![]() A study in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology found that while watching negative and positive emotional films, suppression of behavioral responses to emotion had physical effects on the participants. For example, how love is expressed is different both from person to person and across cultures.īehavioral responses are important to signal to others how we’re feeling, but research shows that they’re also vital to individuals’ well-being. While plentiful research suggests that many facial expressions are universal, such as a frown to indicate sadness, sociocultural norms and individual upbringings play a role in our behavioral responses. Behavioral responses can include a smile, a grimace, a laugh or a sigh, along with many other reactions depending on societal norms and personality. The behavioral response aspect of the emotional response is the actual expression of the emotion. In other words, facial expressions play an important role in responding accordingly to an emotion in a physical sense. Interestingly, studies have shown autonomic physiological responses are strongest when a person’s facial expressions most closely resemble the expression of the emotion they’re experiencing. According to many psychologists, our physiological responses are likely how emotion helped us evolve and survive as humans throughout history. The autonomic nervous system controls our involuntary bodily responses and regulates our fight-or-flight response. ![]() This physiological response is the result of the autonomic nervous system’s reaction to the emotion we’re experiencing. We all know how it feels to have our heart beat fast with fear. For example, one person may feel anger and regret at the loss of a loved one while another may experience intense sadness. No matter how intense the experience is, it can provoke many emotions in a single individual and the emotions each individual feel may be different. Subjective experiences can range from something as simple as seeing a color to something as major as losing a loved one or getting married. Subjective ExperiencesĪll emotions begin with a subjective experience, also referred to as a stimulus, but what does that mean? While basic emotions are expressed by all individuals regardless of culture or upbringing, the experience that produces them can he highly subjective. Let’s look at each of these parts in more detail. While there is debate about sequence, there is general agreement that emotions, as mentioned earlier, are made up of three parts: subjective experiences, physiological responses and behavioral responses. Still, there’s a good basis of knowledge to analyze when exploring the topic. Many researchers are still proposing theories about what makes up our emotions, and existing theories are constantly being challenged. For example, insults can trigger the emotion of anger while an angry mood may arise without apparent cause.ĭefining emotions is a task that is not yet complete. ![]() A feeling is the result of an emotion and may be influenced by memories, beliefs and other factors.Ī mood is described by the APA as “any short-lived emotional state, usually of low intensity.” Moods differ from emotions because they lack stimuli and have no clear starting point. Because a person is conscious of the experience, this is classified in the same category as hunger or pain. Emotional experiences have three components: a subjective experience, a physiological response and a behavioral or expressive response.įeelings arise from an emotional experience. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), emotion is defined as “a complex reaction pattern, involving experiential, behavioral and physiological elements.” Emotions are how individuals deal with matters or situations they find personally significant. Defining EmotionsĮmotions are often confused with feelings and moods, but the three terms are not interchangeable. While the study of emotional psychology is vast and complex, researchers have discovered quite a bit about what constitutes our emotions and our behavioral and physical reactions to them. The study of emotional psychology allows researchers to dive into what makes humans react as they do to certain stimuli and how those reactions affect us both physically and mentally. How we interpret and respond to the world around us makes up who we are and contributes to our quality of life.
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