A group of research psychologist and neuroscientists were asked twelve questions that were then formed into a book called The Nature of Emotion: Fundamental Questions, edited by Paul Ekman and Richard Davidson (1994). Of course they covered a lot more than 10 things and each author had a different theory. Here are 10 ideas that caught my attention and shape how I do counseling.

1. Emotions are intentional, that is they are directed toward some object or person. Moods however, do not have to have an object.

For starters it is good to know, or remember, that emotions are about something. They have direction and that direction is toward an object or person. In my experience, the really intense emotions are almost always directed toward people. We may like our pet rock. We may really, really enjoy having a dog. But when push comes to shove, the significant people in our lives are what we care about most. Our significant others are the “object of our affections”, most of the time.

· “Emotions imply and involve relationships of the subject with a particular object: One is afraid of something, angry at someone, happy about something, and so on.” (Frijada, Varieties of affect)

· “Emotions have objects by definition, although one might, in a particular instance, be unaware of their cause.” (Frijada, Varieties of affect)

· “Emotions are intentional, that is they have an object, while moods are non-intentional and do not have an object.” (Frijada, Varieties of affect)

2. For an emotion to exist, your first must sense that a situation exists and then perceive that situation as positive or negative to your concerns.

This is a technical statement that begins to break the emotional process into manageable components. To “sense” that a situation exists is a very concrete statement referring to our sense of touch, smell, sight, and so on. If you are unaware at any sensory level that a “situation” exists, there can be no emotion. If there is no perception of whether the situation is positive or negative to your concerns, there is no emotion. In short, if you are unaware or unconcerned, there can be no emotion. A common application of this idea is when people try to fend off their emotions with “I don’t care.” They are trying to say I have no concern in this matter. Of course we know they really do.

· “For people to react with an emotion, the relevance of what is happening to their well-being must be sensed, as well as whether this has negative or positive implications.” (Lazarus, Appraisal, the long and the short of it)

· “A prerequisite for emotion is that a situation be perceived as positive or negative for one’s concerns.” (Clore, Why emotions require cognition)

3. Your concerns are personal and unique to you. They include anything and everything that you find important in your life.

Even though the emotion is about a situation, it is important to know that it is always about how the situation impacts you. Emotions are personal and they are the indicators of threats or opportunities that impact our well being. We are always trying “to do” or “to be” and emotions let us know how well we are doing. Know your concerns and you know the sources of your emotions.

· …the ends are what give the emotional event its valence. Personal loss produces sadness because it conflicts with one’s attachment to the lost person, frustrations madden because we desire to complete progress toward our goals, and so on.” (Frijda, Emotions are functional, most of the time)

4. The situation or event is processed by an “appraisal system” that gives the situation meaning and delivers a positive or negative perception.

This idea is very important to me and my work in counseling. Emotions do not “just happen.” The situations we are involved in are “appraised” by us. How we do the appraisal is critical and is also a key to “managing” our emotions. One way to change our emotional response is to change the way we appraise a given situation.

· “Feelings are not emotions unless they are the result of the appraisal of something.” (Clore, Why emotions require cognition)

· Events are “processed by an appraisal system that imbues them with meaning in terms of the organisms well being, plans, and goals.” (Levenson, Human emotion: A functional view)

5. The emotion itself is conscious, however, the appraisal of the emotion may be conscious or unconscious.

Now this is really interesting. How can we be conscious of an emotion and not know what the emotion is about? We can do this because “the appraisal” can be made unconsciously. For some things this is great. We don’t have to “stop and think” about how we feel when one of our favorite persons shows up unexpectedly. We just instantly feel a sense of joy, smile, and greet them. But, what about when we are snipping at one of our associates and don’t really know why. Knowing that the appraisal that leads to an emotion can be unconscious lets us know where to look when we are disturbed by our own emotions. This a place for therapists to look when excessive anger, anxiety, and sadness are causing problems.

· “While non-conscious emotions do not exist, conscious emotional states are produced by unconscious processes.” (LeDoux, Emotional processing, but not emotions, can occur unconsciously)

· “Even though emotions themselves are conscious, the appraisals that elicit them often are not.” (Clore, Why emotions are never unconscious)

· “We can be aware or unaware of the cause of either an emotion or a mood.” (Frijada, Varieties of affect)

6. The function of an emotion that has been produced is to provide information about the situation.

I love this one. It fits well with my analytical self. Emotions are fine, and some people seem to enjoy the emotion for the emotion itself. That may actually be another function of emotions: We can experience them. However, emotions do provide information. We analytical types thrive on information. Now we see that emotions are a great source of information. In the information age, emotions may be one of our most undervalued resources. The old saw, “go with your gut” is worth keeping in mind.

· “Emotions such as hope, fear, happiness, sadness, relief, and disappointment all reflect appraisal of the outcome of events as desirable or undesirable with respect to one’s goals.” (Clore, Why emotions require cognition)

· “A primary function of emotion is to provide information about how a situation has been appraised.” (Clore: Why emotions are felt)

7. The situation being appraised typically requires some form of action or resolution.

This one is great for the action minded. Our emotions point us to a situation and provid information. From a behavioral perspective, the best way to resolve a situation is to take action. If we are uncomfortable that we didn’t do something, do it. If we are sad about a loss, grieve the loss. If we are anxious about a situation, build skill, look at the situation differently, disengage, etc. Sometimes when an emotion is overpowering, it is because we have not taken an action that effectively resolves a situation. We need to do something.

· “Situations that arouse emotions typically are those that require some form of action or resolution.” (Averill: Emotions are many splendored things)

· “Emotions alter attention, shift certain behavior upward in response hierarchy, and activate relevant associative mechanisms in memory.” (Levenson, Human Emotion: A Functional View)

· “One of the essential functions of emotion is to motivate the organism to respond quickly and effectively to environmental threats as they arise.” (Ellsworth, Levels of thought and levels of emotion)

· “Emotion guides ones attention.” (Clore: Why emotions are felt)

· “Moods and emotions are sources of information, to the subject, with regard to his or her current global state of action readiness and evaluation of the life situation, or with regard to affectively important events.” (Frijada, Varieties of affect)

8. To function in a useful way emotion must convey “discriminate” information.

One of the difficult areas of emotion is that they are not always on target. The emotion needs to be directed to the current object, not some representation from the past. The emotion needs to be relevant to the current situation, not a situation we keep reliving from the past. In cognitive therapy the assumption is that thought process, or as I have used it here, “appraisal” processes are off target. In dynamic therapy (my approach) the assumption is that some of the mental models or “schema” that we use for appraisal were built in the past but are not adequate for interpreting the present. If your emotions seem reasonable to you and on target, then you are probably just fine. If your emotions seem out of sync with the situations you encounter or if you “feel bad” about the emotion itself, then your emotion may not be providing “discriminate” information. Some therapeutic action may be required.

· “For emotions to be functional they must be felt and they must convey discriminate information.” (Clore: Why emotions are felt)

· Emotions may be provoked either by appraisals or “remembered appraisals.” (Ellsworth, Levels of thought and levels of emotion)

· Emotion can lose its connection to a place and time and then may color judgment in relevant situations. (Clore: Why emotions are felt)

9. Emotions that are made by an unconscious appraisal may provide mis-information.

Taking into account your intentions, the person or object involved, the overall situation, your goals, your life experience… etc. the question becomes: did your appraisal of the situation provide accurate information? Many issues, some subtle, get involved. Were you using an outdated “mental model?” Did that situation “remind” you of one in the past that really has no connection to the present? Was the original “target” of the emotion unsafe so you “responded” in a more safe direction? These are only examples of a vast array of sources for mis-information. Many of the sources are embedded in the items listed above.

· “If the source of an emotion is conscious, then its meaning will be constrained, and the range of judgments it colors will be limited.” (Clore, Why emotions are never unconscious)

· When the source of an emotion is unconscious misinformation may easily result. (Clore, Why emotions are never unconscious)

· “If the sources of an emotion remain unconscious, the emotion may be experienced as part of one’s reaction to almost anything, and hence may color one’s judgment of almost anything.” (Clore, Why emotions are never unconscious)

10. For mental health and well being, emotions need to be acknowledged and expressed at an appropriate level.

Keeping all of the above in mind, it is easy to see why sometimes we would rather just ignore our emotions. However, we never really ignore our emotions at all. It takes a lot of mental effort to suppress an emotion. It also takes a lot of physical energy to continually express an emotion without resolving the situation that elicited the emotion. It takes something, perhaps a level of emotional discipline, to pay attention to our emotions, keep track of whether our emotional appraisal system seems to be functioning well, and then to respond to our emotional information appropriately. Yet, giving emotions their due and responding to the situations they interpret, is a great step toward achieving mental health and well being!

· “Physical and mental health come from neither emotional inhibition nor exhibition per se, but from flexibility.” (Averill: Emotions are many splendored things)

· “…people who are characteristically unexpressive are more psychologically reactive than those who are characteristically expressive.” (Levenson, Emotional control: Variation and consequences)

· “The person who cannot express emotion in an open and effective manner is as much out of control as is the person who habitually ‘lets it all hang out.’” (Averill, Emotions unbecoming and becoming)

References:

Averill, J. R. (1994). In the eyes of the beholder. In P. Ekman & R. J. Davidson (Ed.) The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions. NY: Oxford University Press.

Averill, J. R. (1994). Emotions unbecoming and becoming. In P. Ekman & R. J. Davidson (Ed.) The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions. NY: Oxford University Press.

Averill, J. R. (1004). Emotions are many splendored things. In P. Ekman & R. J. Davidson (Ed.) The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions. NY: Oxford University Press.

Clore, G. L. (1994). Why emotions require cognition. In P. Ekman & R. J. Davidson (Ed.) The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions. NY: Oxford University Press.

Clore, G. L. (1994) Why emotions are never unconscious. In P. Ekman & R. J. Davidson (Ed.) The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions. NY: Oxford University Press.

Clore, G. L. (1994) Why emotions are felt. In P. Ekman & R. J. Davidson (Ed.) The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions. NY: Oxford University Press.

Clore, G. L. (1994) Why emotions are never unconscious. In P. Ekman & R. J. Davidson (Ed.) The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions. NY: Oxford University Press.

Ellsworth, P. C. (1994). Levels of thought and levels of emotion. In P. Ekman & R. J. Davidson (Ed.) The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions. NY: Oxford University Press.

Frijda, N. H. (1994). Emotions are functional, most of the time. In P. Ekman & R. J. Davidson (Ed.) The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions. NY: Oxford University Press.

Frijda, N. H. (1994). Varieties of affect: Emotions and episodes, moods, and sentiments. In P. Ekman & R. J. Davidson (Ed.) The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions. NY: Oxford University Press.

Lazarus, R. (1994). Appraisal, the long and the short of it. In P. Ekman & R. J. Davidson (Ed.) The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions. NY: Oxford University Press.

LeDoux , J. E. (1994). Emotional processing, but not emotions, can occur unconsciously. In P. Ekman & R. J. Davidson (Ed.) The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions. NY: Oxford University Press.

Levenson, R. W. (1994). Human emotion: A functional view. In P. Ekman & R. J. Davidson (Ed.) The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions. NY: Oxford University Press.

Levenson, R. W. (1004). Emotional control: Variation and consequences. In P. Ekman & R. J. Davidson (Ed.) The nature of emotion: Fundamental questions. NY: Oxford University Press.