what makes us behave as we do what drives us to eat what drives us towards sex is there a biological basis to explain the feelings we experience how universal are emotions in this chapter we will explore issues relating to both motivation and emotion we will begin with a discussion of several theories that have been proposed to explain motivation and why we engage in a given behavior you will learn about the physiological needs that drive some human behaviors as well as the importance of our social experiences in influencing our actions next we will consider both eating and having sex as examples of motivated behaviors what are the physiological mechanisms of hunger and satiety what understanding do scientists have of why eating disorders occur and what treatments exist for them how has research into human sex and sexuality evolved over the past century how do psychologists understand and study the human experience of sexual orientation and gender identity these questions and more will be explored this chapter will close with a discussion of emotion you will learn about several theories that have been proposed to explain how emotion occurs the biological underpinnings of emotion and the universality of emotions learning objectives by the end of this section you will be able to define intrinsic and exttrinsic motivation understand that instincts drive reduction self-efficacy and social motives have all been proposed as theories of motivation explain the basic concepts associated with Maslo's hierarchy of needs why do we do the things we do what motivations underly our behaviors motivation describes the wants or needs that direct behavior toward a goal in addition to biological motives motivations can be intrinsic arising from internal factors or exttrinsic arising from external factors figure 10.2 intrinsically motivated behaviors are performed because of the sense of personal satisfaction that they bring while extrinsically motivated behaviors are performed in order to receive something from others figure 10.2 intrinsic motivation comes from within the individual while exttrinsic motivation comes from outside the individual think about why you are pursuing an education are you here because you enjoy learning and want to pursue an education to make yourself a more well-rounded individual if so then you are intrinsically motivated however if you are here because you want to get a college degree to make yourself more marketable for a high-paying career or to satisfy the demands of your parents then your motivation is more extrinsic in nature in reality our motivations are often a mix of both intrinsic and exttrinsic factors but the nature of the mix of these factors might change over time often in ways that seem counterintuitive there is an old adage choose a job that you love and you will never have to work a day in your life meaning that if you enjoy your occupation work doesn't seem like well work some research suggests that this isn't necessarily the case daniel and Esser 1980 desi 1972 Desi Kner and Ryan 1999 according to this research receiving some sort of exttrinsic reinforcement i.e getting paid for engaging in behaviors that we enjoy leads to those behaviors being thought of as work no longer providing that same enjoyment as a result we might spend less time engaging in these reclassified behaviors in the absence of any extrinsic reinforcement for example Odessa loves baking so in her free time she bakes for fun oftentimes after stocking shelves at her grocery store job she whips up pastries in the evenings because she enjoys baking when a co-orker in the store's bakery department leaves his job Odessa applies for his position and gets transferred to the bakery department although she enjoys what she does in her new job after a few months she no longer has much desire to concoct tasty treats in her free time baking has become work in a way that changes her motivation to do it figure 10.3 what Odessa has experienced is called the overjustification effect intrinsic motivation is diminished when exttrinsic motivation is given this can lead to extinguishing the intrinsic motivation and creating a dependence on exttrinsic rewards for continued performance desi Edall 1999 figure 10.3 research suggests that when something we love to do like icing cakes becomes our job our intrinsic and exttrinsic motivations to do it may change credit Augustine Ruiz other studies suggest that intrinsic motivation may not be so vulnerable to the effects of exttrinsic reinforcements and in fact reinforcements such as verbal praise might actually increase intrinsic motivation arnold 1976 Cameron and Pierce 1994 in that case Odessa's motivation to bake in her free time might remain high if for example customers regularly complement her baking or cake decorating skills these apparent discrepancies in the researcher's findings may be understood by considering several factors for one physical reinforcements such as money and verbal reinforcement such as praise may affect an individual in very different ways in fact tangible rewards i.e money tend to have more negative effects on intrinsic motivation than do intangible rewards i.e praise furthermore the expectation of the exttrinsic motivator by an individual is crucial if the person expects to receive an extrinsic reward then intrinsic motivation for the task tends to be reduced if however there is no such expectation and the extrinsic motivation is presented as a surprise then intrinsic motivation for the task tends to persist dei at all 1999 in addition culture may influence motivation for example in collectivistic cultures it is common to do things for your family members because the emphasis is on the group and what is best for the entire group rather than what is best for any one individual nisbbit Pang Choi and Norin Xai in 2001 this focus on others provides a broader perspective that takes into account both situational and cultural influences on behavior thus a more nuanced explanation of the causes of others behavior becomes more likely you will learn more about collectivistic and individualistic cultures when you learn about social psychology in educational settings students are more likely to experience intrinsic motivation to learn when they feel a sense of belonging and respect in the classroom this internalization can be enhanced if the evaluative aspects of the classroom are deemphasized and if students feel that they exercise some control over the learning environment furthermore providing students with activities that are challenging yet doable along with a rationale for engaging in various learning activities can enhance intrinsic motivation for those tasks nimiac and Ryan 2009 consider Hakee a firstear law student with two courses this semester family law and criminal law the family law professor has a rather intimidating classroom he likes to put students on the spot with tough questions which often leaves students feeling belittled or embarrassed grades are based exclusively on quizzes and exams and the instructor posts results of each test on the classroom door in contrast the criminal law professor facilitates classroom discussions and respectful debates in small groups the majority of the course grade is not exam- based but centers on a student designed research project on a crime issue of the students choice research suggests that Hakee will be less intrinsically motivated in his family law course where students are intimidated in the classroom setting and there is an emphasis on teacher-driven evaluations hakee is likely to experience a higher level of intrinsic motivation in his criminal law course where the class setting encourages inclusive collaboration and a respect for ideas and where students have more influence over their learning activities theories about motivation william James 1842 to 1910 was an important contributor to early research into motivation and he is often referred to as the father of psychology in the United States james theorized that behavior was driven by a number of instincts which aid survival figure 10.4 from a biological perspective an instinct is a species specific pattern of behavior that is not learned there was however considerable controversy among James and his contemporaries over the exact definition of instinct james proposed several dozen special human instincts but many of his contemporaries had their own lists that differed a mother's protection of her baby the urge to lick sugar and hunting prey were among the human behaviors proposed as true instincts during James's era this view that human behavior is driven by instincts received a fair amount of criticism because of the undeniable role of learning in shaping all sorts of human behavior in fact as early as the 1900s some instinctive behaviors were experimentally demonstrated to result from associative learning recall when you learned about Watson's conditioning of fear response in Little Albert Ferris 1921 photograph A shows William James photograph B shows a person breastfeeding a baby figure 10.4 a william James proposed the instinct theory of motivation asserting that behavior is driven by instincts b in humans instincts may include behaviors such as in infants rooting for a nipple and sucking another early theory of motivation proposed that the maintenance of homeostasis is particularly important in directing behavior you may recall from your earlier reading that homeostasis is the tendency to maintain a balance or optimal level within a biological system in a body system a control center which is often part of the brain receives input from receptors which are often complexes of neurons the control center directs which may be other neurons to correct any imbalance detected by the control center according to the drive theory of motivation deviations from homeostasis create physiological needs these needs result in psychological drive states that direct behavior to meet the need and ultimately bring the system back to homeostasis for example if it's been a while since you ate your blood sugar levels will drop below normal this low blood sugar will induce a physiological need and a corresponding drive state i.e hunger that will direct you to seek out and consume food figure 10.5 eating will eliminate the hunger and ultimately your blood sugar levels will return to normal interestingly drive theory also emphasizes the role that habits play in the type of behavioral response in which we engage a habit is a pattern of behavior in which we regularly engage once we have engaged in a behavior that successfully reduces a drive we are more likely to engage in that behavior whenever faced with that drive in the future graham and Weiner 1996 figure 10.5 hunger and subsequent eating are the result of complex physiological processes that maintain homeostasis extensions of drive theory take into account levels of arousal as potential motivators as you recall from your study of learning these theories assert that there is an optimal level of arousal that we all try to maintain figure 10.6 if we are under aroused we become bored and will seek out some sort of stimulation on the other hand if we are overaroused we will engage in behaviors to reduce our arousal berlin 1960 most students have experienced this need to maintain optimal levels of arousal over the course of their academic career think about how much stress students experience toward the end of spring semester they feel overwhelmed with seemingly endless exams papers and major assignments that must be completed on time they probably yearn for the rest and relaxation that awaits them over the extended summer break however once they finish the semester it doesn't take too long before they begin to feel bored generally by the time the next semester is beginning in the fall many students are quite happy to return to school this is an example of how arousal theory works figure 10.6 the concept of optimal arousal in relation to performance on a task is depicted here performance is maximized at the optimal level of arousal and it tapers off during under and over arousal so what is the optimal level of arousal what level leads to the best performance research shows that moderate arousal is generally best when arousal is very high or very low performance tends to suffer jüks and Dodson 1908 think of your arousal level regarding taking an exam for this class if your level is very low such as boredom and apathy your performance will likely suffer similarly a very high level such as extreme anxiety can be paralyzing and hinder performance consider the example of a softball team facing a tournament they are favored to win their first game by a large margin so they go into the game with a lower level of arousal and get beat by a less skilled team but optimal arousal level is more complex than a simple answer that the middle level is always best researchers Robert Jükis pronounced Jük Ees and John Dodson discovered that the optimal arousal level depends on the complexity and difficulty of the task to be performed figure 10.7 this relationship is known as the Yorkkees Dodson law which holds that a simple task is performed best when arousal levels are relatively high and complex tasks are best performed when arousal levels are lower figure 10.7 task performance is best when arousal levels are in a middle range with difficult tasks best performed under lower levels of arousal and simple tasks best performed under higher levels of arousal self-efficacy and social motives self-efficacy is an individual's belief in their own capability to complete a task which may include a previous successful completion of the exact task or a similar task albert Bandura 1994 theorized that an individual's sense of self-efficacy plays a pivotal role in motivating behavior bura argues that motivation derives from expectations that we have about the consequences of our behaviors and ultimately it is the appreciation of our capacity to engage in a given behavior that will determine what we do and the future goals that we set for ourselves for example if you have a sincere belief in your ability to achieve at the highest level you are more likely to take on challenging tasks and to not let setbacks dissuade you from seeing the task through to the end a number of theorists have focused their research on understanding social motives mcadams and Constantin 1983 Mlelend and Lieberman 1949 Murray at all 1938 among the motives they describe are needs for achievement affiliation and intimacy it is the need for achievement that drives accomplishment and performance the need for affiliation encourages positive interactions with others and the need for intimacy causes us to seek deep meaningful relationships henry Murray at all 1938 categorized these needs into domains for example the need for achievement and recognition falls under the domain of ambition dominance and aggression were recognized as needs under the domain of human power and play was a recognized need in the domain of interpersonal affection maslo's hierarchy of needs while the theories of motivation described earlier relate to basic biological drives individual characteristics or social contexts abraham Maslo 1943 proposed a hierarchy of needs that spans the spectrum of motives ranging from the biological to the individual to the social these needs are often depicted as a pyramid figure 10.8 figure 10.8 maslo's hierarchy of needs is illustrated here in some versions of the pyramid cognitive and aesthetic needs are also included between esteem and self-actualization others include another tier at the top of the pyramid for self-trcendence at the base of the pyramid are all of the physiological needs that are necessary for survival these are followed by basic needs for security and safety the need to be loved and to have a sense of belonging and the need to have self-worth and confidence the top tier of the pyramid is self-actualization which is a need that essentially equates to achieving one's full potential and it can only be realized when needs lower on the pyramid have been met to Maslo and humanistic theorists self-actualization reflects the humanistic emphasis on positive aspects of human nature maslo suggested that this is an ongoing lifelong process and that only a small percentage of people actually achieve a self-actualized state francis and Cretsonus 2006 maslo 1943 according to Maslo 1943 one must satisfy lower level needs before addressing those needs that occur higher in the pyramid so for example if someone is struggling to find enough food to meet their nutritional requirements it is quite unlikely that they would spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about whether others viewed them as a good person or not instead all of their energies would be geared toward finding something to eat however it should be pointed out that Maslo's theory has been criticized for its subjective nature and its inability to account for phenomena that occur in the real world leonard 1982 other research has more recently addressed that late in life Maslo proposed a self-trcendence level above self-actualization to represent striving for meaning and purpose beyond the concerns of oneself cult Rivera 2006 for example people sometimes make self-sacrifices in order to make a political statement or in an attempt to improve the conditions of others moandas K gandhi a world-renowned advocate for independence through non-violent protest on several occasions when on hunger strikes to protest a particular situation people may starve themselves or otherwise put themselves in danger displaying higher level motives beyond their own needs learning objectives by the end of this section you will be able to describe how hunger and eating are regulated differentiate between levels of overweight and obesity and the associated health consequences explain the health consequences resulting from anorexia and bulimia nervosa eating is essential for survival and it is no surprise that a drive like hunger exists to ensure that we seek out sustenance while this chapter will focus primarily on the physiological mechanisms that regulate hunger and eating powerful social cultural and economic influences also play important roles this section will explain the regulation of hunger eating and body weight and we will discuss the adverse consequences of disordered eating physiological mechanisms there are a number of physiological mechanisms that serve as the basis for hunger when our stomachs are empty they contract typically a person then experiences hunger pangs chemical messages travel to the brain and serve as a signal to initiate feeding behavior when our blood glucose levels drop the pancreas and liver generate a number of chemical signals that induce hunger contrec at all 2003 noven Robinson Culbreth and Toroff 1985 and thus initiate feeding behavior for most people once they have eaten they feel satiation or fullness and satisfaction and their eating behavior stops like the initiation of eating satiation is also regulated by several physiological mechanisms as blood glucose levels increase the pancreas and liver send signals to shut off hunger and eating dreisen and Woods 2003 Drew Small and Bloom 2004 greery 1990 the food's passage through the gastrointestinal tract also provides important satiety signals to the brain woods 2004 and fat cells release leptin a satiety hormone the various hunger and satiety signals that are involved in the regulation of eating are integrated in the brain research suggests that several areas of the hypothalamus and hindb brain are especially important sites where this integration occurs aheea and anti 2008 woods and dlesio 2008 ultimately activity in the brain determines whether or not we engage in feeding behavior figure 10.9 figure 10.9 hunger and eating are regulated by a complex interplay of hunger and satiety signals that are integrated in the brain metabolism and body weight our body weight is affected by a number of factors including gene environment interactions and the number of calories we consume versus the number of calories we burn in daily activity if our caloric intake exceeds our caloric use our bodies store excess energy in the form of fat if we consume fewer calories than we burn off then stored fat will be converted to energy our energy expenditure is obviously affected by our levels of activity but our body's metabolic rate also comes into play a person's metabolic rate is the amount of energy that is expended in a given period of time and there is tremendous individual variability in our metabolic rates people with high rates of metabolism are able to burn off calories more easily than those with lower rates of metabolism we all experience fluctuations in our weight from time to time but generally most people's weights fluctuate within a narrow margin in the absence of extreme changes in diet and/or physical activity this observation led some to propose a set point theory of body weight regulation the set point theory asserts that each individual has an ideal body weight or set point which is resistant to change this set point is genetically predetermined and efforts to move our weight significantly from the set point are resisted by compensatory changes in energy intake and/or expenditure speakman at all 2011 some of the predictions generated from this particular theory have not received empirical support for example there are no changes in metabolic rate between individuals who had recently lost significant amounts of weight and a control grouper at all 2000 in addition the set point theory fails to account for the influence of social and environmental factors in the regulation of body weight martin Groner and Ozanne 2013 speakman at all 2011 despite these limitations setpoint theory is still often used as a simple intuitive explanation of how body weight is regulated see psychological disorders for further discussion about eating disorders obesity when someone weighs more than what is generally accepted as healthy for a given height they are considered overweight or obese according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC an adult with a body mass index BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight figure 10.10 an adult with a BMI of 30 or higher is considered obese centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC 2012 people who are so overweight that they are at risk for death are classified as severely obese severe obesity is defined as having a BMI over 40 note that although BMI has been used as a healthy weight indicator by the World Health Organization WH the CDC and other groups its value as an assessment tool has been questioned the BMI is most useful for studying populations which is the work of these organizations it is less useful in assessing an individual since height and weight measurements fail to account for important factors like fitness level an athlete for example may have a high BMI because the tool doesn't distinguish between the body's percentage of fat and muscle in a person's weight bmi scales have not accounted for differences in body composition related to race or ethnicity as a result BMI is less useful in determining health of all people while many health care professionals and organizations still utilize BMI the American Medical Association in 2023 recommended that it be removed as a standard measure of health figure 10.10 this chart shows how adult BMI is calculated individuals find their height on the y-axis and their weight on the x-axis to determine their BMI while BMI is widely used and does provide some indications of health it does not account for differences in people's body composition the American Medical Association has recommended it be deemphasized as a measure of health being extremely overweight or obese is a risk factor for several negative health consequences these include but are not limited to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease stroke type 2 diabetes liver disease sleep apnea colon cancer breast cancer infertility and arthritis given that it is estimated that in the United States around 40% of the adult population is obese and that nearly 3/4ers of adults and one in six children qualify as overweight CDC 2018 there is substantial interest in trying to understand how to combat this important public health concern what causes someone to be overweight or obese you have already read that both genes and environment are important factors for determining body weight and if more calories are consumed than expended excess energy is stored as fat however socioeconomic status and the physical environment must also be considered as contributing factors cdc 2012 for example an individual who lives in a neighborhood with high crime rates and few food options may never feel comfortable walking or biking to work or to the local market this might limit the amount of physical activity in which they engage similarly some people may not be able to afford healthy food options from their market or these options may be unavailable especially in urban areas or poorer neighborhoods therefore some people must rely primarily on available inexpensive highfat and high calorie fast food as their primary source of nutrition generally people are encouraged to try to maintain and improve health through a combination of both diet and exercise while some people are very successful with these approaches many are not in cases in which a person has had no success with repeated attempts to reduce weight or is at risk for death because of obesity beriatric surgery may be recommended beriatric surgery is a type of surgery specifically aimed at weight reduction and it involves modifying the gastrointestinal system to reduce the amount of food that can be eaten and or limiting how much of the digested food can be absorbed figure 10.11 mayo Clinic 2013 a recent meta analysis suggests that beriatric surgery is more effective than non-surgical treatment for obesity in the two years immediately following the procedure but to date no long-term studies yet exist gloy at all 2013 figure 10.11 gastric banding surgery creates a small pouch of stomach reducing the size of the stomach that can be used for digestion dig deeper prader Willie syndrome prader Willie syndrome PWS is a genetic disorder that results in persistent feelings of intense hunger and reduced rates of metabolism typically affected children have to be supervised around the clock to ensure that they do not engage in excessive eating currently PWS is the leading genetic cause of severe obesity in children and it is associated with a number of cognitive deficits and emotional problems figure 10.12 figure 10.12 yuhinia Martinez Vallejo depicted in this 1680 painting may have had Prader Willie syndrome at just 8 years old she weighed approximately 120 lbs while genetic testing can be used to make a diagnosis there are a number of behavioral diagnostic criteria associated with PWS from birth to 2 years of age lack of muscle tone and poor sucking behavior may serve as early signs of PWS developmental delays are seen between the ages of 6 and 12 and excessive eating and cognitive deficits associated with PWS usually onset a little later while the exact mechanisms of PWS are not fully understood there is evidence that affected individuals have hypothalamic abnormalities this is not surprising given the hypothalamus's role in regulating hunger and eating however as you will learn in the next section of this chapter the hypothalamus is also involved in the regulation of sexual behavior consequently many individuals suffering from PWS fail to reach sexual maturity during adolescence there is no current treatment or cure for PWS however if weight can be controlled in these individuals then their life expecties are significantly increased historically sufferers of PWS often died in adolescence or early adulthood advances in the use of various psychoactive medications and growth hormones continue to enhance the quality of life for individuals with PWS cassidy and Driscoll 2009 prader Willie Syndrome Association 2012 eating disorders while nearly two out of three US adults struggle with issues related to being overweight a smaller but significant portion of the population has eating disorders that typically result in being underweight often these individuals are fearful of gaining weight individuals who have bulimia nervosa and anorexia nervosa face many adverse health consequences mayo Clinic 20112A 20112B people suffering from bulimia nervosa engage in binge eating behavior that is followed by an attempt to compensate for the large amount of food consumed purging the food by inducing vomiting or through the use of laxatives are two common compensatory behaviors some affected individuals engage in excessive amounts of exercise to compensate for their binges bulimia is associated with many adverse health consequences that can include kidney failure heart failure and tooth decay in addition these individuals often suffer from anxiety and depression and they are at an increased risk for substance abuse mayo Clinic 20112B the lifetime prevalence rate for bulimia nervosa is estimated at around 1% for women and less than 0.5% for men smink Van Hoken and Huck 2012 as of the 2013 release of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual fifth edition binge eating disorder is a disorder recognized by the American Psychiatric Association APA unlike with bulimia eating binges are not followed by inappropriate behavior such as purging but they are followed by distress including feelings of guilt and embarrassment the resulting psychological distress distinguishes binge eating disorder from overeating american Psychiatric Association APA 2013 anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder characterized by the maintenance of a body weight well below average through starvation and/or excessive exercise individuals with anorexia nervosa often have a distorted body image referenced in literature as a type of body dysmorphia meaning that they view themselves as overweight even though they are not like bulimia nervosa anorexia nervosa is associated with a number of significant negative health outcomes bone loss heart failure kidney failure amenorhea sessation of the menstrual period reduced function of the gonads and in extreme cases death furthermore there is an increased risk for a number of psychological problems which include anxiety disorders mood disorders and substance abuse mayo Clinic 20112A estimates of the prevalence of anorexia nervosa vary from study to study but generally range from just under 1% to just over 4% in women generally prevalence rates are considerably lower for men smink at all 2012 while both anorexia and bulimia nervosa occur in people from many different cultures white females from western societies tend to be the most at risk population recent research indicates that females between the ages of 15 and 19 are most at risk and it has long been suspected that these eating disorders are culturally bound phenomena that are related to messages of a thin ideal often portrayed in popular media and the fashion world figure 10.13 smink at all 2012 while social factors play an important role in the development of eating disorders there is also evidence that genetic factors may predispose people to these disorders collier and Treasure 2004 figure 10.13 young people in our society are inundated with images of extremely thin models sometimes accurately depicted and sometimes digitally altered to make them look even thinner these images may contribute to eating disorders credit Peter Duhan learning objectives by the end of this section you will be able to understand basic biological mechanisms regulating sexual behavior and motivation appreciate the importance of Alfred Kinsey's research on human sexuality recognize the contributions that William Masters and Virginia Johnson's research made to our understanding of the sexual response cycle define sexual orientation and gender identity like food sex is an important part of many people's lives from an evolutionary perspective the reason is obvious perpetuation of the species sexual behavior in humans however involves much more than reproduction this section provides an overview of research that has been conducted on human sexual behavior and motivation this section will close with a discussion of issues related to gender identity and expression and sexual orientation physiological mechanisms of sexual behavior and motivation much of what we know about the physiological mechanisms that underly sexual behavior and motivation comes from animal research as you've learned the hypothalamus plays an important role in motivated behaviors and sex is no exception in fact lesions to an area of the hypothalamus called the medial preoptic area completely disrupt a male rat's ability to engage in sexual behavior surprisingly medial preoptic lesions do not change how hard a male rat is willing to work to gain access to a sexually receptive female figure 10.14 this suggests that the ability to engage in sexual behavior and the motivation to do so may be mediated by neural systems distinct from one another figure 10.14 a male rat that cannot engage in sexual behavior still seeks receptive females suggesting that the ability to engage in sexual behavior and the motivation to do so are mediated by different systems in the brain credit Jason Snyder animal research suggests that lyic system structures such as the amygdala and nucleus encumbent are especially important for sexual motivation damage to these areas results in a decreased motivation to engage in sexual behavior while leaving the ability to do so intact figure 10.15 Everett 1990 similar dissociations of sexual motivation and sexual ability have also been observed in the female rat Becker Rudik and Jenkins 2001 jenkins and Becker 2001 figure 10.15 the medial preoptic area an area of the hypothalamus is involved in the ability to engage in sexual behavior but it does not affect sexual motivation in contrast the amygdala and nucleus encumbent are involved in motivation for sexual behavior but they do not affect the ability to engage in it although human sexual behavior is much more complex than that seen in rats some parallels between animals and humans can be drawn from this research the worldwide popularity of drugs used to treat erectile dysfunction Conrad 2005 speaks to the fact that sexual motivation and the ability to engage in sexual behavior can also be dissociated in humans moreover disorders that involve abnormal hypothalamic function are often associated with hypogonadism reduced function of the gonads and reduced sexual function eg prader willy syndrome given the hypothalamus's role in endocrine function it is not surprising that hormones secreted by the endocrine system also play important roles in sexual motivation and behavior for example many animals show no sign of sexual motivation in the absence of the appropriate combination of sex hormones from their gonads while this is not the case for humans there is considerable evidence that sexual motivation for all genders varies as a function of circulating testosterone levels basin Enselin Koviello and Basson 2007 carter 1992 Sherwin 1988 kinsey's research before the late 1940s access to reliable empirically based information on sex was limited physicians were considered authorities on all issues related to sex despite the fact that they had little to no training in these issues and it is likely that most of what people knew about sex had been learned either through their own experiences or by talking with their peers convinced that people would benefit from a more open dialogue on issues related to human sexuality Dr alfred Kinsey of Indiana University initiated large-scale survey research on the topic figure 10.16 the results of some of these efforts were published in two books sexual behavior in the human male and sexual behavior in the human female which were published in 1948 and 1953 respectively below 1998 figure 10.16 in 1947 Alfred Kinsey established the Kinsey Institute for Research Sex Gender and Reproduction at Indiana University shown here in 2011 the Kinsey Institute has continued as a research site of important psychological studies for decades at the time the Kinsey reports were quite sensational never before had the American public seen its private sexual behavior become the focus of scientific scrutiny on such a large scale the books which were filled with statistics and scientific lingo sold remarkably well to the general public and people began to engage in open conversations about human sexuality as you might imagine not everyone was happy that this information was being published in fact these books were banned in some countries ultimately the controversy resulted in Kinsey losing funding that he had secured from the Rockefeller Foundation to continue his research efforts bankraftoft 2004 although Kinsey's research has been widely criticized as being riddled with sampling and statistical errors Jenkins 2010 there is little doubt that this research was very influential in shaping future research on human sexual behavior and motivation kinsey described a remarkably diverse range of sexual behaviors and experiences reported by the volunteers participating in his research behaviors that had once been considered exceedingly rare or problematic were demonstrated to be much more common and innocuous than previously imagined bankrooft 2004 bullo 1998 among the results of Kinsey's research were the findings that women are as interested and experienced in sex as men that both males and females masturbate without adverse health consequences and that relationships and sexual acts between people of the same sex and/or the same gender are fairly common bankrooft 2004 kinsey also developed a continuum known as the Kinsey scale that is still commonly used today to categorize an individual's sexual orientation which is an individual's emotional romantic and erotic attractions to other people or no people jenkins 2010 masters and Johnson's research in 1966 William Masters and Virginia Johnson published a book detailing the results of their observations of nearly 700 people who agreed to participate in their study of physiological responses during sexual behavior unlike Kinsey who used personal interviews and surveys to collect data Masters and Johnson observed people having intercourse in a variety of positions and they observed people masturbating manually or with the aid of a device while this was occurring researchers recorded measurements of physiological variables such as blood pressure and respiration rate as well as measurements of sexual arousal such as vaginal lubrication and penile tumes swelling associated with an erection in total Masters and Johnson observed nearly 10,000 sexual acts as a part of their research hawk 2008 based on these observations Masters and Johnson divided the sexual response cycle into four phases that are fairly similar for most people excitement plateau orgasm and resolution figure 10.17 the excitement phase is the arousal phase of the sexual response cycle and it is marked by erection of the penis or clitoris and lubrication and expansion of the vaginal canal during plateau the vagina swells further and blood flow to the labia minora increases and the penis becomes fully erect and may exhibit pre-jaculatory fluid people experience increases in muscle tone during this time orgasm is marked in females by rhythmic contractions of the pelvis and uterus along with increased muscle tension in males pelvic contractions are accompanied by a buildup of seinal fluid near the urethra that is ultimately forced out by contractions of genital muscles i.e ejaculation resolution is the relatively rapid return to an unaroused state accompanied by a decrease in blood pressure and muscular relaxation the refractory period is a period of time that follows an orgasm during which an individual is incapable of experiencing another orgasm the duration of the refractory period can vary dramatically from individual to individual with some refractory periods as short as several minutes and others as long as a day as people age their refractory periods tend to span longer periods of time figure 10.17 this graph illustrates the different phases of the sexual response cycle as described by Masters and Johnson in addition to the insights that their research provided with regards to the sexual response cycle and the multiorggasmic potential of females Masters and Johnson also collected important information about reproductive anatomy their research demonstrated the off-sighted statistic of the average size of a flaccid and an erect penis 3 and 6 in respectively as well as dispelling long-held beliefs about relationships between the size of an erect penis and its ability to provide sexual pleasure to a partner furthermore they determined that the vagina is a very elastic structure that can conform to penises of various sizes hawk 2008 in a similar manner to Kinsey's work and other studies Masters and Johnson's research has been criticized built on and in some cases proven wrong the research represents an important element of the history of sexual research and is not viewed as entirely accurate today sexual orientation as mentioned earlier a person's sexual orientation is their emotional romantic and/or erotic attraction toward other people or no people people may identify as lesbian gay bisexual pansexual asexual heterosexual straight or other sexualities lesbian and gay people are attracted to people of the same gender or sex bisexual people are attracted to people of their own gender and another gender panssexual people experience attraction without regard to sex gender identity or gender expression asexual people do not experience sexual attraction or have little or no interest in sexual activity heterosexual or straight people experience attraction to people of a different gender or sex other descriptive terms may not refer to a sexual attraction but rather a romantic one for example an aromantic person does not experience romantic attraction this is different from asexuality which refers to a lack of sexual attraction and some sexual orientations do not refer to gender in their description pag 2021 it is important to acknowledge and understand that many of these orientations exist on a on a spectrum and there may be no specific term to describe how an individual feels some of these terms have been associated in abbreviations such as LGBTQ lesbian gay bisexual transgender and queer or questioning queer is an umbrella term that some LGBTQ people use to describe themselves questioning refers to people in a process of discovery regarding their gender identity or sexual orientation in some cases people and organizations may add I to represent interex people described below and A for asexual or aromantic people or sometimes for allies as well as one P to describe pansexual people and sometimes another P to describe polysexual people finally some people and organizations add a plus sign plus to represent other possible identities or orientations sexuality and gender terminology are constantly changing and may mean different things to different people they are not universal and each individual defines them for themselves uc Davis LGBTQIA resource center 2020 figure 10.18 between 3% and 10% of the adult population identifies as gay or lesbian credit till CRE for many years people including scientists believe that sexual orientation was largely determined by socialization and familial experiences however research has consistently demonstrated that the family backgrounds and experiences are very similar among straight people and LGBTQ people bell Weineberg and Hammersmith 1981 ross and Arendelle 1988 genetic and biological mechanisms have also been proposed and the balance of research evidence suggests that sexual orientation has an underlying biological component for instance over the past 25 years research has demonstrated gene level contributions to sexual orientation bailey and Pillard 1991 Hamr Hugh Magnus Hugh and Patatuchi 1993 rodriguez Laura and Paradisi 2009 with some researchers estimating that genes account for at least half of the variability seen in human sexual orientation pillard and Bailey 1998 other studies report differences in brain structure and function among those with different sexual orientations alan and Gorski 1992 Bine at All 2001 Hugh Atall 2008 Lavey 1991 Pansetti at all 2006 Ramen and Wilson 203A Swab and Hoffman 1990 and even differences in basic body structure and function have been observed hall and Kimura 1994 lip in aggregate the data suggests that to a significant extent sexual orientations are something with which we are born misunderstandings about sexual orientation regardless of how sexual orientation is determined research has made clear that sexual orientation is not a choice but rather it is a relatively stable characteristic of a person that cannot be changed claims of effective conversion therapy have received wide criticism from the research community due to significant concerns with research design recruitment of experimental participants and interpretation of data as such there is no credible scientific evidence to suggest that individuals can change their sexual orientation jenkins 2010 dr robert Spitzer the author of one of the most widely cited examples of conversion therapy apologized to both the scientific community and the LGBTQ community for his mistakes and he publicly recanted his own paper in a public letter addressed to the editor of Archives of Sexual Behavior in the spring of 2012 carrie 2012 in this letter Spitzer wrote "I was considering writing something that would acknowledge that I now judge the major critiques of the study as largely correct i believe I owe the gay community an apology for my study making unproven claims of the efficacy of reparative therapy i also apologize to any gay person who wasted time or energy undergoing some form of reparative therapy because they believed that I had proven that reparative therapy works with some highly motivated individuals becker 2012 pars 25 citing research that suggests not only that conversion therapy is ineffective but also potentially harmful legislative efforts to make such therapy illegal have either been enacted or are underway across the United States and many professional organizations have issued statements against this practice human Rights Campaign ND gender identity many people conflate sexual orientation with gender identity because of misconceptions and attitudes that exist about sexuality in reality these are two related but different aspects of who we are gender identity refers to one's sense of being male female neither of these both of these or another gender generally our gender identities correspond to our chromosomal and phenotypic sex but this is not always the case transgender people's gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth transgender people may use a range of terms to describe themselves including abbreviations eg trans or terms such as non-binary when individuals do not feel comfortable identifying with the gender associated with their biological sex then they may experience gender dysphoria gender dysphoria is a diagnostic category in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM5 that describes individuals who do not identify as the gender that most people would assume they are this dysphoria must persist for at least 6 months and result in significant distress or dysfunction to meet DSM5 diagnostic criteria in order for children to be assigned this diagnostic category they must verbalize their desire to become another gender it is important to note that not all transgender people experience gender dysphoria and that its diagnostic categorization is not universally accepted for example in 2019 the World Health Organization reclassified gender identity disorder as gender inongruence and categorized it under sexual health rather than a mental disorder however health and mental health professionals indicate that the presence of the diagnostic category does assist in supporting those who need treatment or help some transgender individuals may undertake a process of transition in which they move from living in a way that is more aligned with the sex assigned at birth to living in a way that is aligned with their gender identity transitioning may take the form of social legal or medical aspects of someone's life but not everyone undertakes any or all types of transition social transition may involve the person's presentation name pronouns and relationships legal transition can include changing their gender on government or other official documents changing their legal name and so on some people may undergo a physical or medical transition in which they change their outward physical or sexual characteristics in order for their physical being to better align with their gender identity ucsf Transgender Care 2019 not all transgender individuals choose to alter their bodies many will maintain their original anatomy but may present themselves to society as another gender this is typically done by adopting the dress hairstyle mannerisms or other characteristics typically assigned to another gender it is important to note that people who cross-dress or wear clothing that is traditionally assigned to a gender different from their biological sex are not necessarily transgender cross-dressing is typically a form of self-expression or personal style and it does not indicate a person's gender identity or that they are transgender tsr 2021 interex is a general term used to describe people whose sex traits reproductive anatomy hormones or chromosomes are different from the usual two ways human bodies develop some interex traits are recognized at birth while others are not recognizable until puberty or later in life interact 2021 interex and transgender are not interchangeable terms many transgender people have no interex traits and many interex people do not consider themselves transgender those who identify with the sex they were assigned at birth are often referred to as cisgender utilizing the Latin prefix cis which means on the same side the prefix trans means across many cisgender people do not self-identify as such as with transgender people the term or usage of cisgender does not indicate a person's sexual orientation gender or gender expression tser 2021 our scientific knowledge and general understanding about gender identity continue to evolve and people today have more opportunity to explore and openly express different ideas about what gender means than previous generations recent studies indicate that the majority of millennials those ages 18 to 34 regard gender as a spectrum instead of a strict male/female binary and that 12% identify as transgender or gender non-conforming additionally more people know others who use genderneutral pronouns such as they them kennedy 2017 this change in language may indicate that millennials and generation Z people understand the experience of gender itself differently as young people lead this change other changes are emerging in a range of spheres from public bathroom policies to retail organizations for example some retailers are starting to change traditional gender-based marketing of products such as removing pink and blue clothing and toy aisles even with these changes those who exist outside of traditional gender norms face difficult challenges even people who vary slightly from traditional norms are often the target of discrimination and violence figure 10.19 actress Leverne Cox who is openly transgender is the first transgender actress to portray a transgender character on a regular television series she is also an advocate for LGBTQ plus issues outside of her career such as in this Ain't I a Woman speaking tour cultural factors and sexual orientation and gender identity issues related to sexual orientation and gender identity are very much influenced by socioultural factors even the ways in which we define sexual orientation and gender vary from one culture to the next while in the United States heterosexuality has historically been viewed as the norm making it a heteronormative society there are societies that have different attitudes regarding LGBTQ people in fact in some instances periods of exclusively same-sex sexual behavior are socially prescribed as a part of normal development and maturation for example in parts of New Guinea young boys are expected to engage in sexual behavior with other boys for a given period of time because it is believed that doing so is necessary for these boys to become men baldwin and Baldwin 1989 there has historically been a two-gendered culture in the United States we have tended to classify an individual as either male or female according to the sex they were assigned at birth leading the United States to be considered a cisnormative society however in some cultures there are additional genders resulting in more than two gender categories some of these identities have been core parts of societies for hundreds or thousands of years and they carry a deep connection for the culture for example the Boogies people in Indonesia have for centuries recognized a gender spectrum that includes at least five identities one of these the Bizu are important spiritual figures in the society and play roles in ceremonies such as weddings and coronations davies 2018 despite this these groups may still be persecuted or endure stigma particularly as cultural religious or governmental circumstances change in their regions ibrahim 2019 it is important to consider that many prominent non-binary identities from cultures around the world predate contemporary definitions of gender and gender roles dig deeper the case of David Rhymer in August of 1965 Janet and Ronald Reamer of Winnipeg Canada welcomed the birth of their twin sons Bruce and Brian within a few months the twins were experiencing urinary problems doctors recommended the problems could be alleviated by having the boys circumcised a malfunction of the medical equipment used to perform the circumcision resulted in Bruce's penis being irreparably damaged distraught Janet and Ronald looked to expert advice on what to do with their baby boy by happenstance the couple became aware of Dr john Money at John's Hopkins University and his theory of psychosexual neutrality colapinto 2000 dr money had spent a considerable amount of time researching transgender individuals and individuals born with ambiguous genitalia as a result of this work he developed a theory of psychosexual neutrality his theory asserted that we are essentially neutral at birth with regard to our gender identity and that we don't assume a concrete gender identity until we begin to master language furthermore Dr money believed that the way in which we are socialized in early life is ultimately much more important than our biology in determining our gender identity money 1962 Dr money encouraged Janet and Ronald to bring the twins to John's Hopkins University and he convinced them that they should raise Bruce as a girl left with few other options at the time Janet and Ronald agreed to have Bruce's testicles removed and to raise him as a girl when they returned home to Canada they brought with them Brian and his sister Brenda along with specific instructions to never reveal to Brenda that she had been born a boy Kolapinto 2000 early on Dr money shared with the scientific community the great success of this natural experiment that seemed to fully support his theory of psychosexual neutrality money 1975 indeed in early interviews with the children it appeared that Brenda was a typical little girl who liked to play with girly toys and do girly things however Dr money was less than forthcoming with information that seemed to argue against the success of the case in reality Brenda's parents were constantly concerned that their little girl wasn't really behaving as most girls did and by the time Brenda was nearing adolescence it was painfully obvious to the family that she was really having a hard time identifying as a female in addition Brenda was becoming increasingly reluctant to continue her visits with Dr money to the point that she threatened suicide if her parents made her go back to see him again at that point Janet and Ronald disclosed the true nature of Brenda's early childhood to their daughter while initially shocked Brenda reported that things made sense to her now and ultimately by the time she was an adolescent Brenda had decided to identify as a male thus she became David Rhyr david was quite comfortable in his masculine role he made new friends and began to think about his future although his castration had left him infertile he still wanted to be a father in 1990 David married a single mother and loved his new role as a husband and father in 1997 David was made aware that Dr money was continuing to publicize his case as a success supporting his theory of psychosexual neutrality this prompted David and his brother to go public with their experiences in an attempt to discredit the doctor's publications while this revelation created a firestorm in the scientific community for Dr money it also triggered a series of unfortunate events that ultimately led to David dying by suicide in 2004 okonnell 2004 this sad story speaks to the complexities involved in gender identity while the rumor case had earlier been paraded as a hallmark of how socialization trumped biology in terms of gender identity the truth of the story made the scientific and medical communities more cautious in dealing with cases that involve interex children and how to deal with their unique circumstances in fact stories like this one have prompted measures to prevent unnecessary harm and suffering to children who might have issues with gender identity for example in 2013 a law took effect in Germany allowing parents of interex children to classify their children as indeterminate so that children can self assign the appropriate gender once they have fully developed their own gender identities paramaguru 2013 learning objectives by the end of this section you will be able to explain the major theories of emotion describe the role that limbic structures play in emotional processing understand the ubiquitous nature of producing and recognizing emotional expression as we move through our daily lives we experience a variety of emotions an emotion is a subjective state of being that we often describe as our feelings emotions result from the combination of subjective experience expression cognitive appraisal and physiological responses levenson Karstensen Fzen and Ecman 1991 however as discussed later in the chapter the exact order in which the components occur is not clear and some parts may happen at the same time an emotion often begins with a subjective individual experience which is a stimulus often the stimulus is external but it does not have to be from the outside world for example it might be that one thinks about war and becomes sad even though they never experienced war emotional expression refers to the way one displays an emotion and includes non-verbal and verbal behaviors gross 1999 one also performs a cognitive appraisal in which a person tries to determine the way they will be impacted by a situation roseman and Smith 2001 in addition emotions include physiological responses such as possible changes in heart rate sweating etc susyong 2002 the words emotion and mood are sometimes used interchangeably but psychologists use these words to refer to two different things typically the word emotion indicates a subjective affective state that is relatively intense and that occurs in response to something we experience figure 10.20 emotions are often thought to be consciously experienced and intentional mood on the other hand refers to a prolonged less intense affective state that does not occur in response to something we experience mood states may not be consciously recognized and do not carry the intentionality that is associated with emotion bey terry Lane and Devonport 2011 here we will focus on emotion and you will learn more about mood in the chapter that covers psychological disorders figure 10.20 toddlers can cycle through emotions quickly being a extremely happy one moment and b extremely sad the next we can be at the heights of joy or in the depths of despair we might feel angry when we are betrayed fear when we are threatened and surprised when something unexpected happens this section will outline some of the most well-known theories explaining our emotional experience and provide insight into the biological basis of emotion this section closes with a discussion of the ubiquitous nature of facial expressions of emotion and our abilities to recognize those expressions in others theories of emotion our emotional states are combinations of physiological arousal psychological appraisal and subjective experiences together these are the components of emotion and our experiences backgrounds and cultures inform our emotions therefore different people may have different emotional experiences even when faced with similar circumstances over time several different theories of emotion shown in figure 10.21 have been proposed to explain how the various components of emotion interact with one another figure 10.21 this figure illustrates the major assertions of the James Lang Cannonbard and Shar Singer two-factor theories of emotion the James Lang theory of emotion asserts that emotions arise from physiological arousal recall what you have learned about the sympathetic nervous system and our fight orflight response when threatened if you were to encounter some threat in your environment like a venomous snake in your backyard your sympathetic nervous system would initiate significant physiological arousal which would make your heart race and increase your respiration rate according to the James Lang theory of emotion you would only experience a feeling of fear after this physiological arousal had taken place furthermore different arousal patterns would be associated with different feelings other theorists however doubted that the physiological arousal that occurs with different types of emotions is distinct enough to result in the wide variety of emotions that we experience thus the cannonbard theory of emotion was developed according to this view physiological arousal and emotional experience occur simultaneously yet independently lang 1994 so when you see the venomous snake you feel fear at exactly the same time that your body mounts its fight orflight response this emotional reaction would be separate and independent of the physiological arousal even though they co-occur does smiling make you happy alternatively does being happy make you smile the facial feedback hypothesis proposes that your facial expression can actually affect your emotional experience adelman and Zank 1989 Boer and Mosquita 2012 Buck 1980 Capella 1993 Susan 2001 research investigating the facial feedback hypothesis suggested that suppression of facial expression of emotion lowered the intensity of some emotions experienced by participants Davis Sangus and Oxner 2009 havasus Glennberg Gatowski Lucarelli and Davidson 2010 used Botox injections to paralyze facial muscles and limit facial expressions including frowning and they found that depressed people reported less depression after their frowning muscles were paralyzed other research found that the intensities of facial expressions affected the emotional reactions susyon 2002 in other words if something insignificant occurs and you smile as if you just won lottery you will actually be happier about the little thing than you would be if you only had a tiny smile conversely if you walk around frowning all the time it might cause you to have less positive emotions than you would if you had smiled interestingly Susen 2002 also reported physiological arousal differences associated with the intensities of one type of smile gi Maran Posado was a Spanish physician who studied the psychological effects of adrenaline to create a model for the experience of emotion marinon's model preceded Sher's two-factor or arousal cognition theory of emotion cornelius 1991 the Shter Singer two-factor theory of emotion is another variation on theories of emotions that takes into account both physiological arousal and the emotional experience according to this theory emotions are composed of two factors physiological and cognitive in other words physiological arousal is interpreted in context to produce the emotional experience in revisiting our example involving the venomous snake in your backyard the two-factor theory maintains that the snake elicits sympathetic nervous system activation that is labeled as fear given the context and our experience is that of fear if you had labeled your sympathetic nervous system activation as joy you would have experienced joy the Shaker Singer two-factor theory depends on labeling the physiological experience which is a type of cognitive appraisal magda Arnold was the first theorist to offer an exploration of the meaning of appraisal and to present an outline of what the appraisal process might be and how it relates to emotion roseman and Smith 2001 the key idea of appraisal theory is that you have thoughts a cognitive appraisal before you experience an emotion and the emotion you experience depends on the thoughts you had fria 1988 Lazarus 1991 if you think something is positive you will have more positive emotions about it than if your appraisal was negative and the opposite is true appraisal theory explains the way two people can have two completely different emotions regarding the same event for example suppose your psychology instructor selected you to lecture on emotion you might see that as positive because it represents an opportunity to be the center of attention and you would experience happiness however if you dislike speaking in public you could have a negative appraisal and experience discomfort shakar and Singer believed that physiological arousal is very similar across the different types of emotions that we experience and therefore the cognitive appraisal of the situation is critical to the actual emotion experienced in fact it might be possible to misattribute arousal to an emotional experience if the circumstances were right shaker and Singer 1962 they performed a clever experiment to test their idea a group of men participating in the experiment were randomly assigned to one of several groups some of the participants received injections of epinephrine that caused bodily changes that mimicked the fight-or-flight response of the sympathetic nervous system however only some of these men were told to expect these reactions as side effects of the injection the other men that received injections of epinephrine were told either that the injection would have no side effects or that it would result in a side effect unrelated to a sympathetic response such as itching feet or headache after receiving these injections participants waited in a room with someone else they thought was another subject in the research project in reality the other person was a Confederate someone working on behalf of the researcher the Confederate engaged in scripted displays of euphoric or angry behavior shakar and Singer 1962 when those participants who were told that they should expect to feel symptoms of physiological arousal were asked about any emotional changes that they had experienced related to either euphoria or anger depending on the way the Confederate behaved they reported none however the men who weren't expecting physiological arousal as a function of the injection were more likely to report that they experienced euphoria or anger as a function of their assigned Confederates behavior while everyone who received an injection of epinephrine experienced the same physiological arousal only those who were not expecting the arousal used context to interpret the arousal as a change in emotional state shaker and Singer 1962 strong emotional responses are associated with strong physiological arousal which caused some theorists to suggest that the signs of physiological arousal including increased heart rate respiration rate and sweating might be used to determine whether someone is telling the truth or not the assumption is that most of us would show signs of physiological arousal if we were being dishonest with someone a polygraph or lie detector test measures the physiological arousal of an individual responding to a series of questions someone trained in reading these tests would look for answers to questions that are associated with increased levels of arousal as potential signs that the respondent may have been dishonest on those answers while polygraphs are still commonly used their validity and accuracy are highly questionable because there is no evidence that lying is associated with any particular pattern of physiological arousal saxs and Ben Shakar 1999 the relationship between our experiencing of emotions and our cognitive processing of them and the order in which these occur remains a topic of research and debate lazarus 1991 developed the cognitive mediational theory that asserts our emotions are determined by our appraisal of the stimulus this appraisal mediates between the stimulus and the emotional response and it is immediate and often unconscious in contrast to the Shaker Singer model the appraisal precedes a cognitive label you will learn more about Lazarus's appraisal concept when you study stress health and lifestyle however there are other views of emotions that also emphasize the cognitive processes return to the example of being asked to lecture by your professor even if you do not enjoy speaking in public you probably could manage to do it you would purposefully control your emotions which would allow you to speak but we constantly regulate our emotions and much of our emotion regulation occurs without us actively thinking about it mos and her colleagues studied automatic emotion regulation AER which refers to the non-deliberate control of emotions it is simply not reacting with your emotions and AER can affect all aspects of emotional processes aer can influence the things you attend to your appraisal your choice to engage in an emotional experience and your behaviors after an emotion is experienced mouse Bungee and Gross 2007 mouse Levvenson McCarter Wilhelm and Gross 2005 aer is similar to other automatic cognitive processes in which sensations activate knowledge structures that affect functioning these knowledge structures can include concepts schemas or scripts the idea of AER is that people develop an automatic process that works like a script or schema and the process does not require deliberate thought to regulate emotions aer works like riding a bicycle once you develop the process you just do it without thinking about it aer can be adaptive or maladaptive and has important health implications hop Troy and mouse 2011 adaptive AER leads to better health outcomes than maladaptive AER primarily due to experiencing or mitigating stressors better than people with maladaptive AERS HOP Troy and Mouse 2011 alternatively maladaptive AERS may be critical for maintaining some psychological disorders hop Troy and Mouse 2011 mouse and her colleagues found that strategies could reduce negative emotions which in turn should increase psychological health mouse Cook Chang and Gross 2007 Mouse Cook and Gross 2007 Shallcross Troy Boland and Mouse 2010 Troy Shallcross and Mouse 2013 Troy Wilhelm Shallross and Mouse 2010 Mouse has also suggested there are problems with the way emotions are measured but she believes most of the aspects of emotions that are typically measured are useful mouse at all 2005 Mouse and Robinson 2009 however another way of considering emotions challenges our entire understanding of emotions after about three decades of interdisciplinary research Barrett argued that we do not understand emotions she proposed that emotions were not built into your brain at birth but rather they were constructed based on your experiences emotions in the constructivist theory are predictions that construct your experience of the world in the chapter on thinking and intelligence you learn that concepts are categories or groupings of linguistic information images ideas or memories such as life experiences barrett extended that to include emotions as concepts that are predictions barrett 2017 two identical physiological states can result in different emotional states depending on your predictions for example your brain predicting a churning stomach in a bakery could lead to you constructing hunger however your brain predicting a churning stomach while you were waiting for medical test results could lead your brain to construct worry thus you can construct two different emotions from the same physiological sensations rather than emotions being something over which you have no control you can control and influence your emotions two other prominent views arise from the work of Robert Za Jun and Joseph Leoo zjank asserted that some emotions occur separately from or prior to our cognitive interpretation of them such as feeling fear in response to an unexpected loud sound zjank 1998 he also believed in what we might casually refer to as a gut feeling that we can experience an instantaneous and unexplainable like or dislike for someone or something zank 1980 leoo also views some emotions as requiring no cognition some emotions completely bypass contextual interpretation his research into the neuroscience of emotion has demonstrated the amygdala's primary role in fear kuna Moni and Leu 2010 leu 1996 2002 a fear stimulus is processed by the brain through one of two paths from the phalamus where it is perceived directly to the amygdala or from the phalamus through the cortex and then to the amygdala the first path is quick while the second enables more processing about details of the stimulus in the following section we will look more closely at the neuroscience of emotional response the biology of emotions earlier you learned about the lyic system which is the area of the brain involved in emotion and memory figure 10.22 the lyic system includes the hypothalamus phalamus amygdala and the hippocampus the hypothalamus plays a role in the activation of the sympathetic nervous system that is a part of any given emotional reaction the phalamus serves as a sensory relay center whose neurons project to both the amygdala and the higher cortical regions for further processing the amygdala plays a role in processing emotional information and sending that information on fousadi 2012 the hippocampus integrates emotional experience with cognition feminia Gomez Golan Linskog and Maggara 2012 figure 10.22 the lyic system which includes the hypothalamus phalamus amygdala and the hippocampus is involved in mediating emotional response and memory amydala the amygdala has received a great deal of attention from researchers interested in understanding the biological basis for emotions especially fear and anxiety blackford and Pine 2012 Gusen and Marin 2002 marin Fawn and Librien 2013 the amygdala is composed of various subnuclei including the basolateral complex and the central nucleus figure 10.23 the basolateral complex has dense connections with a variety of sensory areas of the brain it is critical for classical conditioning and for attaching emotional value to learning processes and memory the central nucleus plays a role in attention and it has connections with the hypothalamus and various brain stem areas to regulate the autonomic nervous and endocrine systems activity peshua 2010 figure 10.23 the anatomy of the basolateral complex and central nucleus of the amygdala are illustrated in this diagram animal research has demonstrated that there is increased activation of the amygdala in rat pups that have odor cues paired with electrical shock when their mother is absent this leads to an aversion to the odor cue that suggest the rats learned to fear the odor cue interestingly when the mother was present the rats actually showed a preference for the odor cue despite its association with an electrical shock this preference was associated with no increases in amydala activation this suggests a differential effect on the amydala by the context the presence or absence of the mother determined whether the pups learn to fear the odor or to be attracted to it moriso and Sullivan 2006 reiki Cortez Belnu and Sullivan 2012 demonstrated that in rats negative early life experiences could alter the function of the amydala and result in adolescent patterns of behavior that mimic human mood disorders in this study rat pups received either abusive or normal treatment during postnatal days 8 to 12 there were two forms of abusive treatment the first form of abusive treatment had an insufficient bedding condition the mother rat had insufficient bedding material in her cage to build a proper nest that resulted in her spending more time away from her pups trying to construct a nest and less time nursing her pups the second form of abusive treatment had an associative learning task that involved pairing odors and an electrical stimulus in the absence of the mother as described above the control group was in a cage with sufficient bedding and was left undisturbed with their mothers during the same time period the rat pups that experienced abuse were much more likely to exhibit depressive-like symptoms during adolescence when compared to controls these depressive-like behaviors were associated with increased activation of the amydala human research also suggests a relationship between the amygdala and psychological disorders of mood or anxiety changes in amygdala structure and function have been demonstrated in adolescence who are either at risk or have been diagnosed with various mood and/or anxiety disorders miguel Hidalgo 2013 kinall 2013 it has also been suggested that functional differences in the amydala could serve as a biomarker to differentiate individuals suffering from bipolar disorder from those suffering from major depressive disorder fornier Kenir Almeida Cone House and Phillips 2013 hippocampus as mentioned earlier the hippocampus is also involved in emotional processing like the amygdala research has demonstrated that hippocample structure and function are linked to a variety of mood and anxiety disorders individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder PTSD show marked reductions in the volume of several parts of the hippocampus which may result from decreased levels of neurogenesis and dendritic branching the generation of new neurons and the generation of new dendrites in existing neurons respectively wang at all 2010 while it is impossible to make a causal claim with correlational research like this studies have demonstrated behavioral improvements and hippocample volume increases following either pharmarmacological or cognitive behavioral therapy in individuals suffering from PTSD brenner and Verettin 2004 Levy Gigi Sabo Kellin and Kerry 2013 facial expression and recognition of emotions culture can impact the way in which people display emotion a cultural display rule is one of a collection of culturally specific standards that govern the types and frequencies of displays of emotions that are acceptable malatesta and Havland 1982 therefore people from varying cultural backgrounds can have very different cultural display rules of emotion for example research has shown that individuals from the United States express negative emotions like fear anger and disgust both alone and in the presence of others while Japanese individuals only do so while alone matsumoto 1990 furthermore individuals from cultures that tend to emphasize social cohesion are more likely to engage in suppression of emotional reaction so they can evaluate which response is most appropriate in a given context matsumoto Yu and Nakagawa 2008 other distinct cultural characteristics might be involved in emotionality for instance there may be gender differences involved in emotional processing while research into gender differences in emotional display is equivocal there is some evidence that people of different genders may differ in regulation of emotions mccrae Oxner Mouse Gabrieli and Gross 2008 paul Ecman 1972 researched a New Guinea man who was living in a preiterate culture using stone implements and which was isolated and had never seen any outsiders before ecman asked the man to show what his facial expression would be if one friends visited two his child had just died three he was about to fight four he stepped on a smelly dead pig after Ecman's return from New Guinea he researched facial expressions for more than four decades despite different emotional display rules our ability to recognize and produce facial expressions of emotion appears to be universal in fact even congenally blind individuals produce the same facial expression of emotions despite their never having the opportunity to observe these facial displays of emotion in other people this would seem to suggest that the pattern of activity in facial muscles involved in generating emotional expressions is universal and indeed this idea was suggested in the late 19th century in Charles Darwin's book The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals 1872 in fact there is substantial evidence for seven universal emotions that are each associated with distinct facial expressions these include happiness surprise sadness fright disgust contempt and anger figure 10.24 Ecman and Kelner 1997 figure 10.24 the seven universal facial expressions of emotion are shown credit modification of work by Corey Zanker of course emotion is not only displayed through facial expression we also use the tone of our voices various behaviors and body language to communicate information about our emotional states body language is the expression of emotion in terms of body position or movement research suggests that we are quite sensitive to the emotional information communicated through body language even if we're not consciously aware of it deelder 2006 toadol 2009 connect the concepts emotional expression and emotion regulation autism spectrum disorder ASD is a set of neurodedevelopmental disorders characterized by repetitive behaviors and communication and social problems children who have autism spectrum disorders have difficulty recognizing the emotional states of others and research has shown that this may stem from an inability to distinguish various non-verbal expressions of emotion i.e facial expressions from one another hobson 1986 in addition there is evidence to suggest that autistic individuals also have difficulty expressing emotion through tone of voice and by producing facial expressions macdonald at all 1989 difficulties with emotional recognition and expression may contribute to the behaviors that characterize autism therefore various therapeutic approaches have been explored to address these difficulties various educational curricula cognitive behavioral therapies and pharmacological therapies have shown some promise in helping autistic individuals process emotionally relevant information bowinger 2002 Golan and Baron Cohen 2006 guestella Edall 2010 emotion regulation describes how people respond to situations and experiences by modifying their emotional experiences and expressions covert emotion regulation strategies are those that occur within the individual while overt strategies involve others or actions such as seeking advice or consuming alcohol al Dao and Dixon 2014 studied the relationship between overt emotional regulation strategies and psychopathology they researched how 218 undergraduate students reported their use of covert and overt strategies and their reported symptoms associated with selected mental disorders and found that overt emotional regulation strategies were better predictors of psychopathology than covert strategies another study examined the relationship between pregaming the act of drinking heavily before a social event and two emotion regulation strategies to understand how these might contribute to alcohol-related problems results suggested a relationship but a complicated one peterson 2016 further research is needed in these areas to better understand patterns of adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation al Dao and Dixon Gordon 2014