Progress on a cognitive-motivational-relational theory of emotion.
The 2 main tasks of this article are 1st, to examine what a theory of emotion must do and basic issues that it must address. These include definitional issues, whether or not physiological activity should be a defining attribute, categorical versus dimensional strategies, the reconciliation of biological universals with sociocultural sources of variability, and a classification of the emotions. The 2nd main task is to apply an analysis of appraisal patterns and the core relational themes that they produce to a number of commonly identified emotions. Anger, anxiety, sadness, and pride (to include 1 positive emotion) are used as illustrations. The purpose is to show the capability of a cognitive-motivational-relational theory to explain and predict the emotions. The role of coping in emotion is also discussed, and the article ends with a response to criticisms of a phenomenological, folk-theory outlook.
Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley 94720.
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Lazarus
D003071:Cognition; D004644:Emotions; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D009042:Motivation; D011582:Psychological Theory