Measuring emotions in an intergroup context and beyond
Measuring emotions in an intergroup context and beyond Dr Roger Giner-Sorolla Department of Psychology Presentation given at the Research Methods Festival, July 2008, Oxford, UK
Emotion research is interdisciplinary l ISRE organization has members from psychology, sociology, anthropology, humanities, history … l “Affective revolutions” in economics, computing, law, art education … l Emotions are interesting and important
Only one small question What is an emotion?
“Emotion” is a language/culture category (Wierzbicka) Other cultures (e. g. , Ifaluk, studied by Lutz) divide mental phenomena in different ways Even across the Channel … “emotion” vs. “sentiment” not observed in English
How does Western English-speaking culture characterize emotion? Depends … lay or scientific definition? Compact OED Emotion • noun 1 a strong feeling, such as joy or anger. 2 instinctive feeling as distinguished from reasoning or knowledge. Psychology: over 50 definitions of emotion …
4 legs, has fur, has tail … What is a cat?
What is an emotion? l Like a cat, different modules or traits l Unlike a cat, no scientific consensus on which is the defining set of traits
What is not an emotion? l Even here there is controversy between lay and different scientific definitions
Emotion vs. attitude/evaluation l Emotions have specificity beyond positive or negative valence (fear vs. shame vs. anger vs. sadness)
Emotion vs. mood l One scientific view: Emotions are responses to specific situations, unlike moods which are diffuse l BUT: Emotional feelings are not always identified with their source; can have carry -over effects; can be associated with objects (even irrationally)
Emotion vs. belief l Emotions are not propositional, although they can be expressed in propositional language – “I am angry”; “This place is disgusting” l Beliefs can influence emotions (appraisal view); emotions can also influence beliefs (e. g. intuitive prosecutor research)
Emotion vs. motivation l View 1: Emotion is motivation Emotion -> behaviour (Lazarus; Scherer; Frijda’s action tendencies) l View 2: Emotion is a report on motivation Motive -> Behaviour -> success/failure -> emotion (Buck; Carver & Scheier)
Specific emotion vs. core affect Russell & Barrett’s model Is everything else besides core affect just language?
What is an emotion? Traits l Feelings: subjective experience l Language: terms describing subjective experience (or the other things below!) Emotion concepts (tied to language or not? ) Facial expressions Physiological changes: central nervous system, peripheral nervous system Effects on thought, judgment, behaviour Dependency on perception, interpretation of environment l l l Impossible to measure directly
Methods of emotion measurement l Verbal self-report l Pictorial self-report l Interjections? l Facial expression coding l Physiological measures l Neurological measures l Implicit measures
Methods of emotion manipulation l Imagined scenarios l Recalled scenarios l Emotion priming: words, faces… l Environmental aspects l Social induction l Social contagion l Physiological induction
Pitfalls of emotion measurement and manipulation l Language and emotion terms l Ambiguities in physiology l Context and referents l Emotion concept vs. emotion feeling l Emotion experience vs. emotion communication l Confounds in emotion manipulation l Limits of emotion manipulation
Traps of language l Specific languages l English: l Implicit “anger”; “disgust” assumptions in language l English: “irritable”; “disgusting”
Intergroup emotions: an example l Anger, fear, and action tendencies
- Slides: 19