Emotions and Emotional Expressions Evolutionary perspective on emotions

Emotions and Emotional Expressions Evolutionary perspective on emotions. - Illustrative example: Gratitude. Emotion experiences: Reactive and proactive functions. - Illustrative example: Jealousy. Emotion expressions: Physiological and communicative functions. - Illustrative example: Pride.

Evolutionary perspective on emotions. Emotion experiences and expressions served useful functions.

Gratitude (Mc. Cullough et al. , 2008) - Emotion experience Benefit detector: “Gratitude is an affective readout that alerts people that they have benefited from another person’s prosocial behavior. ” Motivator of prosocial behavior: “It motivates people to behave prosocially after receiving benefits. ” Reinforcer: “Expressions of gratitude…increase the likelihood that benefactors will behave prosocially in the future. ” Emotion expression

Emotion experiences evolved because they were useful. - Reactive functions. - Proactive functions.

Reactive functions. Emotion experiences convey potent information about fitness-relevant opportunities or threats in the immediate environment, motivating functionally useful behavioral reactions. Example: Happiness. - Motivates approach-oriented reaction. - Increases likelihood of beneficial outcome. Example: Disgust. - Motivates avoidant reaction. - Decreases likelihood of costly outcome.

Proactive functions. Emotion experiences are experienced subjectively as rewarding or punishing, motivating functionally useful decision-making in the future. Example: Happiness. - Rewarding experience. - Motivates future decision-making that increases likelihood of encountering similar situations. Example: Disgust. - Punishing experience. - Motivates future decision-making that decreases likelihood of encountering similar situations.

Jealousy “Selection has favored the evolution of defenses to fend of mate poachers, to deter a mate’s sexual infidelity, and to retain a mate for the long run… The emotion of jealousy…evolved to deal with these adaptive problems. ” [Reproductively-beneficial outcome: Retain access to mate] Immediate threat posed by rivals React to immediate threat posed by rivals Jealousy Future decision-making that helps maintain long-term access to mate

Jealousy “Selection has favored the evolution of defenses to fend of mate poachers, to deter a mate’s sexual infidelity, and to retain a mate for the long run… The emotion of jealousy…evolved to deal with these adaptive problems. ” [Reproductively-beneficial outcome: Retain access to mate’s valued resources] Immediate threat posed by rivals for mate’s valued resources React to immediate threat posed by rivals for mate’s valued resources Jealousy Future decision-making that helps maintain long-term access to mate’s valued resources

Emotion expressions evolved because they were useful. - Physiological functions. - Communicative functions.

Physiological functions. Muscle movements that characterize emotion expressions can be functionally useful reactions to immediate circumstances. Example: Fear expression. - Increased visual field and increased speed of eye movements. - Helps track threatening things. - Protection against threats. Example: Disgust expression. - Decreased access to inside of body through mouth, nose, eyes. - Helps reduce entry of pathogens. - Protection against infection.

Communicative functions. Emotion expressions can communicate useful information to others (which, indirectly, can have benefits for self). - Information about behavioral intentions. - Information about presence of something that’s functionally significant. - Information about why something is functional significant.

[ Shariff & Tracy (2011), Figure 2 ]

Pride and social status Higher status provided greater access to fitness-relevant resources. Especially if: - Behaviors that availed oneself of opportunities provided by high status. - Behaviors that maintained high status. - Other individuals are aware of one’s high status. Circumstances connoting high status Pride expression Effects on testosterone (? ) & lung capacity Potentially useful social behaviors and outcomes Communicates own high status to others Others are more likely to make resources available

Pride and social status Some relevant evidence: - Pride expressions resemble dominance displays in other species. - People spontaneously display pride expressions under circumstances that connote high status. - Observers’ implicitly infer high status from others’ pride expressions.