In search of the "hot" cognitions: attributions, appraisals, and their relation to emotion.
Two studies examined the hypothesized status of appraisals, relative to attributions, as proximal antecedents of emotion. In Study 1, which looked at 6 emotions (happiness, hope-challenge, anger, guilt, fear-anxiety, and sadness), undergraduates (N = 136) reported on their attributions, appraisals, and emotions during past encounters associated with a variety of situations. In Study 2, which was focused on anger and guilt, undergraduates (N = 120) reported on these same variables in response to experimenter-supplied vignettes that systematically manipulated theoretically relevant attributions. The results of both studies indicated that the emotions were more directly related to appraisals than they were to attributions, and Study 2 provided evidence that appraisal serves as a mediator between attribution and emotional response. These findings lend support to the hypothesized status of appraisal as the most proximal cognitive antecedent of emotion.
Smith
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CA
Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee 37203.
Haynes
K N
KN
Lazarus
R S
RS
Pope
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LK
D000786:Anger; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D003071:Cognition; D004644:Emotions; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006240:Happiness; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009042:Motivation