Theories of Emotion Generation

  There are six theoretical bases for the generation of emotions as follows: 1. James D. Lange theory: emphasizes that the generation of emotions is a product of autonomic activity. It is later called the peripheral theory of emotion. That is, emotional stimuli cause the body’s physiological response, and the physiological response further leads to the generation of emotional experience.  2.Cannon D. Bard theory believes that the center of emotion is not in the peripheral system, but in the thalamus of the central nervous system, and emphasizes that the lifting of the brain’s inhibition of the thalamus makes the autonomic nerves active, which strengthens the body’s physiological response and produces emotion.  3. Arnold’s doctrine of “Rating D excitement” believes that the stimulus situation does not directly determine the nature of the emotion, and that from the appearance of the stimulus to the generation of the emotion, the stimulus has to be evaluated and assessed. The basic process of emotion generation is stimulus situation D assessment D emotion. The same stimulus situation, due to the different assessment of his, will produce different emotional responses.  4, Schachter’s theory of emotion argues that there are two indispensable factors in the generation of emotions: first, the individual must experience a high degree of physiological arousal, and second, the individual must be aroused to the cognitive line of changes in the physiological state. Emotional states are the result of the integration of cognitive processes, physiological states, and environmental factors in the cerebral cortex.  5. Lazarus’ cognitive D-evaluation theory considers emotions as a product of the interaction between the person and the environment. In emotional activity, a person not only reacts to the impact of stimulus events in the environment on him or her, but also regulates his or her response to the stimulus. There are three specific levels of evaluation: primary evaluation, secondary evaluation, and reevaluation.  6. Izard’s D differentiation theory of emotions is a theory of the nature and function of emotions based on personality outcomes with emotions as the core. Its view is that emotions are components of the personality system and are the driving core of the personality system.  James D Lange, Cannon D Bard’s theory of emotions as an early theory, Arnold, Schachter, Lazarus’s theory collectively known as the cognitive theory of emotions.