hogeschool van amsterdam interactieve media emotion & media hoorcollege - using media week 5
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Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Emotion & media
Hoorcollege - Using Media week 5
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Agenda
Learning goals
Looking back
Types of emotion
How emotions work
The purpose of emotions
Summary: emotion and media
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Learning goals
By the end of this hoorcollege you should: Know the difference between basic emotions and complex
emotions Be aware of some theories of emotion Understand the roles that emotion plays in our life Understand the importance of emotion in decision making Know how emotion can affect a person’s reaction to
persuasive messages
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Looking back
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Types of emotion
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Activity
Discuss with your neighbour what type of emotions you can think of
For each emotion you identify try to demonstrate it
Write each one down
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Basic emotions
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
6 Basic emotions
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
6 Basic emotions (robot version)
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Basic emotions
It is argued that at least the 6 basic emotions are universal in humans (and some animals) Research tends to back this up
Tribes in Samoa can recognize these emotional expressions on western faces
However, human emotional life is more complex
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Complex emotions
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Complex emotions
One theory suggests that complex emotions are mixtures of basic emotions
They rely on our ability to (self-)reflect on ourselves and others as persons in time and circumstance Pity is based on our assessment of how a person came to be in
the situation they are in If a friend fails an exam
Because they were ill all term Because they were out partying the night before
Embarrassment is created when you reflect on a “failure” that is not expected of you given your status and social role
Complex emotions are often seen as essentially human Research suggests that animals do not share these emotions
(although there is much debate here)
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
How emotions work
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Activity: imagine this situation
• What is the emotion you feel?• Why do you feel it?• Discuss this with your neighbour
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
How emotions work: common sense
• You see danger• You feel fear• You run
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
James-Lange theory of emotions
• You see danger• You run increased heart-rate• You are aware of the physical response• Therefore you feel fear
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Schachter-Singer theory of emotions
• You see danger• You run increased heart-rate• You evaluate this response in your cognitive system• You assign an emotional feeling
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Culture and emotions
This theory suggests that there is a cognitive element to emotion and this means that emotion may be affected by culture: Accida was a recognized complex emotion before 1400,
but disappeared Individualist cultures (e.g. USA) experience more ego-
focused emotions (anger, frustration, pride), Collectivist cultures (e.g. Japan) experience more other-
focused emotions (shame, belonging, sympathy) German schadenfreude Gezelligheid?
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Emotion as an automatic / active process
The Schachter-Singer theory suggests that the emotions we feel as a result of a stimulus are actively chosen by our cognitive system
However, this does not mean that we can choose not to react on a physical (visceral) level We respond to some stimuli (esp. danger) immediately and
then we assign an emotion
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Snake or stick?
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Stick or snake?: how it works
This model supports the Schachter-Singer theory
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
The purpose of emotions
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Activity: what purpose do emotions serve?
Discuss this question with your neighbour Based on what we have seen so far what is the purpose of
emotion? What other purposes do you think they might have?
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
The purpose of emotions
Evolutionary - survival Fight / flight mechanism (stick or snake?) Social bonding
Making our lives meaningful
Help us to make decisions
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Imagine life without emotion
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Damasio’s theory of emotion
Neurologist Antonio Damasio studied people with damage to their ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPC) These people still had the visceral response to stimuli, but
they did not assign emotional feeling to it
This suggests that the VMPFC is where we assign feelings to stimuli
People with certain types of VMPFC damage have problems acting in social situations and making decisions
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Emotion and decision making
The experience of patient EVR
Damasio has suggested that emotion is not the opposite to rationality - it is essential to it
Emotion gives choices meaning and this meaning helps us make decisions Imagine trying to choose a car based only on rational
criteria
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
The purpose of emotions
Evolutionary - survival Fight / flight mechanism (stick or snake?) Social bonding
Making our lives meaningful
Allowing us to make decisions
Emotion is a powerful motivator of action
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Emotion as a motivator
Hogeschool van Amsterdam Interactieve Media
Summary: emotion and media
The aim of using media to deliver persuasive messages is to change behaviour
We have seen that emotion is a very powerful (perhaps the most powerful) motivator of action
Engaging the receiver’s emotions can help you achieve the desired behavioural change Positive emotions can make them more open to your message
and more likely to decide to act (decision making) Negative emotions can also work (fear / jealousy appeals) if used
carefully and ethically But creating negative emotions can work against your message
As with all tools of persuasion they must be used ethically Indeed given the power of emotions to motivate, we have to be
very careful
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