Toward a Definition of Emotions: How Emotions Work

Because emotions are so intrinsically interconnected with our general makeup as human beings, it is often difficult to define them adequately. To complicate matters further, emotions have to do with expression as well as experience. In other words, we experience emotions and then also express emotions. They are communicated in the form of facial and linguistic expressions— in verbal or physical expressions, and in written forms.GOP 142.1

The field of cognitive sciences has experienced explosive growth with advances in computing power and technology. This budding field is engaged in detailed studies of the neurological and linguistic processes involved in the expression of human emotions. Cognitive scientists are currently extremely interested in developing software and computer hardware capable of reading and responding to emotions in written texts.GOP 142.2

For the purpose of this research we distinguish between two main schools of thought regarding the understanding of emotional expressions. ^{8Clearly, the study of emotions is much more nuanced than a simple distinction between two major schools.} One school, mostly associated with cultural psychology, holds that while there are certain basic human emotions, such as anger, fear, joy, disgust, and dejection, emotional expression is basically culture-specific. ^{9Cf. Kruger, 188.} In other words, the expression of a particular emotion will look different in Asia, for instance, when compared to how someone in the cultural context of North America might manifest the same emotion.GOP 142.3

The other school, linked to cognitive science, holds that emotional expressions are universal and belong to the “universal psychic unity in humankind.” ^{10Ibid. and the references included there.} Each school presents field studies to support their theory. For instance, in one study focusing on the emotion of anger, researchers found a coherent conceptual organization underlying the expression, which shared a common cultural model of the psychological effects of anger and should not be considered arbitrary but are motived physiologically. ^{11G. Lakoff and Z. Kövecses, “The Cognitive Model of Anger Inherent in American English,” in Cultural Models in Language and Thought, ed. D. Holland and N. Quinn, 6th ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 195-221. Cf. Paul A. Kruger, “A Cognitive Interpretation of the Emotion of Anger in the Hebrew Bible,” Journal of Northwest Semitic Languages 26 (2000): 181-193, esp. 185.} For example, although there may be variations in language used to express certain aspects, the conceptual organization expressing anger was found to be very similar in both American English and biblical Hebrew. ^12Ibid. In this study we will side with Kruger in suggesting that the “answer probably lies somewhere in the middle.” ^{13Kruger, “Depression in the Hebrew Bible: An Update,” 188.} Considering the extremely difficult task of defining an emotion, it may be more helpful to examine how emotions work.GOP 142.4

Scherer provides an excellent definition of emotion and how it operates. He says an emotion is “an episode of interrelated, synchronized changes in the states of all or most of the five organismic subsystems in response to the evaluation of an external or internal stimulus event as relevant to major concerns of the organism.” ^{14Klaus R. Scherer, “What Are Emotions? And How Can They Be Measured?” Social Science Information 44, no. 4 (2005): 697.} GOP 142.5

It should be noticed that emotions are normally triggered by stimulus events. In other words, something happens that triggers an emotion in a person. Sometimes another emotion is elicited or amplified by our evaluation of the event afterward. Elizabeth Phelps, a psychologist at New York University, reminds us of the close link between the mind and emotions. ^{15Elizabeth Phelps, “Hold That Thought,” Discover, July-August 2014, 31.} Emotions are generated by thoughts and memories, and these then react upon the mind processes and strengthen or inhibit certain mental processes. It is even possible to generate an emotion by imagined representations. ^{16Scherer, “What Are Emotions? And How Can They Be Measured?” 700.} GOP 143.1

Emotions serve in a certain sense as relevance detectors. We generally get emotional about people and things that we care about. It has been suggested that emotions are also the biggest influence on behavior and can interrupt a behavioral sequence and serve as the trigger for setting new goals and plans. ^{17Ibid., 701, 702. Cf. Klaus R. Scherer, “Physiological Models of Emotion,” in The Neuropsychology of Emotion, ed. Joan C. Borod, Series in Affective Science (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000), 138.} GOP 143.2

Emotions impact communication and social interaction. The physical appearance, albeit often involuntary, of facial expressions will lead to a reaction in one’s conversation partner. Subtle changes in nonverbal expressions may indicate dissonance from verbal expressions and communication. ^{18See Paul A. Kruger, “The Face and Emotions in the Hebrew Bible,” Old Testament Essays 18 (2005): 651-662, for facial expressions associated with certain emotions in the Old Testament.} GOP 143.3

Considering current language use, it is important to distinguish between a mood and an emotion. Generally speaking, emotions are thought of as high-intensity responses to stimulus events, whereas moods are “characterized by a relative enduring predominance of certain types of subjective feelings that affect the experience and behavior of a person.” ^{19Scherer, “What Are Emotions? And How Can They Be Measured?” 705.} It is normally difficult to identify a particular trigger for a mood. ^{20See Phelps, “Hold That Thought,” 33, for an intriguing discussion of one particular trigger, i.e., phobias, and the role memory can play in the perpetuation or treatment of phobias.} Often there are combinations of physiological and environmental factors that lead to a certain mood.GOP 143.4

Finally, an emotion is also more than a feeling. Emotions, while seemingly elusive and hard to define, do produce measurable differences in the central nervous system. ^{21Scherer, “What Are Emotions? And How Can They Be Measured?” 709.} Considering the close relationship between mind and emotions, we will now turn our attention to the question of how emotions interact with the important concept of inspiration.GOP 143.5