Emotional Aspect of Behavior - Personality Psychology

Emotional Aspect of Behavior 

Defining Emotion 

Etymologically the word emotion is derived from the Latin word ‘emovere’ which means ‘to stir up’, or ‘to excite’. Accordingly, woodworth clarifies that “emotion is a moved” or ‘stirred-up’ state of an organism. It is a stirred-up state of feeling, that is the way it appears to the individual himself. It is a disturbed muscular and glandular activity, that is the way it appears to an external observer. (1944, p. 410).

Crow and crow convey that an emotion “is an affective experience that accompanies generalized inner adjustment and mental and physiological stirred-up states in the individual and that shows itself in his overt behavior” (1973, p. 83).

McDougall (1949) considering instinct as an innate tendency maintains that an emotion is an affective experience that one undergoes during an instinctive excitement. For example, when a child perceives a bull coming towards him (cognition) he experiences an affective experience in the form of the arousal of accompanied emotion of fear and consequently tries to run away (conative aspect of one’s behavior). McDougall discovered 14 basic instincts and concluded that each and every emotion, whatever it may be, is the product of some instinctive behavior.

Taking an eclectic view of the nature of emotional experience Charles G, Morris defines emotion as “a complex affective experience that involves diffuse physiological changes and can be expressed overtly in characteristic behavior patterns” (1979, p . 386)

Thus, whatever, may be the terminology used by all these different writers and psychologists, their definitions tend to describe emotions as some sort of feelings or affective experiences which are characterized by some physiological changes that generally lead them to perform some or the other types of behavior acts.

Characteristics of emotions  

• Emotional are universal – prevalent in every living organism at all stages of development from infancy to old age.

• Emotions are personal and thus differ from individual to individual.

• Same emotions can be aroused by a number of different stimuli – objects and situations.

• Emotions rise abruptly but subside slowly, an emotions once aroused, tends to persist and leave behind emotional hangover.

• Emotions have the quality of displacement. For example, an angry reaction caused by a rebuke by the boss can find expression in the beating of the children at home.

• An emotion can give birth to a number of other similar emotions.

• There is a negative correlation between the upsurge of emotions and intelligence. Reasoning and sharp intellect restrain the sudden upsurge of emotions. On the other hand, emotional upsurge adversely affect the process of reasoning and thinking powers.

• The emotional experiences are associated with one or the other instincts or biological drives.

• Every emotional experience involves many physical and physiological changes in the organism. Some of the changes which express themselves in our behavior are easily observable. Example of such changes are the bulge of the eyes, the flush of the face, the flow of tears, the pulse rate, the beating of the heart, the choke in the voice, increased perspiration, the butterflies in the stomach, the goose flesh sensations as the body’s hairs stand on end, the fleeing from the situations or the attack on the emotion arousing stimulus. In addition to these easily observable changes there are internal physiological changes. Examples of such changes are changes in circulation of blood, the impact on digestive system and the changes in the functioning of some glands like adrenal glands.