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The War of Emotions and Cognition: Do you know the difference between Zajonc's and Lazarus' perspectives?
In the fields of psychology and communication, the expression of emotions is regarded as an extremely important part. Emotions show up in many forms, whether through facial expressions, gestures, body language, or non-verbal means such as tone and volume of voice, and people often reveal their emotional state unconsciously. These emotional expressions can be divided into positive emotions and negative emotions, and can be conscious or unconscious.
Exhibitions of positive emotions, such as smiling and laughing, are called "positive emotions," while negative emotions, such as crying and nervous gestures, are called "negative emotions."
When discussing emotions, we cannot ignore the theoretical contrast between Robert B. Zajonc and Richard Lazarus. Zajonc advocates that emotions are human instinctive responses to stimuli and believes that this response is sequential and precedes cognitive processing. According to Zajonc, emotional reactions can occur without in-depth cognitive processing and are judged with greater speed and confidence than cognitive judgments.
Zajonc's view is that human emotional responses are responses that are more adaptable than those of other lower organisms.
In contrast, Lazarus's position is that emotion is a post-cognitive product, that is, emotion is generated after certain cognitive processing. This view holds that affective responses, such as love or disgust, are based on prior cognitive processes that involve the identification, evaluation, and weighting of features.
This disagreement implies that the formation of emotions does not only depend on current stimuli, but also involves personal past experiences, personality, and family socialization patterns. For example, infants who are highly reactive and have low self-soothing abilities may have disproportionately affected emotion regulation processes early in life.
When exploring non-conscious emotions, we must consider the multiplicity of perceptions. Nonconscious emotions in response to environmental stimuli may be somewhat separate from cognitive processing. Brewin mentioned two kinds of experiential processes: one is an innate tendency to automatically select stimuli, and the other is an automatic process that occurs with little awareness.
This means that emotions are not only triggered by obvious perceptual experiences, but are more likely to be latent and automatic responses.
The arousal response in the body is another important element, which is the physiological response to the stimulus. When this reaction occurs, it may manifest itself in two control mechanisms: one, mobilization, and the other, rigidity. The amygdala in the brain is responsible for regulating this response, deciding whether to "freeze" the individual or speed up his or her actions.
Emotions and situations are inseparable. Emotions usually have a clear focus, while emotional states are more difficult to define. Mood's persistence may last for days, weeks or even months. Unlike emotions, moods can change rapidly and are unusually dependent on immediate feedback and external expectations.
Positive emotions and negative emotions represent independent emotional categories in the general population, and positive emotions are particularly closely related to social interaction.
Gender also has a significant impact on the expression of emotions, and research shows that people of different genders have differences in their emotional displays. These differences are influenced by self-perception as well as physiological factors, such as hormone levels.
Children's development also demonstrates the importance of emotional expression. Early research shows that babies can begin to recognize and imitate emotional expressions and gradually develop empathy. However, emotional development is not only reflected on the basis of acquisition, but also the family environment and parents' mental health will directly affect the child's emotional state.
A study found that children of patients with depression showed significantly lower positive emotions than controls, suggesting that a family background of depression can have a long-term impact on children's emotional development.
In addition, certain illnesses and mental health disorders can alter the way an individual displays emotions. In these situations, emotions cannot be expressed appropriately, creating a barrier to emotion perception and transmission.
In general, whether it is physiological, instinctive emotional reactions, or cognitive-based emotional experiences, emotions play an indispensable role in our daily lives. Zajonc and Lazarus' theory reveals the intricate interplay between emotion and cognition that affects not only our thinking, but also our behavior and social interactions. Such thinking forces us to think deeply: What are the factors that really drive us behind our emotional reactions?
