Nursing theories

Theories of EMOTION

Emotions are both physiological processes based on specific neuronal circuits and psychological processes resulting from the cognitive appraisal of the stimulus-event for the well-being and objectives of the subject, and are of social origin.¹
Emotions can be conceptualised as reactions to reinforcing/punishing (threat) ‘object’ in the surroundings.
Emotions are developed during life from interactions between the individual and his environment.¹
The word emotion is widely used without explanation.²
Primary emotions, such as anger, fear, joy, sadness, disgust, and surprise, are innate, expressed in the first six months of life.³
Mental representations of emotion have pleasure or displeasure at their core.⁴
Questions about emotion experience are essentially questions about consciousness.⁴

The Cannon-Bard theory says that states that emotion and bodily changes occur in parallel with each other and result from activity in certain\par brain areas.
The bodily changes do not cause the felt emotion; while the bodily changes and the feelings occur at about the same time, they are independent of each other.⁵

First proposed by William James and Carl Lange.
A theory of the relationship between subjectively felt emotions and bodily changes; it states that the emotions a person feels are due to her or his perception of bodily reactions to stimuli.⁵
“The bodily changes follow directly the perception of the exciting fact, and that our feeling of the same changes as they occur is the emotion”.⁶
James-Lange theory of emotion states that the immediate, primary cause of an emotion is physical.⁷
The theory emphasizes bodily responses for the emergence of emotions.
James–Lange theory was later modified and called peripheral theory of emotions.³

A theory of the relationship between felt emotion and bodily conditions; it states that felt emotion is based on the interpretation of the reasons for bodily arousal.⁵
This theory maintains that the emotion we feel is due to our interpretation of an aroused, or "stirred up" bodily state.

This theory states that emphasizes the appraisal of information from several sources.
The theory says that the emotions we feel result from appraisals, or evaluations, of information coming from the environmental situation and from within the body.
In addition, memories of past encounters with similar situations, dispositions to respond in certain ways, and consideration of the consequences of actions that might result from the emotional state enter into the appraisal.⁵

Plutchik's theory of emotion is primarily descriptive. It proposes that there are certain primary emotions derived from evolutionary processes and that these primary emotions can be arranged in an orderly way to bring out relationships, similarities, and differences among them.⁵

An emotion is composed of (1) neurochemical processes, (2) expressive behavior, and (3) a subjective experience or feeling state.8

Emotions require the global functioning of the brain, though more specialized regions are involved.¹
Cerebral cortex, insula, ventromedial prefrontal, and subcortical structures, such as the amygdala, ventral striatum, putamen, caudate nucleus, and ventral tegmental area are specifically involved in emotion.³
Emotions are functional states of the brain that provide causal explanations of certain complex behaviours.²

Derouesné C. [What is an emotion? An introduction to the study of emotions]. Geriatr Psychol Neuropsychiatr Vieil. 2011 Mar;9(1):69–81.
Adolphs R, Mlodinow L, Barrett LF. What is an emotion? Curr Biol CB. 2019 Oct 21;29(20):R1060–4.
Šimić G, Tkalčić M, Vukić V, Mulc D, Španić E, Šagud M, et al. Understanding Emotions: Origins and Roles of the Amygdala. Biomolecules. 2021 May 31;11(6):823.
Barrett LF, Mesquita B, Ochsner KN, Gross JJ. The Experience of Emotion. Annu Rev Psychol. 2007;58:373–403.
Morgan Clifford T, King Richard A, Weisz John R and Schopler John.7th ed. , 55th rep. 2016: McGraw Hill Education (India).
JAMES W. II.—WHAT IS AN EMOTION ? Mind. 1884 Apr 1;os-IX(34):188–205.
Coleman AE, Snarey J. James-Lange Theory of Emotion. In: Goldstein S, Naglieri JA, editors. Encyclopedia of Child Behavior and Development [Internet]. Boston, MA: Springer US; 2011 [cited 2025 Mar 3]. p. 844–6. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-79061-9_3146
Ackerman BP, Abe JAA, Izard CE. Differential Emotions Theory and Emotional Development. In: Mascolo MF, Griffin S, editors. What Develops in Emotional Development? [Internet]. Boston, MA: Springer US; 1998 [cited 2025 Mar 3]. p. 85–106. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-1939-7_4