PSYC 222:

EMOTIONS AND MOTIVATION

Dr. Joana Larry-Afutu

Email: jolarry-afutu@ug.edu.gh
 Course Overview

What makes us do what we do? How do you convey

your feelings to a loved one? This course is designed
to introduce students to the common factors that
compel people to undertake or not undertake
certain activities in their daily lives. It will also
explain how we express and experience emotions. It
is expected that by the end of the course students
would be able to apply these psychological
principles in their lives.
• Slide 3
 Course Objectives
This course aims at;
1. Helping students understand the concepts of emotions
and motivation.
2. Facilitating students’ acquisition of practical skills
necessary for effective use of emotions and motivation in
every sphere of life
3. Acquainting students with current research on emotion
and motivation especially from African settings.
4. Facilitating students understanding on the motives
behind specific behaviors like hunger, sex and work
• Slide 4
 PSYC 222:
Motivation and Emotions

Topic 1
The Concept of
Emotions
 Goals and objectives

• The objectives of this session are to:

• Provide students a general/overall idea of what the
course is about
• Provide information on course rubrics/ expectations
of students/lecturer
• Discuss the definition and concept of emotions
• Discuss the triggers of emotions
• Discuss how emotions are detected
• Discuss the implications of facial expressions
• Discuss the utility of emotionsSlide 6
 Outline

The key topics to be covered are:

• Defining Emotion
• Detecting Emotion
• The Effects of Facial Expressions
• Introduce you to theories of emotions

Slide 7
 TOPIC ONE

DEFINING EMOTIONS
ACTIVITY

HOW ARE YOU FEELING THIS TODAY?

WHY DO YOU THINK YOU HAVE THAT FEELING?
WRITE YOUR RESPONSES IN YOUR JOTTER AND RELATE THESE
RESPONSES TO THE DISCUSSIONS FOR THIS SESSION
 What is an Emotion?
The Roller Coaster Experience
 Introduction
▪ Emotions are a part of our social reality.
▪ We go through a wide range of emotions as we
interact with our environment on daily basis .
▪ Emotion is akin to a roller coaster ride;
▪ - Some people have a balanced emotional
(moderate highs and lows) lives, whilst others
▪ live wild emotional lives characterized by extreme
highs and extreme lows.
▪ So what is Emotion?
 What is an Emotion?
▪ According to the American Psychological Association
(APA, 2022), emotion is “a complex reaction pattern,
involving experiential, behavioral and physiological
elements.”

▪ Emotions are psychological responses of the whole

organism involving an interplay among physiological
arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious
experience (Myers, 2010)
 What is an Emotion?
▪ Psychological responses could be:
- excitement and calmness (physiological
state)
- Pleasant and unpleasant (conscious
experience)
- happy, joy, anger, fear, relaxed, blissful, sad,
depressed (expressive behaviour).
 Emotion Elicitors
▪ Emotion elicitors: In order to experience an emotion,
certain internal or external stimulus must trigger the
process.
▪ Internal elicitors may include changes in your
physiological states (e.g., stress response,
menstruation) and cognitive processes (a pleasant
thought, a bad dream)
▪ External elicitors include stressors like noise, death
of a loved one, abuse etc
Discussion

• Is emotion the same as

feeling and mood?
 Emotions, Feelings and Mood
▪ Although the terms are related, they do not
mean the same thing.
▪ A feeling is our subjective experience of an
emotional reaction.0okjnb
▪ Feelings represent our private emotional
experience
 Emotions, feelings and mood
▪ A mood is the mildest form of an emotion

▪ It is a low-intensity, long-lasting emotional

state.

▪ For instance, a mood can last for many hours,

or even days.
COMPONENTS OF EMOTION
TOPIC TWO
Components of Emotion: Cognition
▪ What is the connection between how we
think (cognition) and how we feel
(emotion)?

▪ The cognition component of emotion is

related to the evaluations or appraisals we
associate with an emotional elicitor and
emotional arousal
 Components of Emotion: Cognition
▪ The cognitive processes include our
interpretations, memories and expectations.

▪ When we make meaning of our experiences,

sensory information go through the amygdala
or cortex for analysis/ interpretation.

▪ The interpretation of the experiences trigger

physiological reactions for specific feelings.
 Components Of Emotion:
Physiological Arousal
▪ The physiological aspects of emotions are
innate (built into the body).

▪ Emotions result in a disruption in the

homeostatic baseline of individuals. ie;
changes in neural, hormonal, visceral, and
muscular state.
 Components Of Emotion:
Physiological Arousal
▪ During an emotional experience, our
autonomic nervous system mobilizes
energy in the body that arouses us.

This results in changes in heartbeat, dilation

of the pupil, changes in blood pressure,
respiration etc…
COMPONENTS OF EMOTION
 Components Of Emotion:
Physiological Arousal

▪ The physiological changes associated with

emotional arousal are universal; they are
consistent across cultures because they are
controlled by the autonomic nervous system
of the central nervous system.
Components of Emotions: Expressions

▪ The third component of emotion is

expression. It includes verbal and non-verbal
expressions
▪ Emotional expressions are outward signs of
what a person is feeling
▪ Emotional expressions are typically observable
e.g. changes in face, voice, body, and activity
level (Lewis, 2008)
Components of Emotions: Expressions
▪ Emotional expressions are important because
they communicate emotion from one person
to another.
▪ Emotions are expressed on the face, by the
body, and by the intonation of voice.

• **Is this nonverbal language of emotion

universal?
Components of Emotions: Expressions
Components of Emotions: Expressions
▪ The most basic emotional expressions appear
to be fairly universal.

▪ For example, smile is the most universal and

easily recognized facial expression of emotion.
Components of Emotions: Expressions
▪ Children’s facial gestures such as joy, sadness, disgust
appear to be natural.

▪ However, many adult’s facial expressions are

influenced by learning. Eg; masking sad feeling with a
smile.

▪ Also, some facial expressions are unique to certain

cultures.
 TOPIC THREE
DETECTING EMOTIONS IN OTHERS
 Detecting Emotions in Others
▪ People read a great deal of emotional
content in the eyes and the faces of
others.
▪ We are good at quickly detecting
negative emotions, and even negative
emotional words.
▪ Those who have been abused are more
sensitive toward seeing fearful faces as
angry.
 Detecting Emotions in Others
▪ Women seem to have greater and more
complex emotional expression.
▪ Women are also more skilled at detecting
emotions in others.
▪ Note that the above statements are
overgeneralized.
▪ People tend to attribute women’s
emotionality to their dispositions, and
attribute men’s emotions to their
circumstances.
33
 Detecting Emotions In Others
▪ We also see some emotions as being
more “male”

▪ Example anger and aggression are

often seen as a “manly” emotion

34
 Detecting Emotions in Others
▪ Context influences our
detection of emotion
(Barrett, 2012)
▪ The context includes
the physical
environment as well as
the gestures

▪ E.g., What emotion is

this person on the right
experiencing?
Detecting Emotions in Others: Context
• The picture shows Serena
Williams feeling ecstatic
after she beats her sister,
Venus Williams, in the
2008 U.S. Open tennis
finals (Barrett, 2012).

• Now with this context,

you can fully appreciate
what emotion is being
expressed.
Detecting Emotions
 Detecting Emotions in Others
Are there universally recognized emotions?

Would you be able to detect emotions of

people of other countries, cultures, or groups?

(Myers 2010) 38
 Detecting Emotions in Others

▪ Some facial expressions are universally

understood
▪ People of various cultures agree on the
emotional labels for the expressions of fear,
anger, disgust, sadness, surprise, happiness
▪ In other studies, people have more accuracy
judging emotions from their own culture.
 TOPIC FOUR
EFFECTS OF FACIAL EXPRESSIONS
 What would life
DISCUSSION be like without
emotions?
 Expediency of Facial Expressions
▪ Facial expression allows us to communicate emotions
or feelings with others.

▪ People use other people’s facial expressions as an

indicator of how they should act in uncertain or
ambiguous situations.
 Effects of Facial Expressions
▪ Researchers have observed that therapists
tend to “catch” their client’s feelings;
▪ Parents (non-verbally; and unintentionally)
communicate their feelings to their children,
and vice versa; and friends resonate to each
other’s moods.

▪ This is known as Emotional Contagion!

 References
• Myers, D. (2010). Psychology: Ninth edition in
modules. New York: Worth Publishers.
• Lewis, M. (2008). The emergence of emotions.
In, Lewis, M., & Harviland-Jones, J. M., &
Barrett, L. F. (Eds.) (2008). Handbook of
emotions (3rd Ed). New York: The Guilford
Press.
• Barrett, L. F. (2012). Emotions are real.
Emotion, 12, 413-429.

Slide 44
 Activity for the week
• This week, complete the following tasks:
1. Read on the topics discussed
2. Go online (Youtube) and learn how to develop power point presentation slides
3. Read on the following theories of emotions:
- James-Lange
- Cannon-Bard
- Two-Factor theory
- Cognitive Mediation
4. Develop a power point presentation on the theories read