Research & Emotions

Research & Emotions

The following essay discusses a topic of great interest to psychologists across the different disciplines, namely, emotions. Emotions differ from feelings, in that feelings are more permanent and may even imply an attachment, but emotions are rather felt on a momentary basis. Thus, anger or joy represent emotions, while love or hatred correspond to feelings. Likewise, emotions may have a negative or positive valence, and emotionally salient stimuli remain often presented during psychological studies and experiments.

Further, social psychologists tend to describe five main emotions: joy, fear, anger, surprise and sadness. In turn, these emotions are often expressed by a construct known as social cues, which comprise facial expressions, tone of voice, vocabulary content, posture and body language, to name a few. Interestingly, several studies have shown that these basic emotions are recognized worldwide and across cultures. For example, a psychological research study showed participants photos of people smiling. In the different countries where the experiments were conducted, most subjects converged on decoding the emotion pictured (such as a smile when conveying joy).

It can't be research without emotions. Illustration by Elena

Alternatively, neural correlates of emotion have likewise been documented in the literature, in neuroimaging studies. Neuroimaging studies reflect neuroscience research methods, a branch of both biology and psychology, and consequently, also known as neurobiology. Correspondingly, the two neuroimaging techniques most often used in neuroscience are fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and ERP (Event Related Potential) imaging studies. Thus, neuroimaging methods have shown that the amygdala seems to be associated with emotion, particularly with fear and anxiety evoking stimuli and associated memories.

On the one hand, neuroscience studies the brain and pinpoints the neuronal substrates of cognitive processes, behaviour and action. On the other hand, social psychology looks at interpersonal interaction. Amazingly, individuals displaying positive emotions seem to be liked by peers, lending credence not only to the scientific body of knowledge, brain imaging findings and research, but also to popular wisdom maintaining that laughter is, indeed, contagious. Therefore, the above discussion represents an attempt to briefly showcase the main arguments about emotion in psychology, particularly, focusing on social psychology and neuroscience.