Understanding Emotion - chapter 9

Disgust and us-them thinking

Disgust is a toxic emotion between groups and can fuel violence. Groups in conflict will dehumanise one another with references to each other as disgusting. These feelings of disgust set the stage for laws -such as antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany- that limit contact across group boundaries and set the stage for violence. Disgust is a powerful engine of prejudices towards outgroups. Studies show that disgust (ex: smelling odorous trash) can amplify prejudicial feelings, in particular towards homosexuals, and, more generally, can give rise to us-vs-them thinking

The interactions between emotions and social relationships

Emotions are the grammar of social relationships. Emotional exchanges are the core elements of the interactions that make up our most meaningful relationships. We often communicate our emotions to others quickly and unconsciously. Two broad ways to approach emotion: 1) Emotions create specific social relationships, they are scripts for distinctive types of relationships and emotional situations. 2) Relationships shape emotions. Emotional responses vary systematically according to whether we're among friends, whether we fell we have power, and even according to our class background.

Emotional intelligence

Emotional intelligence involves four different skills: 1) Ability to accurately perceive the emotions of others. 2) Ability to understand one's own emotions. 3) Ability to use current feelings in making decisions. 4) Ability to manage one's own emotions in ways that are fitting to the current situation (emotion regulation). Several studies show that individuals with high levels of emotional intelligence fare better in their relationships.

Emotional processes that improve group relationships

Emotional processes can also improve relationships between groups. Friendships across group boundaries have been found to reduce the negative emotions that escalate tensions between people from different groups. Joint projects that unite people from different groups are also important. Sherif's study in which he created very high levels of conflict between two groups of boys at a camp and then had them do joint projects, revealed that these joint tasks reduced hostilities. Another solution to conflict between groups is forgiveness, which has its roots in the reconciliation processes non-human primates so routinely engage in to maintain peaceful communities.

Emotions within intimate relationships

Emotions are central to intimate life. Romantic love is founded jointly on the social motivations of attachment and affiliation: with attachment comes trustfulness and protection, and with affiliation comes the ability for cooperation in joint projects.

Emotions in friendships

Friendships are based on the distinctively human social goal of affiliation, which affords friendly cooperation in accomplishing things together that we couldn't do alone. Friendships are an evolutionary conundrum because they require cooperation with non-kin. Trivers proposed that cooperative alliances have emerged in human evolution, and are successful in our more immediate lives, to the extent that there is reciprocal giving and affection. Building on this, Nesse and Ellsworth argued that emotions such as love and gratitude promote cooperative, affectionate alliances between friends.

Power and emotion

How does the power we experience within a social context influence our emotional tendencies? Studies demonstrate that in human and non-human animals, individuals of lower status face more threats and are therefore more anxious, on guard, and vigilant of the actions of others. Individuals of higher status enjoy greater access to resources and freedom and are less dependent on others. Assertion, or power, has been found to influence in profound ways the emotions people feel moment by moment. Those of high status tend to experience greater positive emotion in different situations than people of lower status. Those of lower status are more likely to experience negative emotions like sadness, shame, guilt, and anxiety. Power influences how individuals respond to the emotions of others. Studies found that high-power individuals are less responsive and attentive to the emotions of others. Low-power individuals are more likely to mimic their friend's emotions.

Mimicry

Humans are imitative species. In experiments, participants will unconsciously imitate smiles presented in photos so fast that they don't even know they've seen them. We are specially likely to imitate the emotions of others. Emotional mimicry is a central ingredient for friendships; it is a basic way in which friends build common ground and become closer.

Anger and intergroup conflict

Jane Goodall's observations of primates indicate that the potential for intergroup violence in humans is part of our primate heritage. Berkowitz studies of violence concluded that anger is the spark of violence. With respect to violence between groups, he noted that many of the social conditions that increase the likelihood of aggression between groups increase violence when these conditions give rise to feelings of anger. Mackie and Smith have found that anger directed at the outgroup is more likely when group members individually feel that their own group is strong as compered with the outgroup, and when members are very identified with the group. And, regrettably, incidental feelings of anger, once set in motion, will increase prejudice and hatred toward outgroups.

Emotions within and between groups

Much of our membership in groups is essential to us. A group affords us a focus of attachment, people to look up to, a place of safety, and a secure base. It is based on the affiliative motivation of cooperation. It is also organised into a hierarchy of assertion in which everyone has a place. The other side of the affiliative emotion within groups is the conflict between groups. Many conflicts with out-groups are benign and ritualised into competition. But some intergroup conflicts become violent, and this potentially is the most destructive of our human proclivities.

Emotions in hierarchical relationships

Philosopher Russell argued that all relationships are shaped by differences in power. Power (or assertion), the desire to gain influence, is part of every relationship and part of most social interactions. Shield's concept of "emotion politics" refers to the processes by which people experience, express, and conceptualise emotion in ways that define their own status and that of others.

Gratitude

Smith argued that gratitude is the sentiment that holds people together in the spirit of common cause. More recently, McCullough and Emmons contend that gratitude is the glue of cooperative social living among non-kin; it is a moral emotion. It serves as a barometer, helping us keep track of which friends are generous and which are not (like grooming in non-human primates, it helps us track the cooperative non-kin). It also motivates altruistic and affectionate behaviour. It produces the generosity, the favours, and the expressions of appreciation that are critical to long-term commitments among friends. They posit that the expression of gratitude, either verbally or non-verbally, acts as a reward; it reinforces affectionate, cooperative behaviour.

Social class and emotion

Social class is imbued with a sense of rank, a sense of who has influence and who does not. Social class influences individual's emotional lives in similar ways to power differences. Lower-class individuals tend to respond to situations with threat-related emotions such as anxiety. Because they are vigilant of the emotions of others, lower class people are better judges of other's emotions. These gives rise to lower class people to respond to others more empathically than higher-class people do

Social support

Social support is defined by strong feelings of being surrounded by good friends during times of need. Friends not only provide the delights and laughter of friendship, but they also provide the individual with a sense that there are people to turn to in times of need - people with whom to share complex emotions. Strong emotional support buffers people from emotional breakdowns and is beneficial for physical health. It reduces feelings of stress, anxiety, and uncertainty during difficult and challenging times.

Emotional displays and the negotiation of social rank

Status conflicts can be violent and combatants can incur enormous costs. Given the costs of status contests, many non-human species rely on non-verbal displays to negotiate and establish their positions within the hierarchy. These kinds of ritualised displays enable group members to establish who has power in a less costly fashion. Humans too negotiate their places in hierarchies by emotional displays. Anger is clearly a high-power emotion. Expressions of anger lead to gains in power within groups; a study found that people attributed greater power to leaders when they displayed anger as opposed to other emotions. When a person is wronged by another, the person feels empowered to confront the other, and the usual function of anger is to readjust something in the relationship. Another power-related emotion is pride. It is signalled in dominance behaviours. A study revealed that people who experience pride are judged by others to be more powerful, and their social rank within the group is increased. One candidate for a low-power emotion that when expressed signals lower rank is embarrassment. A study showed that people who express embarrassment are thought to be of lesser status and described as physically smaller. Embarrassment signals submissiveness.

Infrahumanisation

The tendency to think of one's own group as superior compared to other groups is amplified by different emotions, in particular anger, contempt, and disgust. One emotion-related facet of the tendency to privilege the ingroup compared to the outgroup is known as infrahumanisation. Infrahumanisation is the tendency for ingroup members to attribute animal-like qualities to outgroup members -that is, to deny them full human standing. Emotions play a critical part in this. Group members assume that their own group is more likely than outgroup members to experience more complex, sophisticated emotions. These more complex emotions involve more uniquely human cognitive capacities and are especially important in the value group members attach to their own identity. By contrast, group members attribute similar levels of more basic emotions to their own group and to the outgroup.

Principles of sexual love

What brings individuals together into romantic partnerships? Tow candidates are sexual desire and romantic love. Finkel's speed-dating study revealed important insights into initial passion and desire. When one individual feels unique desire and chemistry for another, those feelings are reciprocated by the person who is the object of attraction. The speed daters who felt sexual attraction for many other people actually generated little desire or chemistry in those people themselves. Our early feelings of sexual desire are responsive to specific cues of strength in men and fecundity in women. We can become focused on just one person. Passion is then registered in specific patterns of touch, cuddling, and sexual signalling. In women, manifestations of sexual desire are tied to the ovulation cycle. As romantic partners spend more time together, the intense feelings of sexual desire can give way to a second emotion: romantic love. This is defined by feelings of deep intimacy; comfort and security in being close, in knowing each other, and in the feeling of their identities coming to merge.

Emotions in marriage

What emotional processes predict the demise of marriages? A long-term study found that there are four toxic emotional behaviours that are most damaging to a marriage and predict divorce. 1) Criticism: people who continually find fault with their partners have less satisfying marriages 2) Defensiveness: when romantic partners are unable to talk about their difficulty without being defensive, their marriage is in trouble 3) Stonewalling: resisting dealing with problems also signifies problems in marriage 4) Contempt: expressed in sneers, eye-rolls, and disparagement 93% of couples who showed evidence of toxic behaviours in study were divorced 14 years later. Recent studies have identified patterns that help romantic partners stay committed and close. 1) Share what is good in life with your partner (capitalising upon the good). Express appreciation and encouragement for good things that happen in your partner's life. 2) Cultivate humour, amusement, and play. These are emotional antidotes to the challenges that couples face in the middle-stage of their marriage 3) Cultivate compassionate love: a positive regard for the partner and appreciation of the partner's foibles and weaknesses. 4) Forgiveness: not a mindless glossing over what the partner has done; it involves recognising that to err is human