24th November 2023

Emotions and Emotional Regulation

Emotions

Darwin had done early research on emotions and suggested they have been developed with adaptive purpose to signal and communicate vital information to others, ex: perceived threat.

Universal emotions

Paul Ekman identified 6 basic universal emotions – Surprise, fear, sadness, anger, happiness and disgust. He suggested that some of the facial expressions could be recognised across various cultures and hence are universal, innate and ready-wired responses. The physiological changes associated with them help to adapt and survive.

Primary emotions

Robert Plutchik suggested that the wheel of emotions has 8 primary emotions with 4 opposing pairs. A combination of these emotions help to cause distinct emotions. Hence, a variety of emotions can be created based on the combination of these primary emotions, similar to the mixing of primary colours. He agreed that they were biologically determined and were adaptive for survival.

For example, anticipation and happiness → excitement. Disgust and anger → contempt.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons (2023). Plutchik-wheel, Licensed under a creative commons licence. Available for free at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plutchik-wheel.svg (Accessed on: 18 October 2023).

However, there were criticisms that all emotions are not biologically hard wired, but also dependent on social constructs and nurture.

Positive and negative emotions

Emotions can be positive or negative, and they can be either constructive or destructive in nature.

Positive emotions are emotions that we typically find pleasurable to experience. The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology defines them as ‘pleasant or desirable situational responses… distinct from pleasurable sensation and undifferentiated positive affect’.

For example – Interest, enthusiasm, empathy, cheer, peace, and trust.

Negative emotions are those that we typically do not find pleasurable to experience. Negative emotions can be defined as ‘unpleasant or unhappy emotions which are evoked in individuals to express a negative effect towards an event or person’.

For example – Grief, unhappiness, hatred, anger, worry, jealousy.

Emotional brain

Emotional development is built into multiple areas of the brain. Paul Maclean proposed the ‘triune brain model’. He suggested that the limbic system is mainly linked with the regulation of emotional response and referred to it as the ‘emotional brain’ or the paleomammalian brain. The brain structures linked with it are amygdala, hippocampus, parahippocampal cortex, cingulate gyrus, hypothalamus, and ventral striatum/nucleus accumbens. One of the important roles of this brain is to distinguish between the good and the bad in the environment. This is also involved with the reward circuit, where dopamine is released following a pleasurable experience, thereby reinforcing it.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons (2007). Triune brain, Licensed under a creative commons licence. Available for free at: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Triune_brain.png (Accessed on: 18 October 2023).

Emotional regulation

One of the important features of emotional development is the ability to develop emotional literacy. Emotional literacy is used to describe one’s ability to understand and express feelings. It involves self-awareness of one’s feelings and knowing how to cope and regulate emotions and behaviour. The core features of emotional development are the ability to identify and understand one’s own feelings, to understand the emotional states of others, to manage and regulate strong emotions and behaviours in a constructive manner, to develop empathy for others and to establish and sustain relationships. Emotional development is due to both maturation and social learning.

Emotion regulation (ER) can be defined as one’s attempts to monitor and modulate their emotional experience (Gross and Thompson, 2007).

Emotion regulation is developed in the infancy and preschool period, influencing the life course in multiple domains: close friendships, the ability to sustain partner relationships, educational achievement, and occupational success. Thus, one of the central skills in managing close relationships, parenting children, and appropriately dealing with workforce demands is the ability to modulate emotional reactivity.

References

• National Scientific Council on the Developing Child (2004). Children’s Emotional Development Is Built into the Architecture of Their Brains: Working Paper No. 2.
• Casey BJ, Heller AS, Gee DG, Cohen AO. Development of the emotional brain. Neurosci Lett. 2019 Feb 6;693:29-34. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2017.11.055. Epub 2017 Dec 5. PMID: 29197573; PMCID: PMC5984129.
• Cohn, M. A., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2009). Positive emotions. In S. J. Lopez and C. R. Snyder (Eds.) The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology (2nd ed.).
• Pam, M. S. (2013). Negative emotion. Psychology Dictionary. Available online at https://psychologydictionary.org/negative-emotion/ [Accessed April 2023]
• Bernard J. Baars, Nicole M. Gage, Chapter 13 – Emotion, Editor(s): Bernard J. Baars, Nicole M. Gage, Cognition, Brain, and Consciousness (Second Edition), Academic Press, 2010, Pages 420-442, ISBN 9780123750709, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-375070-9.00013-9.
• R.V. Rial, M.C. Nicolau, A. Gamundí, M. Akaârir, C. Garau, S. Esteban, Chapter 3 – The Evolution of Consciousness in Animals, Editor(s): Hans Liljenström, Peter Århem, Consciousness Transitions, Elsevier Science B.V., 2007, Pages 45-76, ISBN 9780444529770, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-044452977-0/50004-8.
• Susan W. White, Caitlin M. Conner, Brenna B. Maddox, Chapter 9 – Behavioral Treatments for Anxiety in Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Editor(s): Connor M. Kerns, Patricia Renno, Eric A. Storch, Philip C. Kendall, Jeffrey J. Wood, Anxiety in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder, Academic Press, 2017, Pages 171-192.
• Barbara Fallon, Jennifer Jenkins, Suzanne Conklin Akbari, N. Joh-Carnella, Abuse, Neglect, and Maltreatment of Infants, Editor(s): Janette B. Benson, Encyclopedia of Infant and Early Childhood Development (Second Edition), Elsevier, 2020, Pages 1-11.
• Johannson C. (2021). Emotion learning module. Trainees Online. RCPsych. Available online at: https://elearninghub.rcpsych.ac.uk/product?catalog=50_TRON_Emotion [Accessed April 2023]