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Problem 1 – Emotions and Arousal
What is the connection between arousal and emotion?
Arousal: activation of the nervous system, no emotional component to it itself, physiological excitation
Emotion: is a conscious mental reaction typically accompanied by physiological and behavioural change
A psychological reaction to the arousal
• Sympathetic nervous system – physiological arousal – associated with feelings
• Aron (1970) – emotions are relabelled as sexual attraction whenever an acceptable object is
present and the emotion allows to
Epinephrine, Arousal, and Emotion: A New Look at Two-factor Theory
E. S. Mezzacappa , Edward S. Katkin, and Stephen N. Palmer
• Self-report of fear during the fear films was more intense for epinephrine than control subjects
• Epinephrine subjects reported more nonvalenced arousal than control subjects to the fear and
amusement films, but not to the anger films
• Epinephrine subjects showed more negative and fewer positive facial expressions than control
subjects to the fear films
o Reported greater number of negative memories than control subjects
• Marshall and Zimbardo’s (1979) proposition that, because of learned associations between
adrenergic arousal and negative events, epinephrine elicits an arousal state that is associated
with negative feelings, leading to an overall negative emotional bias.
• This is distinctly different from Schachter and Singer’s (1962) suggestion that epinephrine elicits
a “neutral” arousal state, and that external cues determine affective attributions.
• Fear most strongly attributes to the negative emotional bias
o Subjects feeling of fear is connected to the physiological symptoms that epinephrine
elicits (shaking knees, faster heartbeat…) therefore when these are present, and source
is uncertain subjects will respond with enhanced fear
• Physiological arousal affects emotion generation not only when self-reported but also when
facial expression is being evaluated or implicit emotion (measured)
What is the connection between arousal and behaviour?
• Two factor Theory:
o person must experience symptoms of physiological arousal
o person must make a cognitive interpretation that explains the source of arousal
o the reaction of other people help us interpret our own arousal (supported by the
research Schachter and Singer 1962)
• Schachter and Singer 1962
o drug informed and placebo groups were less influenced by the social cues
o not replicable for all emotions triggering behaviour: worked with fear but not anger or
amusement
, o when people are unsure of their emotional states they sometimes interpret how they
feel by watching others
o once people are aroused, they look for explanation tot he events that was before the
change of their physiological state
• Excitation transfer model – Dolf Zillmann (1979,1988)
o Arousal triggered by one stimulus can be transferred or added to arousal from a second
stimulus
o Misattribution theory: not knowing you transfer arousal from one situation to other
(being aroused from gym --- being aggressive in the parking lot)
▪ A learned aggressive behaviour
▪ Arousal or excitation from another source
▪ The persons interpretation of the arousal state, such that an aggressive
response seems appropriate
o Gregory White (1981) (running on place )... arousal – even without distress – intensifies
emotional reactions positive or negative
o People tend to fall in love when their lives are turbulent
• Just being aroused even if we don’t know the source facilitates whatever is the most natural
response
• Higher arousal can often lead us to be more aggressive than we are normally
• James-Lange theory of emotion asserts that emotions arise from physiological arousal
o Stimulus – physiological arousal – emotion
o “We are scared because we run”
o Criticism: a physiological response does not always correspond to only one emotion
o The cognitive aspect is left out of the theory
• Cannon-Bard theory of emotion: physiological arousal and emotional experience occur
simultaneously, yet independently (Lang, 1994)
o Physiological and psychological reactions happen at the same time
o CRITICISM:
▪ The same stimulus does not always lead to the same or any emotion
▪ Stimulus needs cognitive evaluation in between
▪ Epinephrine experiment = criticism
▪ Over emphasizes role of thalamus and underemphasizes other parts of the brain
▪ Not enough room for subjectivity
• Schachter & Singer theory: emotion depends on persons judgement about why subjects body
and physiology have changed
o Added the cognitive evaluation
o Two factors: emotions caused by the combination of arousal + cognitive interpretation
o Cognitive evaluation – someone coming at you with a chainsaw or seeing a chainsaw in
neighbor’s hands only for cutting wood
o EXPERIMENT
▪ Saline, epinephrine conscious group (had a reason), epinephrine unconscious
was following the behavior of the confederate
▪ Just the arousal is not enough… adding the cognitive aspect led to the emotion
o CRITICISM
▪ The theory might not work for positive emotions
▪ Arousal cannot be too intense, or the behavior is going to be aversive
• Arousal does appear to be involved in enhancing the intensity of the emotional experience
, • Schachter & Singer, 1962 - everyone that received an injection of epinephrine experienced the
same physiological arousal, only those who were not expecting the arousal used context to
interpret the arousal as a change in emotional state (Schachter & Singer, 1962).
• Meston & Frohlich – rollercoaster experiment
o Men going on, men going off, female going on, female going off
o Showed them a photo of an attractive person of opposite sex and the attractiveness of
their seatmates on the rollercoaster
o Those with no romantic partner perceived the photos and their seatmates as more
attractive
o Those with romantic partners rated their seatmates as less or same attractive as before
the rollercoaster; they rated the picture the same as before the rollercoaster
o In line with the excitation theory for those with a non-romantic partner
o CRITICISM
▪ Romantic partners may have different ratings afterwards
▪ Romantic partners may not have honest ratings
▪ Many personal factors not considered
What did the original experiment look like?
• 85 participants 18-35 y.o. unaccompanied by a female
• Used TAT Manual
• Results of the female interviewer were not replicated by the male interviewer
• Emotional – sexual attraction link
• Exp. 3 more anxiety from the strong shock when a female confederate is not present
o strong shock... increase in attraction
o Fear (agression, anxiety) – sexual-arousal
o if the person relables anxiety as sexual arousal the subject is less likely to feel anxious
• 3 experiments
1. Bridge
2. To rule out the subject population explanation (personality variables and short-term
long-term tourists) .... assessed two groups those that just came off the high bridge and
others that came of 15 minutes after... had the same results as in Exp.1
3. To rule out the possibility of „lady in distress“(she might have acted more aroused on
the higher bridge)
▪ Chairs next to each other... getting a weak shock and a strong shock
▪ If he was expecting a weak shock the female confederate was less attractive but
when expecting the strong shock, he was more attracted
▪ So, the results are due to the arousal of the male participant not the distress of
the female confederate
, Problem 2 – Bystander effect
General terms and theory
Bystander is less likely to extend help when he or she is in the real or imagined presence of others than
when he or she is alone.
Bystander effect:
Forsyth: people are less likely to help when in groups rather than alone
Kassin: whereby the presence of others inhibits helping
The effect is not caused by apathy or loss of humanity that overtakes people when they become a part
of a collective. It is a social process that leaves members confused and uncertain of a proper action.
Social impact theory
• Social influence of any kind – the total impact of others on a target person – is a function of
others strength, immediacy, and number
• Social forces act on individuals the same way physical forces act on objects (lightbulb example)
o the strength of the source (status, ability or relationship to a target)
o immediacy – the closer others are to us, the more impact they have on us (not strictly
physical distance... social media may diminish the importance of physical proximity)
Theory of unresponsive behaviour
Latane and Darley (1968) - Five-step cognitive model of bystander intervention
1. Noticing the event
a. Sometimes people do not notice the event in the beginning
b. Distractions, self-concerns, time pressure, stimulus-overload
c. Darley and Batson study
2. Interpreting the event as an emergency
a. In general, the more ambiguous the situation is, the less likely it is that bystanders will
intervene. (Clark&Word, 1972) in Kassin
b. A stroke can be interpreted as a homeless person sleeping.
c. Most powerful factor is the behavior of other people.
d. Pluralistic ignorance – tendency to rely on the action of others
e. Relationship with the victim
f. Ambiguity – when the victim does not communicate it clearly as an emergency, it is more
likely to be misinterpreted
g. Urban overload theory/ stimulus overload: people who live in larger urban cities, they are
over stimulated (visual, sound…) → ignore more easily
3. Assuming personal responsibility
a. Diffusion of responsibility: phenomenon, when people are less likely to take
action/responsibility when other bystanders are also present because the responsibility is
diffused among all bystanders
b. Takes place under conditions of anonymity
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