Emotion Research

For centuries, philosophers and psychologists have recognized the importance
of understanding personality differences based on the type and degree
of emotional expression. In the fifth century b.c.e., the Greek physician
Hippocrates classified people on the basis of emotional temperament.
The view that people differ in temperament remains today. Arnold Buss and
Robert Plomin have hypothesized that newborns differ in their susceptibility
to distress, fear, and anger. Everyday descriptions of people as “happy-golucky,”
“stoic,” and “volatile” represent the tendency to group people according
to characteristic styles of emotional expression. Clinical psychologists
speak of the “hysterical personality” as exhibiting excessive emotional
lability and the “schizoid personality” as showing emotional indifference toward
others.
Theologians have traditionally approached emotion as representing the
dark side of human nature. What elevates humans above other animals has
been thought to be the capacity to overcome passion with reason. Even this
seemingly archaic view of emotion has its counterpart in modern psychology.
Psychoanalysts help people gain control of their feelings through understanding the unconscious roots of their emotions. Cognitive therapists
attempt to alleviate emotional dysfunctions by teaching clients to “think
more rationally.”
The modern era of research on emotion can be traced to Charles Darwin’s
1872 book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. Darwin believed
that emotional displays evolved as a means of communication and
had adaptive significance for the survival of the species. Indeed, there is
some scientific support for the assertion that emotional expressions are basic
biological responses: Newborn infants show expressions of emotion that
closely match the expressions of adults; all infants, including those born
deaf and blind, exhibit similar facial expressions in similar situations; very
young babies can tell the difference between different emotional expressions;
and there is considerable similarity in the expression of emotions
across diverse cultures.
In the second half of the twentieth century, psychologists made important
advances in formulating theories of emotions and devising assessment
instruments to measure emotions. Scientists have arrived at the point where
they recognize many of the fundamental aspects of emotion: the nervous
system, thought, behavior, and the immediate situation. The challenge for
the future is to map the intricate interplay among these variables and
achieve a thorough understanding of this basic facet of human functioning.
Sources for Further Study
Barlow, David H. Anxiety and Its Disorders. 2d ed. New York: Guilford Press,
2001. In the early part of the book, the author reviews basic aspects of
emotion. The remainder is devoted to the emotion of anxiety and how
anxiety forms the basis of many clinical disorders. Some of the disorders
addressed are panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, phobias,
and post-traumatic stress disorder. A very comprehensive treatment of
anxiety disorders. Barlow takes a strong research orientation and presents
the material at a college level.
Bernstein, Douglas A., Stewart Alison Clarke, and Louis A. Penner. Psychology.
5th ed. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999. Presents an introduction
to the topic of emotion. Covers a wide range of areas: definition of emotion,
physiology of emotion, major theories, social aspects of emotion,
and facial expressions. The authors do not assume that the reader has any
background in psychology, and they write in a clear, concise manner, providing
interesting examples and graphics.
Corcoran, Kevin J., and Joel Fischer. Adults. Vol. 2 in Measures for Clinical
Practice: A Sourcebook. 3d ed. New York: Free Press, 2000. Reprints more
than one hundred self-report assessment instruments. An excellent
source for learning how researchers measure emotions, and can be used
should one want to conduct a study. This book, however, does not include
some of the most commonly used questionnaires for measuring emotions Ekman, Paul, and Richard J. Davidson, eds. The Nature of Emotion: Fundamental
Questions. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997. The editors asked
twenty-four leading theorists in the field of the psychology of emotions to
answer the same twelve questions on their subject. Areas of agreement
and disagreement are highlighted, along with a summary chapter at the
end.
Laurence Grimm
See also: Clinical Depression; Personality: Psychophysiological Measures;
Phobias. 330