Emotion Overview - Concepedia

Principles

Definition

Emotion is a complex, multi-component psychological and physiological construct involving subjective experience, physiological responses, cognitive appraisal, and behavioral expression, investigated across diverse academic disciplines to understand affective states, motivation, and human interaction.

Ontological type

Core Components

Major Theories

Emotion Regulation

Key developments

Key Figures

Physiological and Cognitive Foundations era

Richard J. Davidson [1] was associated with Harvard University [3] and Yale University [4] during this era. His key contribution, exemplified by the 1975 paper Right Hemisphere Lateralization for Emotion in the Human Brain: Interactions with Cognition [7], linked emotion to right-hemisphere processing and cognitive context, underscoring the biopsychological aims of this era. Claude J. Migeon [2] worked across Johns Hopkins University [5] and Baylor College of Medicine [6] during this era. His key contribution, as shown by the 1956 paper Reaction of the Adrenal Cortex to Emotional Stress [8], illuminated how emotional states modulate adrenal endocrine responses, foundational for biopsychological theories of emotion.

Circuit-Based Emotion Regulation era

Barbara L. Fredrickson [1] is a prominent figure in this era, with affiliations at Stanford University [3] and Duke University [4]. Her contributions in the era center on the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions [6], as discussed in The role of positive emotions in positive psychology: The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, and the related inquiry What Good Are Positive Emotions? [7], arguing that positive emotions broaden cognitive and behavioral repertoires and build enduring resources, a perspective that informs circuit-based emotion regulation. Paul Ekman [2] is a foundational figure with affiliations at University of California, San Francisco [5] and Stanford University [3]. His papers—An argument for basic emotions [8], Autonomic Nervous System Activity Distinguishes Among Emotions [9], and Approach-withdrawal and cerebral asymmetry: Emotional expression and brain physiology: I. [10]—advanced the view that discrete emotions align with distinct autonomic patterns and lateralized brain activity, shaping circuit-based theories of emotion regulation in this era.

Embodied Multimodal Emotion era

Mohammad Soleymani [1] is a prominent researcher associated with Radboud University Nijmegen [3] and the University of Geneva [4] in the Embodied Multimodal Emotion era. A central contribution attributed to Soleymani in this era is the DEAP: A Database for Emotion Analysis ;Using Physiological Signals [6], which provided a large, multimodal dataset of physiological signals for emotion analysis, enabling cross-subject analyses and ecological inference in affective computing. Paul Ekman [2] is affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco [5] during this era. His influential contributions include What is Meant by Calling Emotions Basic [7] (2011) and Cross-cultural recognition of basic emotions through nonverbal emotional vocalizations [8] (2010), which highlighted both the universality and cultural variation of emotion expression and shaped subsequent cross-cultural and multimodal approaches.