Opposing team members experience different emotions over the same event.
Cognitive psychologists propose three theories of emotion: the James-Lange, Cannon-Bard and Two-Factor theories. Cognitive psychologists believe that emotions are reactions to thought processes. The cognitive theories of emotion share a foundation first stated by the ancient Greek philosopher Epictetus: What really frightens and dismays us is not external events themselves, but the way in which we think about them. It is not things that disturb us, but our interpretation of their significance.
The James-Lange Theory
The oldest cognitive theory of emotion was proposed by American psychologist William James and Danish psychologist Carl Lange in 1885. The James-Lange theory proposes that emotions are a product of how we interpret our physical responses to stimuli.
James and Lange suggest that if a snake is encountered in the forest, the initial response is physiological: a surging heart rate, enlarged pupils and accelerated breathing. The emotional response of fear is a mental interpretation of these physiological responses that occurs secondarily.
The Cannon-Bard Theory
In the late 1930s, two American psychologists, Walter Cannon and Philip Bard, pointed out that physiological reactions typically occur after an emotional response to an event. Therefore, emotions could not be an interpretation of physical arousal, as James and Lange thought.
Cannon and Bard proposed that physiological reactions and emotional interpretation are two distinct systems that simultaneously activate but have independent processing speeds.
For Cannon and Bard, when a snake is unexpectedly encountered in the woods, the body reacts physiologically and emotionally in two distinct systems.
The Two-Factor Theory
American psychologists Stanley Schachter and Jerome Singer argued that both the James-Lange and the Cannon-Bard theories of emotion were too simplistic.
Schachter and Singer proposed that two conditions are decisive for producing an emotion: a general state of arousal that is common to all emotions; and a mental interpretation of what caused the state of arousal.
Schachter and Singer claim that regardless of what the stimulating event for the individual is (an unexpected snake or a surprise party), an identical state of general arousal occurs. The stimulating event is thought about and an emotional association is made in reaction to that thought.
Which Theory Is Correct?
As in all of psychology, theories are arguments. Most cognitive psychologists conclude that there are elements of truth in each of the three cognitive theories. Evolutionary, psychodynamic and social psychologists offer additional models of emotion that take into consideration the functional, unconscious and social factors that the three cognitive theories might ignore.
