What Are Emotions

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What Are Emotions?

• Made up of four components
• Physiological Feelings
• Nonverbal Reactions
• Cognitive Interpretations
• Verbal Expressions

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Physiological Feelings

• Strong Emotions trigger bodily changes
• Increased heart rate
• Rise in BP
• Slowing of digestion
• Physiological messages can offer clues to your
  emotions once you become aware of them

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Nonverbal Reactions

• Not all physical changes accompany emotions
• Easy to tell when one experiences a strong
  emotion, but hard to determine the exact emotion
  being conveyed
• Facial expressions mimic feelings

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Cognitive Interpretations

• Our minds play an important role in determining
  how we feel
• What we think determines our particular feeling.

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Verbal Expressions

• We cannot always rely on perceptiveness to make
  sure the message is conveyed appropriately
• Emotional intelligence

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Types of Emotions
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Emotional Intelligence

• The ability to recognize which feelings are
  appropriate in which situations and the skill to
  communicate those feelings effectively.

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Typical Emotions

• Anger
• Anxiety
• Content
• Disgust
• Fear
• Gratitude
• Guilt

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Typical Emotions

• Happiness
• Jealousy
• Joy
• Pleasure
• Relief
• Sadness
• Surprise

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Influences on Emotion
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Major Influences

• Personality
• Culture
• Biological Sex and Gender
• Power
• Social Conventions
• Social Roles
• Fear of Disclosure
• Emotional Contagion

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Personality

• Extroverted vs. Introverted
• Neurotic vs. Non-neurotic

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Culture

• Universal expression of emotions
• happiness
• sadness
• surprise
• anger
• disgust
• fear
• Situational Differences
• Degree of Expression Differences

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Culture Continued...

• Ethnicity
• Blacks
• Asians
• Whites
• Individualism vs. Collectivism
• external display
• internal experience
• Data from study

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Biological Sex and Gender

• Women
• more attuned
• better memories of emotional images
• more intense reactions
• larger range of emotions
• Men
• Reveal positive emotions (NOT negative ones)
• More likely to disclose to women

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Power

• The less powerful individual is more aware of
  emotions of the more powerful person
• Intimidation factor

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Social Conventions

• direct expression of emotions
• ex. United States
• indirect expression of emotions
• ex. Japan
• Individualism-Collectivism impacts??

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Social Roles

• Emotional usage is decreased due to acceptable
  social roles.
• One loses the ability to show certain emotions
  when they are continually repressed.

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Fear of Self-Disclosure

• Example Its hard for a boss to admit when
  he/she is wrong
• Those that disclose can be misunderstood
• Affection romantic invitation
• Uncertainty weakness
• Honesty can cause discomfort
• Honesty can be used against you

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Emotional Contagion

• Definition When one becomes influenced by the
  emotions of others around them.
• Varying degrees
• Fast process with no verbal communication needed.

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Others

• EVERYTHING influences emotion!!
• Religion, individual personal experiences etc.

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• Regardless of influences on emotions, there are
  healthy and unhealthy ways to express them.
• The next section looks into the guidelines of
  healthy emotional expressions.

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Guidelines for Expressing Emotions

• Advice and Techniques for Effective Emotional
  Expression

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Effects of Emotional Expression

• Emotional expression has a tremendous effect on
  health and well-being.
• Physiological effects
• Relational effects

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Physiological Effects

• Emotional suppression increases risk of physical
  problems such as, cancer, asthma, heart disease
  (DeAngelis, 1992).
• Emotional inhibition also causes a increased risk
  for psychological problems, such as, anxiety or
  depression (Krause et al., 2003).
• Overly aggressive expression can lead to high
  blood pressure and increased stress (Mayne,
  1993).
• A healthy balance is key.

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Relational Effects

• Pent-up emotions are harder to control and more
  likely to be expressed violently.
• Lack of expression leads to relationship
  stagnation.
• Healthy emotional expression increases intimacy,
  promotes relationship growth, and allows problems
  to be fixed before they escalate.

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Steps to Healthy Emotional Expression

• Recognize Your Feelings.
• Choose the Best Language.
• Share Multiple Feelings.
• Recognize the Difference Between Feeling and
  Acting.
• Accept Responsibility for Your Feelings.
• Choose the Best Time and Place.

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Recognize Your Feelings

• Pay attention to your body.
• Know your emotional triggers.
• Dont underestimate the importance of feelings.
• Watch your gestures.

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Choose the Best Language

• Wanting isnt the same thing as feeling.
• Dont rely on common adjectives.
• Be specific.
• Use metaphors or examples.
• State the cause of the emotion when possible.

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Share Multiple Feelings

• Feelings are all related.
• Same event can cause many different emotions.
• Express as many emotions as possible.
• Dont be afraid to elaborate.

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Recognize the Difference Between Feeling and
Acting

• Dont try to be a hero.
• Dont pretend to feel something you dont.
• Simply acting on feelings does not always
  alleviate them.
• Feelings do not always have to lead to action.

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Accept Responsibility for Your Feelings

• Dont blame others for your feelings in your
  expression, even if they are the cause.
• Dont try to hide or cover up your feelings to
  please someone else.

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Choose the Best Time and Place

• Give yourself some time to prepare.
• Plan out what you are going to say write it down
  if you like.
• Dont have an emotional discussion when you are
  tired, sick, or under severe stress.
• Devote the necessary time.
• Make sure the other person is prepared to listen.

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When Not to Express Emotions

• If you are sure you will have difficulty
  controlling your emotions.
• If the other person is unable to listen at that
  moment.
• If the consequences might be worse than dealing
  with the emotions (authority figure).
• Look for an indirect route.
• Enlist a third party or mediator.

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Expressing Positive Emotions

• Most people associate emotional expression with
  problems or difficulties.
• Happiness is also an emotion.
• Feel free to express happiness, confidence,
  success and contentment.
• Praise and complement your significant other when
  you are proud of them.
• Surround yourself with people who will be happy
  for you.
• Must be aware of the time and place!

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Summary

• Emotional expression is healthy and necessary for
  good relationships.
• Know how you feel and why you feel it.
• Express your emotions calmly and specifically.
• Acting out isnt necessary.
• Choose your time and place carefully.
• Dont be afraid to express positive emotions!

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• It is true that healthy emotional expression can
  be more difficult for certain emotions
• The next section involves a wide range of
  feelings that affect our communication skills.

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Managing Difficult Emotions
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Facilitative and Debilitative Emotions

• Facilitative Emotions- emotions that contribute
  to effective functioning
• Debilitative Emotions- emotions that hinder or
  prevent effective performance

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Characteristics of Debilitative Emotions

• Intensity
• Duration

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Irrational Thoughts That Can Lead to Debilitative
Emotions

• Fallacy of Perfection- A communicator should
  handle all situations well
• Very inspiring, but unrealistic

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Irrational Thoughts That Can Lead to Debilitative
Emotions

• Fallacy of Approval- A communicator has to
  constantly obtain everyones approval
• Communicator sacrifices their own principles
  and/or happiness

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Irrational Thoughts That Can Lead to Debilitative
Emotions

• Fallacy of Should- A communicator doesnt
  distinguish between what is and what should be
• Communicator often wants others to behave
  differently

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Irrational Thoughts That Can Lead to Debilitative
Emotions

• Fallacy of Overgeneralization- A communicator
  doesnt distinguish between what is and what
  should be
• Communicator often wants others to behave
  differently

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Irrational Thoughts That Can Lead to Debilitative
Emotions

• Fallacy of Causation- A communicator feels they
  shouldnt do anything to hurt or inconvenience
  others
• Often communicators needs are overlooked

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Irrational Thoughts That Can Lead to Debilitative
Emotions

• Fallacy of Helplessness- Forces beyond a
  communicators control determine their
  satisfaction
• Causes the communicator to feel like a victim

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Irrational Thoughts That Can Lead to Debilitative
Emotions

• Fallacy of Catastrophic Expectations- A
  communicator believes if something bad can
  happen, it will
• Causes ruminations of thoughts and feelings

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How to Minimize Debilitative Emotions

• Monitor your emotional reactions
• Note activating/triggering events
• Specific people
• Specific events
• Dispute irrational events
• Why they are irrational events
• Why your have them

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References

• Adler, R.B., Rosenfeld, L.B., Proctor, R.F.
  (2004).
• Interplay The Process of Interpersonal
• Communication (9th ed.). New York Oxford
  University
• Press.
• DeAngelis, T. (1992). Illness linked with
  repressive style
• of coping. APA Monitor, pp. 14-15.
• Krause, E.D., Mendelson, T. Lynch, T.R. (2003).
• Childhood emotional invalidation and adult
• psychological distress The mediating role of
  emotional
• inhibition. Child Abuse and Neglect, 27(2), p
  199-214.
• Mayne, T.J. (1999). Negative affect and health
  The importance of being earnest. Cognition and
  Emotion, 13(5), pp. 201-236.