Suppose you are waiting for someone desperately and they don’t show up, you become angry. You make up your mind that you will not speak to them again. What was this anger and how did it lead you to make the decision? According to Cambridge English dictionary, any strong feeling such as love or anger or any other strong feelings in general are termed as emotions.
Most of us think that we know what emotion is. However, different dictionaries define the term emotion in different ways. Emotions are actually very rational and can have direct impact on our ability to make decisions. There is a commonly accepted definition from Davidson, Scherer and collaborators that states that
‘’Emotion refers to a relatively brief episode of coordinated brain, autonomic and behavioral changes that facilitate a response to an external or internal event of significance for the organism’’
Emotions can play an important role in the way we behave. Sometimes, when making decision when we feel our decision is completely based on logic, emotions somehow influence our decision-making ability. Emotions exert an incredibly powerful force on human behavior. Strong emotions can cause you to take actions you might not normally perform. Why exactly do we have emotions? How they affect our decision making? Various psychologists and researchers have proposed various theories of emotions to explain why and how behind our emotions.
Evolutionary theory of Emotion:
Naturalist Charles Darwin proposed this theory. According to evolutionary theory of emotion:-
‘’Our emotions exist because they serve an adaptive role. Emotions motivate people to respond quickly to stimuli in the environment, which helps improve the chances of success and survival’’
For Instance, feelings of love and affection lead people to find mates and reproduce. Emotions increase the likelihood that when you experience fear, you are more likely to flee the threat.
James-Lange theory of Emotion:
James-Lange theory is one of the best known examples of physiological theory of emotion. According to James-Lange theory of emotion (1880):-
‘’An external stimulus leads to a physiological reaction. Your emotional reaction depends upon how much you interpret those physical reactions ’’
For Example, Suppose you are walking through the woods and see a black snake. You begin to shiver and your heart beat increases. You might think that you are frightened. According to this theory, you are not shivering because you are frightened. Instead you feel frightened because you are shivering.
The Cannon-Bard theory of emotion:
Walter Cannon disagreed with James-Lange theory of emotion on several different grounds. According to him:-
‘’We feel emotions and experience physiological reactions such as sweating, shivering and muscle tension simultaneously’’
He suggested that people can experience physiological reactions linked to emotions without actually feeling those emotions, as your heart might race because you have been running not because you are afraid. He also suggested that emotional responses occur too quickly. For Instance, you may feel afraid of barking dog before you start to experience physical symptoms such as pounding heart, shivering etc. He suggested that an animal or human respond according to fight or flight response.
The above theories explain that emotions have a very important role in decision making. Making emotional decisions is a natural thing. Our decisions, which are even based on logic and common sense, are often steered by emotions. For Example:-
Emotional decisions: How emotions affect our decisions?
Emotions are created in the brain which interprets what’s going on around us. This triggers how we feel and behave.
· When we are HAPPY, we may like to go home by foot via a sunny park. But if we are chased by a dog, we may find the same park triggering us and we would take the bus instead.
· When we are SAD, we may find difficulty in concentrating even on our favorite subject.
TO conclude, we can say that despite the fact that emotions impact every decision we make and the way we see the world, there is a lot of mystery related to emotions. Theories of emotions continue to change and evolve, exploring what causes feelings and how these affect us.
