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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.

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Measuring emotions in an intergroup context and beyond

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  1. 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

  2. Emotion research is interdisciplinary • ISRE organization has members from psychology, sociology, anthropology, humanities, history … • “Affective revolutions” in economics, computing, law, art education … • Emotions are interesting and important

  3. Only one small question What is an emotion?

  4. “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

  5. How does Western English-speaking culture characterize emotion? Depends … lay or scientific definition? Compact OED Emotion • noun1 a strong feeling, such as joy or anger. 2 instinctive feeling as distinguished from reasoning or knowledge. Psychology: over 50 definitions of emotion …

  6. What is a cat? 4 legs, has fur, has tail …

  7. What is an emotion? • Like a cat, different modules or traits • Unlike a cat, no scientific consensus on which is the defining set of traits

  8. What is not an emotion? • Even here there is controversy between lay and different scientific definitions

  9. Emotion vs. attitude/evaluation • Emotions have specificity beyond positive or negative valence (fear vs. shame vs. anger vs. sadness)

  10. Emotion vs. mood • One scientific view: Emotions are responses to specific situations, unlike moods which are diffuse • BUT: Emotional feelings are not always identified with their source; can have carry-over effects; can be associated with objects (even irrationally)

  11. Emotion vs. belief • Emotions are not propositional, although they can be expressed in propositional language – “I am angry”; “This place is disgusting” • Beliefs can influence emotions (appraisal view); emotions can also influence beliefs (e.g. intuitive prosecutor research)

  12. Emotion vs. motivation • View 1: Emotion is motivation Emotion -> behaviour (Lazarus; Scherer; Frijda’s action tendencies) • View 2: Emotion is a report on motivation Motive -> Behaviour -> success/failure -> emotion (Buck; Carver & Scheier)

  13. Specific emotion vs. core affect Russell & Barrett’s model Is everything else besides core affect just language?

  14. What is an emotion? Traits • Feelings: subjective experience Impossible to measure directly • 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

  15. Methods of emotion measurement • Verbal self-report • Pictorial self-report • Interjections? • Facial expression coding • Physiological measures • Neurological measures • Implicit measures

  16. Methods of emotion manipulation • Imagined scenarios • Recalled scenarios • Emotion priming: words, faces… • Environmental aspects • Social induction • Social contagion • Physiological induction

  17. Pitfalls of emotion measurement and manipulation • Language and emotion terms • Ambiguities in physiology • Context and referents • Emotion concept vs. emotion feeling • Emotion experience vs. emotion communication • Confounds in emotion manipulation • Limits of emotion manipulation

  18. Traps of language • Specific languages • English: “anger”; “disgust” • Implicit assumptions in language • English: “irritable”; “disgusting”

  19. Intergroup emotions: an example • Anger, fear, and action tendencies

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