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Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, Being
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PROFESSOR:
This woman has a smile on her face, and looks as if she is laughing. Therefore, most of us would conclude that she is happy or has just heard something funny. As you watch her face, you may even find that your mood lightens as well, which can happen as we look at images of other individuals smiling or laughing. But how are our expressions related to the emotions we
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experience? In this section, we'll be discussing the question, what do
faces tell us about emotion? This is Section 1 of Theories of Emotion. Our objectives are to define emotion and describe the components of emotion, to identify fundamental emotions individuals experience, and to explain various theories of emotion.
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In this section, we'll be defining emotion and we'll be describing the components of emotion. Emotion is a subjective feeling that represents one's state of mind. It's influenced by individual thoughts, physiology, experiences, and
behavior. Emotions have many functions. They serve to motivate behavior.
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For example, anger can motivate someone into advocating for rights for others. They help communicate feelings. Someone may not know you're grieving until you express your feelings to them. They act as a warning for stress or danger. Fear can warn you to act appropriately in a dangerous situation.
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They facilitate social interaction and increase or decrease social behavior. And finally,
emotions assist in understanding thoughts and behavior. The three components of emotions are cognitive, physiological, and behavioral components. Let's discuss each. How one interprets events influences the emotion felt.
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The cognitive component of emotion has an evaluative aspect. Evaluation of emotions can be automatic and unconscious, or conscious. People evaluate and label their emotions as positive, negative, or both. Emotions are influenced by physiological activity in the
autonomic nervous system and in various brain structures.
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Emotions are accompanied by autonomic arousal or diminishment. Let's look at how our body's autonomic nervous system interacts with our emotions. Activity in the autonomic nervous system is associated with our emotions. This is linked to the arousal and calming of emotions. For example, in the sympathetic division, our
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pupils dilate, our mouth becomes dry, we get goose bumps or become sweaty. Our heart
rate accelerates, we have increased hormonal activity, and digestion is inhibited. In the parasympathetic division, our pupils constrict. Our mouth salivates, and our skin becomes smooth or dry. Our heart rate slows.
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We have decreased hormonal activity, and digestion is stimulated. Autonomic responses involved with emotion are controlled by various brain activities. This is associated with activity in three specific structures, the thalamus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex.
Let's discuss each.
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Sensory input initiating emotion enters the thalamus. It's then routed to the amygdala, where the amygdala quickly processes information. It plays a role in the development and memory of specific fears. And recent research has linked the amygdala to positive emotions as well. As the amygdala processes information, it triggers
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neural activity that activates the autonomic nervous system, as well as the endocrine system, which releases the
appropriate hormones. The prefrontal cortex helps to control emotional response. It's activated when processing information associated with emotional stress or conflict or emotional rewards or pleasure. The prefrontal cortex is responsible for helping to
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choose between conflicting thoughts, make choices between right and wrong, predicting future events, and governing social control. Emotions are demonstrated through both verbal and non-verbal behavior. They're demonstrated
through our verbal expressions, our body language, and our facial expressions. Let's discuss each.
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Emotion is expressed through body language. One's body language can include crossed arms or legs, rolling one's eyes, clenching a fist, or having slumped shoulders. All of these help us read the emotions of others. Facial expressions represent emotion as well. Expressions are recognizable across cultures. For example, the expression you make when you're happy is
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similar
to the expression another individual makes when they're happy. Facial feedback theory is a theory that states that facial expressions can influence the emotions one experiences. Our facial muscles send signals to the brain that help the brain recognize which emotion is experienced. Due to the connection between one's facial muscles and the brain, mimicking another person smiling may make you
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feel more happy as well. Emotions are demonstrated through verbal expressions. Our
voice and the words we express are an important indicator of emotion. Behavioral expressions of emotions can be deceiving. Verbal expressions or other overt behaviors don't always match the emotion felt. Societal expectations determine appropriate ways to
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express our emotions. For example, we don't speak loudly in a restaurant or in church. We may wear social masks, because we sometimes have difficulty letting others know how we feel, or we don't want others to know how we
feel. To review in this section, we talked about how there are three components that work together to make up the
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experience of emotions. The cognitive component is responsible for interpretation and evaluation of emotions. The physiological component is responsible for physical changes that accompany emotion. And the behavioral component is responsible for emotions that are shown through body language and verbal and facial expressions.
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Next, we'll look at
some fundamental emotions that we experience.