Emotions and decision making What are emotions and why do we have them? EMOTIONS and social interactions PDF

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SP week 5 L9 emotions and decision makingWhat are emotions and why do we have them? ..-ordinated physiological, behavioural and cognitive states, which influence thoughts and behaviour in ways that might have helped us to survive Individual perspective, Social perspective, Cultural perspective Emoti...

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SP week 5 L9 emotions and decision making What are emotions and why do we have them? …co-ordinated physiological, behavioural and cognitive states, which influence thoughts and behaviour in ways that might have helped us to survive Individual perspective, Social perspective, Cultural perspective Emotions are Motivated states with various components: physiological arousal (e.g. autonomic nervous system and hormones), expressive behaviors (e.g. facial expressions, postures), and conscious experience (feeling a certain way) People also use different words for different types of emotional state: emotions and moods are slightly different, emotions are more intense than moods, and more specific and are caused by something. Eg guilt Moods less intense longer lasting more general and not clearly linked to an event or cause Affect: generic term covering all of the above, often= feeling good or bad. Why do we have emotions? Theories assume they evolved to guide our behaviour and cognition Evolutionary perspective of why we have emotions: emotions promote the “right” response to recurring situations of adaptive significance in our evolutionary past, such as fighting, falling in love, escaping predators, losing status (Loewenstein, 2010) eg anxiety would help to survive a certain situation. EMOTIONS CAN AFFECT HOW WE THINK AND BEHAVE “sleep on it before you decide” “take a deep breath and count to 10” “don’t go food shopping when you’re hungry” When we make statements like these, we show that we already understand this However, we tend to underestimate this influence (the ‘hot-cold empathy gap’; Loewenstein et al., 2001) hot-cold empathy gap= It is difficult for humans to predict how they will behave in the future. A hot-cold empathy gap occurs when people underestimate the influence of visceral states (e.g. being angry, in pain, or hungry) on their behavior or preferences. Rational when cold state and hot when emotional state. So the hot-cold empathy gap is the tendency to underestimate how our preferences will change when in either a 'hot' or 'cold' emotional state: A 'cold' state is where we are calm, collected, sensible and rational. A 'hot' state is where we are emotional, excited, angry, hungry, in pain or aroused in some way.

ARE THE EFFECTS OF EMOTIONS IRRATIONAL? (the law is reason free from passion) Philosophers have argued that emotion and rationality are separate, and we can support this anecdotally, but what does psychological evidence tell us? CAN WE REALLY SEPARATE EMOTIONS FROM COGNITION Emotion and cognition aren’t localized in separate neural systems; the view that emotions battle with cognition to control behaviour isn’t how the brain works (Feldman Barrett, 2017)

Zajonic vs Lazarus the cognition emotion debate: what comes first? Lazarus Theory states that a thought must come before any emotion or physiological arousal. In other words, you must first think about your situation before you can experience an emotion. EXAMPLE: You are walking down a dark alley late at night. Zajonic theory: that some emotional responses occur instantly; sometimes we feel before we think. arousal. one of the two dimensions of emotion; can be high or low; scale of tension; low = relaxed/sad; high = joy/fear/anger. valence. asserted that some emotions occur separately from or prior to our cognitive interpretation of them, such as feeling fear in response to an unexpected loud sound (Zajonc, 1998). ... LeDoux also views some emotions as requiring no cognition: some emotions completely bypass contextual interpretation.

How do Emotions influence our judgements and decisions? in various ways, and decision making is impaired without them, suggesting this is one of their functions, not an irrational side-effect. Although many of these effects disappear when we are made aware of this influence We often underestimate this influence: The ‘hot-cold empathy gap can cause us to make errors when predicting how emotions will influence our future decisions.

Emotions influence memory • Mood congruent recall: we are more likely to retrieve memories consistent with current mood - Lloyd & Lishman, 1975 • State-dependent memory: we remember best when mood at encoding matches mood at recall Bower, 1981 • We’re also generally better at recalling emotional memories Cahill et al 1996 Bower’s network theory (1981) Emotional arousal spreads through a network and primes other nodes it’s associated with, making them more accessible and more likely to be retrieved

Bower's theory explains the multiple associations of memory congruence within the paradigm of the nodes of the semantic memory network. ... Like with semantic memory networks, the nodes that represent particular emotions are triggered by the words that invoke that emotion

Emotions influence the judgments we make about ourselves: • Mildly depressed people make more accurate self-ratings; they don’t show the usual self-serving bias (“depressive realism”, Alloy & Abramson, 1988) • Depressed people show a positive bias when rating others, so they’re not more accurate overall; they are just making self-judgments differently Emotions influence the judgments we make about other people :“Misattribution of arousal “ (Duton and Aron, 1974) o test the causation of misattribution of

arousal incorporated an attractive confederate female to wait at the end of a bridge that was either a suspension bridge (that would induce fear) or a sturdy bridge (that would not induce fear). At the end she gave them her phone number. Many more men called that were stopped on a scary bridge than on a normal bridges

eg people can become infatuated so fast .This shows that it works the other way around.

Weather studies: Emotions influence the judgments we make about other people (again) – University admissions tutors make different decisions on cloudy days vs. sunny days (Simonsohn, 2007) – People report being more satisfied with their lives on sunny days, although asking people about the weather first eliminates this effect (Schwarz & Clore, 1983) Model Feelings As Information (Schwarz & Clore, 1983): Emotions are used as a source of information when we make judgements; we experience our feelings as reactions to whatever we are focusing on, and assume that they provide information relevant to the decision we’re making.

Are emotions harmful or helpful for decision-making?even though their effects are sometimes harmful, they are an essential part of the decision-making process. The evidence discussed so far shows that emotions sometimes have negative effects but would we really be better off without them? What happens if people don’t have emotions? Damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex impairs emotional processing, but this doesn’t make people more rational; instead, it impairs their ability to make decisions and learn from mistakes (e.g., Bechara et al., 1994) “choosing on the basis of one’s current emotional state is not an effective decision making strategy for humans… [but] decision making that makes use of lessons learned from emotional experiences and consideration of anticipated emotional states may be a beneficial and successful decision making strategy.” (Baumeister et al, 2007) Emotions can be harmful: We’ve discussed various situations where emotions can cause us to make decisions which have negative outcomes in the short term But can also be helpful: these negative effects may guide us to make better decisions in future; and the fact that decision making is impaired when emotion-related brain areas are damaged suggests they are a key part of the decision-making process.

Readings: Baumeister Do emotions improve or hinder decision making? “Thus there are contradictory lines of thought regarding the role of emotions in the decision making process. Can they both be correct? That is, can emotions both improve and impair decision making? In our view, the answer is yes. There is no simple answer to the question of whether emotions are helpful or harmful for decision making. They can be both helpful and harmful. The purpose of this chapter is to explain how different aspects of emotion and different categories of emotional processes can produce both beneficial and harmful effects on decision making “ Conclusion: Emotions play a significant role in the choices people make, but researchers continue to disagree as to whether emotions improve or impair the decision making process. Part of the disagreement regarding the positive and negative influence of emotion on decision making is centered on the fact that emotional reactions began to develop long before our ancestors had evolved into humans. Humans are therefore equipped with an emotion system that they inherited from animals with simpler lives, and this system must somehow be retrofitted or adapted to cope with the far more complex choices presented by human culture. Conscious attention and awareness, language-based meaning systems, and an extended perception of time are only a few of the aspects that make human decision making more complex than that of animals, and which place new demands on the emotion system.

Lecture 10, week5 EMOTIONS and social interactions Do emotions have a social function? Yes! They guide our social behaviour, especially selfconscious emotions. Our emotions also influence others’ behaviour (as described in the EASI model). It’s been argued (e.g., by Parkinson) that that the main function of emotions is to direct social behaviour, both ours and other people’s. Emotions are likely to have evolved to serve 2 primary functions: Tracy & Robins, 2007 - Promotoing the attainment of survival and reproductive goals, - Promoting the attainment of social goals more indirectly related to survival.” Emotions have social functions: Although a variety of functions have been proposed… what is undeniable is that when emotional processing is compromised, most things social go awry.” Niedenthal and Brauer, 2012

Social and physical pain involve the same parts of the brain (Lieberman and Eisenberg, 2009) Self-conscious: emotions seem to be especially important. Tracy & Robins (2004) suggest the function of these emotions is to regulate the self in the context of social groups and relationships. Pride reinforces and motivates socially valued behaviours, and shame, guilt and embarrassment are felt in response to transgressions of norms Emotions are social (Parkinson, 1996). Emotions are often caused by social factors, they have consequences for other people, and they serve interpersonal and cultural functions Emotions are essentially communicative. Kraut and Johnston 1979 study: observed people bowling. Facial displays were much more pronounced when turning around to an audience than when facing the result of the bowl

 humans are much more likely to smile when they are engaged in a social interaction with another person than they are when they are solitarily experiencing a pleasant emotion.

The EASI model (reading): EMOTIONS AS SOCIAL INFORMATION MODEL (EASI) • Emotions regulate social interactions by triggering affective reactions and inferences in observers. • The effect of emotions on other peoples’ affective reactions/inferences, and ultimately on others’ behaviour, depends on other factors such as the observer’s information processing (e.g. motivation) and relational factors e.g. appropriateness of expression).

Other people’s emotional expressions change how we feel and how we interpret the situation, and thus trigger changes in our behaviour. This process is influenced by factors such as our relationship with the other person. Reading van Kleef How Emotions regulate social life- the EASI model-

Stemming from a socialfunctional approach to

emotions, Van Kleef (2009) introduced the Emotions As Social Information (EASI) model, whereby the emotions (and by implication, the behaviours) of a target individual are regulated through affective reactions and inferential processing (See Figure 1). This process is moderated by potential socialrelational factors as well as the inferential processing abilities and motivation of the target

individual. Friesen, Devonport, Sellars, and Lane (2015; this issue) examined interpersonal emotion regulation in ice hockey and reported that players frequently used verbal or expressional strategies as well as behavioural strategies to regulate their teammates’ emotions. These strategies were employed to initiate cognitive and affective processes similar to those described in the EASI model

the EASI Model: Stemming from a social-functional approach to emotions, Van Kleef (2009) introduced the Emotions As Social Information (EASI) model, whereby the emotions (and by implication, the behaviours) of a target individual are regulated through affective reactions and inferential processing (See Figure 1). This process is moderated by potential social- relational factors as well as the inferential processing abilities and motivation of the target individual.

How do our emotions influence other people? One way in which emotions exert social influence is by changing the emotions of other people. This can occur in a conscious or non-conscious way Emotions can even be transmitted beyond the people we actually interact with, through larger groups and networks

Emotional contagious: transfer of emotional state from one person to another Mood/Emotion/contagion • Individuals living with a depressed roommate are more likely to become depressed themselves (Joiner, 1994) • This can also happen on a much shorter timescale; just hearing someone talk in a depressed tone of voice can cause contagion (Neumann and Strack, 2000) A controversial study on contagion (Kramer et al, 2014): • Researchers at Facebook reduced the amount of positive or negative emotional content in N = 700k people’s news feeds • Their manipulation influenced the emotions their ‘participants’ expressed in their own statuses. Eg When participants had the positive content of their news feed reduced, they were less likely to use positive language in their own posts and contrary Conclusion: the emotional content to which we are exposed through our FB feed does indeed affect our own emotional state Evaluation: people angry about manipulation. - ethical concerns, however was "agreed" to in their data use policy+ manipulation of news feed was done remotely and without any direct involvement of researchers/staff+ Kramer argues important research, benefit of this outweighs cost of failing to provide any form of consent. Group experiment, Strack,martin and stepper, 1988, Facial Feedback hypothesis: Task: If your first name starts with a letter between A and L, hold your pen like this If your first name starts with a letter between M and Z, hold your pen like this - Strack et al. (1988) found that participants were more amused by cartoons when holding a pen with their teeth (i.e., smiling) than when holding the pen by their lips - Their facial feedback hypothesis states that people’s facial activity influences their affective responses • Debate about this theory is ongoing at the moment, as some research has failed to replicate this original study (Wagenmakers et al., 2016) Mood contagion: - Unconscious processes (motor mimicry, facial and bodily feedback) - Conscious processes (appraisal, social comparison) Getting Botox reduces your ability to understand other people’s emotional expressions, as well as reducing your own emotional responses Neal et al. (2011), Davis et al. (2011) Emotions spread throughout groups and networks: -Our happiness is linked to how happy our friends’ friends are, Fowler & Christakis (2008) -One individual can affect the mood of a group, also known as the ‘ripple effect’, Barsade, 2002 - The moods of individuals within a group, e.g. work or sports, can become linked, Totterdell et al, 1998

How do our emotions influence our social relationships? -Expressing and sharing emotions can function to strengthen our relationships, and make us feel closer to others. -However, some kinds of emotional expressions (e.g., contempt) can damage relationships -Sharing emotions with others doesn’t necessarily make you feel better, but it can strengthen social bonds Social sharing of emotions: - In a series of retrospective studies, people reported that they chose to share 9 out of 10 emotional events that happened to them with other people (Rimé et al, 1991) - These people then share the events with others ‘secondary sharing’ (in a diary study, this occurred in 75% of cases) Curci and Bellelli, 2004 • So emotions also spread throughout networks through these active processes WHAT IMPACT DOES SOCIAL SHARING OF EMOTION HAVE ON RELATIONSHIPS? • “Co-rumination” is linked to anxiety and depression, but also to closeness and friendship quality (Rose 2002) • This fits with other research which has shown that self-disclosure increases liking (Collins and Miller, 1994) We express our emotions to others - Positive emotion expression facilitates bonding between infants and caregivers, promotes romantic relationships, and also leads to better relationships with co-workers (Shiota et al, 2004, Shaw et al 1994) - Although, it’s not always good; e.g., winners who express positive emotions are seen as less likeable (Kalokerinos et al., 2014) NOT ALL KINDS OF EMOTIONAL EXPRESSION ARE GOOD • Gottman & Levenson (2000) studied 79 married partners discussing positive and negative events in their relationship • How couples interacted during these discussions predicted whether they would be divorced 17 years later with 93% accuracy • Negative emotional expressions during discussion of conflict (e.g., contempt) were especially important predictors SUMMARY: Do emotions have a social function? Theories have suggested that emotions evolved to guide social behaviour, and this is supported by various evidence (e.g. on how social functioning is negatively affected when emotions are absent) How do our emotions influence other people? Emotions influence both how we behave in social interactions, and how others behave towards us. They also influence others’ emotions, through processes such as mood contagion and social sharing How do our emotions influence our social relationships? Emotions can be both helpful and harmful for our relationships, depending on what they are and how we express or share them...