Physiological Arouse Schachter and Valuation

Emotions is an issue that has worried being humited for thousands of years. Buddhism is a good sample of this. His theories date back 2.600 years. Darwin, 200 years ago also contributed his theories. Modern psychology has been investigating the issue of emotions decades. What are they? Where do they arise? Why do they occur? What purpose do they have? Stanley Schachter, an American social psychologist of the twentieth century, also investigated this topic and its theories went to the history of psychology.

As will be addressed more depth in the article, Schachter addressed the theme of the physiological arousal and introduced the valuation of the situation so that the emotion was complete. Throughout the article your theory will be detailed. In this way, we will know a little better how our emotions work through one of the most prominent authors.

Content

• Schachter, Arousal and Valuation
• Emotional states on a daily basis
• Schachter propositions
• Criticism of Schachter's theory
  • Bibliography

Schachter, Arousal and Valuation

Stanley Schachter proposed that An emotional state is the result of the physiological arousal and adequate cognition for the state of ARUSAL. But what is the ARUSAL Physological? This is physiological activation. Thus, according to Schachter, so that we can feel an emotion fully, we will need to be activated and value the situation. As Alberto Mesa (2007), Professor of Psychology: "He who feels joy, sadness, fear, etc. It is not determined by the pattern of body change that has occurred in a situation, but of how it is interpreted ".

According to Schachter, Without the valuation of the situation, emotion is not possible. Hence When the information is not available, the author states that the Need for evaluation. Through this need, the person tries to understand and label body changes in relation to what is happening at that time. For example, if in an experiment adrenaline is injected into different subjects (but they are told that it is serum), they will feel palpitations and activation but they will not really know why they feel like this. This ignorance will lead them to seek an explanation about their activation, so they will investigate the information they have available.

Emotional states on a daily basis

As described, Emotional states would be the result of the interaction between a state of ARUSAL physiological and cognitive interpretation. Let's imagine that we are sleeping. They are three in the morning and we listen to a rumble that comes from the kitchen. We feel that the heart is accelerated, we begin to sweat, our breathing accelerates, the muscles tense, etc. At that time, we interpret the situation. For example, if we have a cat at home, we can think that it has been the cat, but if we live alone, we may think they have entered to steal. Fruit of this interpretation and assessment of the available information, we feel the emotion, such as fear.

Schachter propositions

Schachter established three empirical propositions to test his theory:

1. Because the ARUSAL It is nonspecific, We will need to explain the cause of the bodily changes we suffer through the cognitive interpretation of the situation. As Schachter himself defined: "To the extent that cognitive factors are powerful determinants of emotional states, it could be anticipated that the same state of physiological arousal could be labeled as joy or fury or any of a wide variety of emotional labels depending on the cognitive aspects of the situation ".
2. When the cause of ARUSAL, Evaluation needs do not arise. The author states that "Given a state of physiological arousal for which an individual has a completely appropriate explanation, evaluation needs will not arise".
3. Even though that him ARUSAL It is nonspecific, its importance is remarkable, since without it emotions would not occur. Schachter exposed the following example: "An individual can, for example, be aware that he is in a situation of great danger but for some reason (pharmacological or surgical) remains in a state of physiological stillness. Will you feel the emotional experience of fear? This formulation considers emotion as a joint function of a state of physiological arousal and an appropriate cognition, and suggests, in principle, that I would not feel it ".

Criticism of Schachter's theory

Schachter's theory has received certain criticisms, above all, his research. Some authors have criticized that researcher's experiments to demonstrate his theory were a bit artificial. The main criticism states that the conjunction of Aroual and cognitive assessment is carried out immediately and not as delayed as arises in Schachter's experiments.

Alberto Acosta (2007), states that "These are everyday situations in which The explanatory needs that Schachter postulated are completed effortlessly. In addition, these powers are usually correct. In laboratory situations, however, the process chain is very forced ". Although in Schachter experiments physiological activation and valuation arose more delayed, its theory continues to enjoy validity.

Bibliography

Table, a. (2007). Emotion Psychology. Granada: Sider S Editions.C.