WEEK 2: FOUNDATIONS - EMOTIONS AND THE NATURE OF WELLBEING
Components of Emotion
Moods
- Duration - minutes to hours.
- Provocation - lowers threshold needed to trigger.
- Modulation - regulation mostly unaffected.
- Expression - no unique nonverbal expressions.
- Awareness - difficult to identify exact trigger(s) causing mood.
Emotions
- Duration - seconds to minutes.
- Provocation - more easily experienced within moods belonging to the same “family”.
- Modulation - more difficult to regulate if experienced within mood.
- Expression - universal facial expressions
- Awareness - triggers more easily identifiable
Biological
- Neurotransmitters
- Genetics
- Hormones
Socio-cultural
- Social norms
- Social setting
- Culture
Basic Emotions
- Fear
- Contempt
- Sadness
- Happiness
- Surprise
- Anger
- Disgust
Pictures of facial affect (Ekman, 1976)
, Wheel of Emotions
Negativity Bias
- Negative events have a higher emotional impact than positive ones.
- Negativity bias: people give more attention and weight to negative experiences
Why
- Negative emotions – fear, sadness, anger, embarrassment are our first line of defence
against external threats.
- Why is it that people focus on what goes wrong rather than what goes right?
, Biology of Emotions
- Neurotransmitters
- the chemical messengers that relay information between nerve cells
Neurotransmitters
Oxytocin = love hormone.
Neuroplasticity
- Historically, scientists assumed that once our brains are formed in childhood, little change
takes place for the remainder of our lives. Several studies in recent years have challenged
this assumption.
Five approaches to Time
- Past-positive type
- Past-negative type
- Present-hedonistic type
- Present fatalistic type
- Future-oriented type
2.2 Wellbeing and Positive Emotion
, - Scientific research tells us that positivity does not simply reflect success and health, it can
also produce success and health.
- Positivity spells the difference between languishing or flourishing.
Broaden and Build Theory
- Positive emotions
- Broadening
- Novel thoughts, activities and relationships
- Building
- Enduring personal resources
- (e.g., social support, resilience skills and knowledge).
- Enhanced survival
- Health
- Fulfilment
- Increased positive emotions
- Upward spiral of positive emotions
Negative Emotion
Negative emotion (anger, fear) → Specific thought-action tendencies →Flight, fight or freeze
Negative Emotions and Thought-Action Tendencies
Fear = escape
Anger = attack
Disgust = expel
* The link between these specific thought-action tendencies and negative emotions gave us an
“evolutionary advantage”.
** These were among the actions that worked best in getting our ancestors out of life-or-death
situations.
Positive Emotion
Positive emotion (hope, awe, interest) →Non-specific thought-action tendencies →Broaden and
build
Positive Emotions
Components of Emotion
Moods
- Duration - minutes to hours.
- Provocation - lowers threshold needed to trigger.
- Modulation - regulation mostly unaffected.
- Expression - no unique nonverbal expressions.
- Awareness - difficult to identify exact trigger(s) causing mood.
Emotions
- Duration - seconds to minutes.
- Provocation - more easily experienced within moods belonging to the same “family”.
- Modulation - more difficult to regulate if experienced within mood.
- Expression - universal facial expressions
- Awareness - triggers more easily identifiable
Biological
- Neurotransmitters
- Genetics
- Hormones
Socio-cultural
- Social norms
- Social setting
- Culture
Basic Emotions
- Fear
- Contempt
- Sadness
- Happiness
- Surprise
- Anger
- Disgust
Pictures of facial affect (Ekman, 1976)
, Wheel of Emotions
Negativity Bias
- Negative events have a higher emotional impact than positive ones.
- Negativity bias: people give more attention and weight to negative experiences
Why
- Negative emotions – fear, sadness, anger, embarrassment are our first line of defence
against external threats.
- Why is it that people focus on what goes wrong rather than what goes right?
, Biology of Emotions
- Neurotransmitters
- the chemical messengers that relay information between nerve cells
Neurotransmitters
Oxytocin = love hormone.
Neuroplasticity
- Historically, scientists assumed that once our brains are formed in childhood, little change
takes place for the remainder of our lives. Several studies in recent years have challenged
this assumption.
Five approaches to Time
- Past-positive type
- Past-negative type
- Present-hedonistic type
- Present fatalistic type
- Future-oriented type
2.2 Wellbeing and Positive Emotion
, - Scientific research tells us that positivity does not simply reflect success and health, it can
also produce success and health.
- Positivity spells the difference between languishing or flourishing.
Broaden and Build Theory
- Positive emotions
- Broadening
- Novel thoughts, activities and relationships
- Building
- Enduring personal resources
- (e.g., social support, resilience skills and knowledge).
- Enhanced survival
- Health
- Fulfilment
- Increased positive emotions
- Upward spiral of positive emotions
Negative Emotion
Negative emotion (anger, fear) → Specific thought-action tendencies →Flight, fight or freeze
Negative Emotions and Thought-Action Tendencies
Fear = escape
Anger = attack
Disgust = expel
* The link between these specific thought-action tendencies and negative emotions gave us an
“evolutionary advantage”.
** These were among the actions that worked best in getting our ancestors out of life-or-death
situations.
Positive Emotion
Positive emotion (hope, awe, interest) →Non-specific thought-action tendencies →Broaden and
build
Positive Emotions
