Standardization Agency AAP-6 – Glossary of terms and definitions, p. 188.</ref>

=== Computer science ===
{{main|Affective computing}}
In the 2000s, research in computer science, engineering, psychology and neuroscience has been aimed at developing devices that recognize human [[affect (psychology)|affect]] display and model emotions.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Handbook of Brain Theory and Neural Networks |edition=2nd |editor-first=M. A. |editor-last=Arbib |publisher=The MIT Press |year=2002 |chapter=Emotional Circuits and Computational Neuroscience |first1=Jean-Marc |last1=Fellous |first2=Jorge L. |last2=Armony |first3=Joseph E. |last3=LeDoux}}</ref> In computer science, [[affective computing]] is a branch of the study and development of [[artificial intelligence]] that deals with the design of systems and devices that can recognize, interpret, and process human emotions. It is an interdisciplinary field spanning [[computer science]]s, [[psychology]], and [[cognitive science]].<ref name="TaoTan">{{cite conference|first1=Jianhua|last1=Tao|first2=Tieniu|last2=Tan|name-list-style=vanc|title=Affective Computing: A Review|book-title=Affective Computing and Intelligent Interaction; [[Lecture Notes in Computer Science|LNCS]]|volume=3784|pages=981–995|publisher=Springer|year=2005|doi=10.1007/11573548}}</ref> While the origins of the field may be traced as far back as to early philosophical enquiries into [[#James–Lange theory|emotion]],<ref name=James/> the more modern branch of computer science originated with [[Rosalind Picard]]'s 1995 paper<ref>[http://affect.media.mit.edu/pdfs/95.picard.pdf "Affective Computing"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513121418/http://affect.media.mit.edu/pdfs/95.picard.pdf |date=13 May 2011 }} MIT Technical Report #321 ([http://vismod.media.mit.edu/pub/tech-reports/TR-321-ABSTRACT.html Abstract] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724142020/https://vismod.media.mit.edu/pub/tech-reports/TR-321-ABSTRACT.html |date=24 July 2019 }}), 1995</ref> on affective computing.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ls12-www.cs.tu-dortmund.de//~fink/lectures/SS06/human-robot-interaction/Emotion-RecognitionAndSimulation.pdf|title=Recognition and Simulation of Emotions|access-date=13 May 2008|last=Kleine-Cosack|first=Christian|name-list-style=vanc|date=October 2006|quote=The introduction of emotion to computer science was done by Pickard (sic) who created the field of affective computing.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528135730/http://ls12-www.cs.tu-dortmund.de/~fink/lectures/SS06/human-robot-interaction/Emotion-RecognitionAndSimulation.pdf|archive-date=28 May 2008|url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.12/love.html|title=The Love Machine; Building computers that care.|magazine=Wired|access-date=13 May 2008|last=Diamond|first=David|name-list-style=vanc|date=December 2003|quote=Rosalind Picard, a genial [[MIT]] professor, is the field's godmother; her 1997 book, Affective Computing, triggered an explosion of interest in the emotional side of computers and their users.|archive-date=18 May 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080518185630/http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.12/love.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Detecting emotional information begins with passive [[sensor]]s which capture data about the user's physical state or behavior without interpreting the input. The data gathered is analogous to the cues humans use to perceive emotions in others. Another area within affective computing is the design of computational devices proposed to exhibit either innate emotional capabilities or that are capable of convincingly simulating emotions. Emotional speech processing recognizes the user's emotional state by analyzing speech patterns. The detection and processing of facial expression or body gestures is achieved through detectors and sensors.

== Effects on memory ==
Emotion affects the way [[autobiographical memory|autobiographical memories]] are encoded and retrieved. [[Emotional memory|Emotional memories]] are reactivated more, they are remembered better and have more attention devoted to them.<ref name="auto">{{cite journal|last1=D'Argembeau|first1=Arnaud|last2=Comblain|first2=Christine|last3=Van der Linden|first3=Martial|date=2003|title=Phenomenal characteristics of autobiographical memories for positive, negative, and neutral events|journal=Applied Cognitive Psychology|volume=17|issue=3|pages=281–294|doi=10.1002/acp.856|hdl=2268/1394 |issn=0888-4080|url=https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/1394/1/ACP_03.pdf }}</ref> Through remembering our past achievements and failures, autobiographical memories affect how we perceive and feel about ourselves.<ref name="auto"/>

== Notable theorists ==
<!-- Please do not expand this list without discussion first on the Talk Page. This should not be a long list of all scientists working on emotion; it should just include the most notable and most-cited scientists. Undiscussed additions will be removed. -->
In the late 19th century, the most influential theorists were [[William James]] (1842–1910) and [[Carl Lange (physician)|Carl Lange]] (1834–1900). James was an American psychologist and philosopher who wrote about educational psychology, psychology of religious experience/mysticism, and the philosophy of pragmatism. Lange was a Danish physician and psychologist. Working independently, they developed the [[James–Lange theory]], a hypothesis on the origin and nature of emotions. The theory states that within human beings, as a response to experiences in the world, the autonomic nervous system creates physiological events such as muscular tension, a rise in heart rate, perspiration, and dryness of the mouth. Emotions, then, are feelings which come about as a result of these physiological changes, rather than being their cause.<ref>{{cite web|last=Cherry|first=Kendra|name-list-style=vanc|title=What Is the James-Lange Theory of Emotion?|url=http://psychology.about.com/od/jindex/g/jameslange.htm|access-date=30 April 2012|archive-date=14 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120214161205/http://psychology.about.com/od/jindex/g/jameslange.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Silvan Tomkins]] (1911–1991) developed the [[affect theory]] and script theory. The affect theory introduced the concept of basic emotions, and was based on the idea that the dominance of the emotion, which he called the affected system, was the motivating force in human life.<ref>{{cite web|last=The Tomkins Institute|title=Applied Studies in Motivation, Emotion, and Cognition|url=http://www.tomkins.org/Tomkins.html|access-date=30 April 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319164455/http://www.tomkins.org/Tomkins.html|archive-date=19 March 2012 }}</ref>

Some of the most influential deceased theorists on emotion from the 20th century include [[Magda B. Arnold]] (1903–2002), an American psychologist who developed the [[appraisal theory]] of emotions;<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Reisenzein|first1=R|s2cid=6113452|year=2006|title=Arnold's theory of emotion in historical perspective|journal=Cognition & Emotion|volume=20|issue=7|pages=920–951|doi=10.1080/02699930600616445|hdl=20.500.11780/598|hdl-access=free }}</ref> [[Richard Lazarus]] (1922–2002), an American psychologist who specialized in emotion and stress, especially in relation to cognition; [[Herbert A. Simon]] (1916–2001), who included emotions into decision making and artificial intelligence; [[Robert Plutchik]] (1928–2006), an American psychologist who developed a psychoevolutionary theory of emotion;<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Plutchik|first1=R|s2cid=144109550|year=1982|title=A psychoevolutionary theory of emotions|journal=Social Science Information|volume=21|issue=4–5|pages=529–553|doi=10.1177/053901882021004003 }}</ref> [[Robert Zajonc]] (1923–2008) a Polish–American social psychologist who specialized in social and cognitive processes such as social facilitation; [[Robert C. Solomon]] (1942–2007), an American philosopher who contributed to the theories on the philosophy of emotions with books such as ''What Is An Emotion?: Classic and Contemporary Readings'' (2003);<ref>{{cite book|last=Solomon|first=Robert C.|title=What is an Emotion?: Classic and Contemporary Readings|year=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0195159646|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/whatisemotioncla00robe}}</ref> [[Peter Goldie]] (1946–2011), a British philosopher who specialized in ethics, aesthetics, emotion, mood and character; [[Nico Frijda]] (1927–2015), a Dutch psychologist who advanced the theory that human emotions serve to promote a tendency to undertake actions that are appropriate in the circumstances, detailed in his book ''The Emotions'' (1986);<ref>[[Nico Frijda|Frijda, N.H.]] (1986). ''The Emotions''. Maison des Sciences de l'Homme and [https://web.archive.org/web/20050316220621/http://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521316006 Cambridge University Press]</ref> [[Jaak Panksepp]] (1943–2017), an Estonian-born American psychologist, psychobiologist, neuroscientist and pioneer in affective neuroscience; [[John T. Cacioppo]] (1951–2018), one of the founding fathers of [[social neuroscience]]; [[George Mandler]] (1924–2016), an American psychologist who wrote influential books on cognition and emotion.

Influential theorists who are still active include the following psychologists, neurologists, philosophers, and sociologists:
* [[Michael Apter]] – (born 1939) British psychologist who developed [[reversal theory]], a structural, phenomenological theory of personality, motivation, and emotion
* [[Lisa Feldman Barrett]] – (born 1963) neuroscientist and psychologist specializing in [[affective science]] and human emotion
* [[Randall Collins]] – (born 1941) American sociologist from the [[University of Pennsylvania]] developed the interaction ritual theory which includes the emotional entrainment model
* [[Antonio Damasio]] (born 1944) – Portuguese behavioral neurologist and neuroscientist who works in the US
* [[Richard Davidson]] (born 1951) – American psychologist and neuroscientist; pioneer in [[affective neuroscience]]
* [[Paul Ekman]] (born 1934) – psychologist specializing in the study of emotions and their relation to facial expressions
* [[Barbara Fredrickson]] – Social psychologist who specializes in emotions and [[positive psychology]].
* [[Arlie Russell Hochschild]] (born 1940) – American sociologist whose central contribution was in forging a link between the subcutaneous flow of emotion in social life and the larger trends set loose by modern capitalism within organizations
* [[Joseph E. LeDoux]] (born 1949) – American neuroscientist who studies the biological underpinnings of memory and emotion, especially the mechanisms of fear
<!-- Addition of the Portuguese professor Freitas-Magelhães without discussion on the talk page will be reverted as vandalism, this due to repeated addition of this name by a host of anonymous IP 195.xxxx editors. -->
* [[Jesse Prinz]] – American philosopher who specializes in emotion, moral psychology, aesthetics and consciousness
* [[James A. Russell]] (born 1947) – American psychologist who developed or co-developed the [[PAD emotional state model|PAD theory of environmental impact]], [[emotion classification#Circumplex model|circumplex model of affect]], prototype theory of emotion concepts, [[facial expression#Criticism|a critique of the hypothesis of universal recognition of emotion from facial expression]], concept of [[theory of constructed emotion#Core affect|core affect]], developmental theory of differentiation of emotion concepts, and, more recently, the theory of the [[emotional expression#Psychological construction model|psychological construction of emotion]]
* [[Klaus Scherer]] (born 1943) – Swiss psychologist and former director of the [[Swiss Center for Affective Sciences|Swiss Center for Affective Sciences in Geneva]]; he specializes in the psychology of emotion
* [[Ronald de Sousa]] (born 1940) – English–Canadian philosopher who specializes in the philosophy of emotions, philosophy of mind and philosophy of biology
* [[Jonathan H. Turner]] (born 1942) – American sociologist from the [[University of California, Riverside]], who is a general sociological theorist with specialty areas including the sociology of emotions, ethnic relations, social institutions, social stratification, and bio-sociology
* [[Dominique Moïsi]] (born 1946) – authored a book titled ''The Geopolitics of Emotion'' focusing on emotions related to globalization<ref>{{cite book|last=Moisi|first=Dominique|title=The Geopolitics of Emotion: How Cultures of Fear, Humiliation and Hope are Reshaping the World|year=2009|publisher=Bodley Head|location=London|isbn=978-1409077084}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
* [[Affect measures]]
* [[Affective forecasting]]
* [[Affective neuroscience]]
* [[Coping]]
* [[Emotion and memory]]
* ''[[Emotion Review]]''
* [[Emotional intelligence]]
* [[Emotional isolation]]
* [[Emotionally focused therapy]]
* [[Emotions in virtual communication]]
* [[Facial feedback hypothesis]]
* [[Fuzzy-trace theory]]
* [[Group emotion]]
* [[Homeostatic feeling]]
* [[Moral emotions]]
* [[Social sharing of emotions]]
* [[Two-factor theory of emotion]]
* [[Kuleshov effect]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
{{refbegin|32em}}
* {{cite book|title=Sources for the History of Emotions: A Guide|editor-last1=Barclay|editor-first1=Katie|editor-last2=Crozier-De Rosa|editor-first2=Sharon|editor-last3=Stearns|editor-first3=Peter N.|editor-link3=Peter Stearns|date=2021|publisher=[[Routledge]]|location=London & New York|isbn=978-0-367-26145-0|url={{GBurl|id=TUDpDwAAQBAJ}}}}
* Glinka, Lukasz Andrzej (2013) ''Theorizing Emotions: A Brief Study of Psychological, Philosophical, and Cultural Aspects of Human Emotions''. Great Abington: Cambridge International Science Publishing. {{ISBN|978-1907343957}}.
* Dana Sugu & Amita Chaterjee [https://sites.google.com/site/sugudana/articles-1 "Flashback: Reshuffling Emotions"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430041037/https://sites.google.com/site/sugudana/articles-1 |date=30 April 2011 }}, ''International Journal on Humanistic Ideology'', Vol. 3 No. 1, Spring–Summer 2010.
* Cornelius, R. (1996). ''The science of emotion''. New Jersey: [[Prentice Hall]]. {{ISBN|978-0-133-00153-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Denton|first=Derek|name-list-style=vanc|title=The Primordial Emotions: The Dawning of Consciousness|year=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199203147 }}
* González, Ana Marta (2012). ''The Emotions and Cultural Analysis''. Burlington, VT: Ashgate. {{ISBN|978-1409453178}}
* [[Paul Ekman|Ekman, P.]] (1999). "[https://web.archive.org/web/20101228085345/http://www.paulekman.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/Basic-Emotions.pdf Basic Emotions]". In: T. Dalgleish and M. Power (Eds.). ''Handbook of Cognition and Emotion''. John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Sussex, UK:.
* [[Nico Frijda|Frijda, N.H.]] (1986). ''The Emotions''. Maison des Sciences de l'Homme and [https://web.archive.org/web/20050316220621/http://www.cambridge.org/uk/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521316006 Cambridge University Press] {{ISBN|978-0-521-31600-2}}
* {{cite book|last=Russell Hochschild|first=Arlie|author-link=Arlie Russell Hochschild|title=The managed heart: commercialization of human feeling|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|year=1983|title-link=The Managed Heart: the Commercialization of Human Feeling }} {{ISBN|978-0520054547}}
* Hogan, Patrick Colm. (2011). [http://www.themontrealreview.com/2009/What-literature-teaches-us-about-emotion.php ''What Literature Teaches Us about Emotion''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713080915/http://www.themontrealreview.com/2009/What-literature-teaches-us-about-emotion.php |date=13 July 2011 }} Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Hordern, Joshua. (2013). [https://archive.today/20130616040342/http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/product/academic/philosophy/social/9780199646814.do%23.UZuheMqmVuR ''Political Affections: Civic Participation and Moral Theology'']. Oxford: Oxford University Press. {{ISBN|0199646813}}
* LeDoux, J.E. (1986). "The neurobiology of emotion". Chap. 15 in J.E. LeDoux & W. Hirst (Eds.) ''Mind and Brain: dialogues in cognitive neuroscience''. New York: Cambridge.{{ISBN|978-0-521-31853-2}}
* Mandler, G. (1984). ''Mind and Body: Psychology of emotion and stress''. New York: Norton. [https://web.archive.org/web/20081216225314/http://www.affective-sciences.org/system/files/2005_Scherer_SSI.pdf Wayback Machine]
* {{cite book |last=Nussbaum |first=Martha C. |author-link=Martha Nussbaum |year=2001 |title=Upheavals of Thought: The Intelligence of Emotions |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |location=Cambridge |isbn=978-0-511-84071-5 }}
* Plutchik, R. (1980). "A general psychoevolutionary theory of emotion". In R. Plutchik & H. Kellerman (Eds.), ''Emotion: Theory, research, and experience: Vol. 1. Theories of emotion'' (pp.{{nbs}}3–33). New York: Academic. {{ISBN|978-0125587013}}
* Roberts, Robert. (2003). ''Emotions: An Essay in Aid of Moral Psychology.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|978-0-521-52584-8}}
* {{cite journal|last=Robinson|first=David L.|s2cid=143896041|name-list-style=vanc|date=2008|title=Brain function, emotional experience and personality|url=http://www.socialemotiveneuroscience.org/pubs/Gable%20&%20Harmon-Jones%20(2008,%20Netherlands).pdf#page=26|journal=Netherlands Journal of Psychology|volume=64|issue=4|pages=152–67|doi=10.1007/BF03076418|access-date=1 March 2022|archive-date=25 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225175826/http://www.socialemotiveneuroscience.org/pubs/Gable%20%26%20Harmon-Jones%20%282008%2C%20Netherlands%29.pdf#page=26|url-status=dead}}
* {{cite journal|last1=Scherer|first1=K|s2cid=145575751|year=2005|title=What are emotions and how can they be measured?|url=http://lep.unige.ch/system/files/biblio/2005_Scherer_SSI.pdf|journal=Social Science Information|volume=44|issue=4|pages=695–729|doi=10.1177/0539018405058216|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150225204554/http://lep.unige.ch/system/files/biblio/2005_Scherer_SSI.pdf|archive-date=25 February 2015}}
* Solomon, R. (1993). ''The Passions: Emotions and the Meaning of Life''. Indianapolis: [[Hackett Publishing]]. {{ISBN|978-0-872-20226-9}}
* {{cite journal|vauthors=Zeki S, Romaya JP|title=Neural correlates of hate|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=3|issue=10|pages=e3556|year=2008|pmid=18958169|pmc=2569212|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0003556|bibcode=2008PLoSO...3.3556Z|doi-access=free }}
* [[b:Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience/Motivation and Emotion|Wikibook Cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience]]

{{refend}}

== External links ==
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* {{cite SEP|url-id=emotion|title=Emotion}}
* {{cite IEP|url-id=emotion|title=Theories of Emotion}}
* [https://www.jmu.edu/counselingctr/files/About%20Emotions.pdf About Emotions]
* [[Walter Bradford Cannon|W. B. Cannon]] (1915). [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/73932 Bodily changes in pain, hunger, fear, and rage: an account of recent researches into the function of emotional excitement]. New York: D. Appleton and Company

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{{Psychology}}
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[[Category:Emotion| ]]
[[Category:Limbic system]]
[[Category:Subjective experience]]
[[Category:Human behavior]]
[[Category:Psychological concepts]]
[[Category:Mental states]]