How Are Emotions Adaptive?
The chapter begins with a consideration of how emotions serve a survival function. Emotions, immediate responses to environmental events, are distinguished from moods, which are diffuse and long-lasting emotional states. The evolutionary basis of emotion is supported by the cross-cultural recognition of the facial expression of emotions. The authors present Ekman and Friesen's classic studies in which the facial expressions of anger, fear, disgust, happiness, sadness, and surprise were recognized in diverse cultures. Subsequent research has continued to provide support for the cross-cultural congruence in identification of facial expressions. While recognition of facial expression appears universal and adaptive, the display rules, or norms, for the exhibition of emotions differ dramatically. The adaptive nature of emotion is also seen in their influence on cognitive functions. They serve as heuristic guides in decision making, capture our attention, and aid in memory. They also strengthen interpersonal relations. Even seemingly negative emotions such as guilt, shame, and jealousy strengthen social bonds, renew commitments to relationships, and motivate positive behavior. Embarrassment may help reaffirm close relationships after a transgression.

How Do People Experience Emotions?
The next section looks at attempts to define and quantify the phenomenological experience of emotion. Psychological scientists have agreed on three components that accompany emotions: a subjective experience, physical changes, and cognitive appraisals. There are three main theories of emotion that differ in their emphasis on these components.

Table 10.1: Theories of Emotion
Theory of Emotion	Process of Experiencing Emotion
James–Lange	specific patterns of physical changes give rise to the perception of associated emotions
Cannon–Bard	processed in subcortical pathways resulting in two experiences: emotion and physical reaction
Two-factor	situation evokes physiological response (arousal) and a cognitive interpretation (emotion label)

The subjective nature of emotions is illustrated by the difficulty in verbally describing them. Self-reports are a common technique to get at the trait (how do you feel in general?) and state (how do you feel right now?) descriptions of emotion. The physiological changes associated with emotion are exemplified by the facial feedback hypothesis, the idea that facially mimicking an emotion will activate the associated emotion. Actors portraying emotions experience similar physiological changes (heart rate, skin temperature) as individuals experiencing the emotion. There also is a cognitive component or labeling of emotion from environmental information. The importance of this process is seen when one actually mislabels or misattributes arousal. Excitation transfer is an example of misattribution in which the arousal from one event is transferred to a new stimulus. The authors give some useful advice in that one should take a date to an arousing movie so that those feelings of arousal might be misattributed to positive emotions about you! Individuals use a variety of emotion-regulation processes every day. Humor and distraction are two excellent techniques for regulating negative affect.

What Is the Neurophysiological Basis of Emotion?
Recent advances in behavioral neuroscience have substantially improved our understanding of emotions. It has long been known that emotions are associated with activation in the autonomic nervous system. However, it is now clear that there is tremendous overlap in autonomic activity among the various emotions. James Papez and Paul MacLean contributed much understanding of emotion in their research on the limbic system, a term used for the neural circuit involved in emotional processing. Ironically, two areas they did not deem important—the amygdala and the orbitofrontal cortex—have been found to be highly involved with emotion. The amygdala has been associated with fear conditioning and perception of social stimuli, particularly fearful faces. The orbitofrontal cortex is also involved in the processing of emotional cues, especially those related to interpersonal interactions. It also has been shown that there is a cerebral asymmetry in emotional activation. It appears that right hemisphere activity is associated with negative affect and left hemisphere activity is associated with positive affect.

How Do People Cope with Stress?
The final section of the chapter deals with stress and the emotional/behavioral responses of coping. Hans Selye formulated the general adaptation syndrome (GAS) to describe the stages of physiological coping with stress. He identified a consistent pattern of responding in the alarm stage, resistance stage, and exhaustion stage. Other investigators focused on the particular stressors, or environmental events, that lead to stress and coping. These have been divided into the categories of major life stressors and daily hassles. The field of psychoneuroimmunology has advanced our understanding of how psychological factors can compromise our immune systems. Personality traits (e.g., hostility) and stressor characteristics (e.g., intensity, novelty, predictability) have been found to influence the perception of stress. A number of styles for coping with stress have been articulated, including emotion-focused coping, problem-focused coping, and positive reappraisal. One of the most important variables in coping is the use of social support. This seems to help people experience less stress overall as well as lessen the negative effects of the stress that occur (the buffering hypothesis).