12 Laws of the Emotions.

Explore the psychology of the emotions with these 12 laws.

We tend to think of our emotions as having laws unto themselves, but one psychological researcher has suggested that our emotions do follow certain general rules.

Professor Nico Frijda puts forward twelve laws of the emotions (Fridja, 2006). As with most laws there are exceptions, but these have been synthesised from years of psychological research and hold true much of the time.

1. The Law of Situational Meaning

The first law is simply that emotions derive from situations. Generally the same types of situation will elicit the same types of emotional response. Loss makes us grieve, gains make us happy and scary things make us fearful (mostly anyway - see all the other laws).

2. The Law of Concern

We feel because we care about something, when we have some interest in what happens, whether it's to an object, ourselves, or another person. Emotions arise from these particular goals, motivations or concerns. When we are unconcerned we don't feel anything.

3. The Law of Apparent Reality

Whatever seems real to us, can elicit an emotional response. In other words how we appraise or interpret a situation governs the emotion we feel (compare with laws 11 & 12). The reason poor movies, plays or books don't engage us emotionally is because, in some sense, we fail to detect truth. Similarly it's difficult to get emotional about things that aren't obvious, right in front of us. For example grief may not strike when we are told about the death of loved one, but only once it becomes real to us in some way - say when we pick up the phone to call them, forgetting they are gone.

4, 5 & 6. The Laws of Change, Habituation and Comparative Feeling

The law of habituation means that in life we get used to our circumstances whatever they are (mostly true, but see laws 7 & 8). The emotions, therefore, respond most readily to change. This means that we are always comparing what is happening to a relatively steady frame of reference (what we are used to). As a result our emotions tend to respond most readily to changes that are relative to this frame of reference.

7. The Law of Hedonic Asymmetry

There are certain awful circumstances to which we can never become accustomed. If things are bad enough, it is impossible to escape negative feelings like fear or anxiety. On the other hand positive emotions always fade over time. No matter how much we are in love, how big the lottery win, or how copious the quantities of drugs consumed, positive emotions like pleasure always slip away.

8. The Law of Conservation of Emotional Momentum

Time doesn't heal all wounds - or if it does, it only does so indirectly. Events can retain their emotional power over the years unless we re-experience and re-evaluate them. It's this re-experiencing and consequent re-definition that reduces the emotional charge of an event. This is why events that haven't been re-evaluated - say, failing an exam or being rejected by a potential lover - retain their emotional power across the decades.

9. The Law of Closure

The way we respond to our emotions tends to be absolute. They often lead immediately to actions of one kind or another, and they will brook no discussion (but see laws 10, 11 & 12). In other words emotional responses are closed to goals other than their own or judgements that can mitigate the response. An emotion seizes us and send us resolutely down one path, until later that is, when a different emotion sends us down the opposite path.

10. The Law of Care for Consequences

People naturally consider the consequences of their emotions and modify them accordingly. For example anger may provoke violent feelings towards another, but generally people refrain from stabbing each other willy-nilly. Instead they will shout, hit their head on the wall or just silently fume. Emotions may absolutely dictate a type of response, but people do modulate the size of that response (usually!).

11 & 12. Laws of the Lightest Load and the Greatest Gain

The emotional impact of an event or situation depends on its interpretation. Putting a different 'spin' on a situation can change the feeling. The law of the lightest load means people are particularly motivated to use re-interpretations to reduce negative emotions. For example we might reduce the fear of the credit crunch by generating the illusion we won't be affected. The exact reverse is also true: whenever a situation can be reinterpreted for a positive emotional gain, it will be. For example anger can be used to make others back down, grief attracts help and fear may stop us rashly attempting difficult or dangerous tasks.

Exploring the emotions

You may not agree with all of these 'laws', for example this is quite an individually based account of emotion, and tends to downplay the social aspects of emotion. Nevertheless it is an excellent starting point which provides a very useful way of thinking about emotions, and helps pave the way for examining individual emotions.

Courtesy: PsyBlog

10 Pleasures and Pains of Being Beautiful.

Beautiful people are all around us: on billboards, on TV and at the movies—some of them even inhabit our everyday lives.

Great beauty in another person inspires all kinds of emotions: admiration, desire, hope, despair and sometimes envy.

So what is the psychological effect of beauty and how do other people react to it? In fact being beautiful isn't all good, or so the psychological research suggests. Here are both sides of the coin, first five pleasures and then five pains of being beautiful.

Five pleasures of being beautiful

1. What is beautiful is good

In many situations we automatically defer to beauty, assuming that along with beauty come all sorts of other positive characteristics. We have a tendency to think beautiful people are funnier, more friendly, more intelligent, more exciting, in possession of better social skills, are sexually warmer, are more interesting, poised and even more independent.

These sorts of judgements have been tested over-and-over again in the laboratory and elsewhere. This is a great example of the so-called 'halo effect': when global evaluations about a person bleed over into our judgements about their specific traits.

2. More desired

There's a whole stack of research on mate selection and attractiveness. You won't find the headline result at all surprising: on pure looks alone we prefer partners who are more beautiful.

Of course that assumes that everything else is equal, which it normally isn't.

3. Better persuaders

Good-looking people make better persuaders (Chaiken, 1979). This may be because attractive people tend to be better communicators and possess more confidence or just because we believe in beauty. Whatever the reason, beauty can persuade us to change our minds.

4. Get paid more

At work attractive people can receive all kinds of benefits. First of all they may get higher starting salaries, perhaps because their qualifications are perceived as more solid and their potential as greater (this is the halo effect workings its magic). Then, later on, they have an advantage in promotions.

5. Higher self-esteem

Not surprisingly, given all the above advantages, good-looking people also have higher self-esteem. What with all those dates and the extra money, is it any wonder they think better of themselves than their less fortunate peers?

Five pains of being beautiful

Now for the bad news about being beautiful. The beauty bias is probably not as strong as some have suggested and not as powerful as we might imagine (Eagly et al., 1991). For example, when it comes to income, in most lines of work it's better to be smarter than more attractive (Judge et al., 2009). The same goes for persuasion, self-esteem and even attraction: other personal qualities can easily trump beauty.

Psychologists have also begun to uncover the dark side of being beautiful. Given what we already know about the beautiful it may be difficult to have much sympathy, but here are five pains:

1. Less likely to be hired (sometimes)

Although beauty can help in the search for a job, it's not always true. When employers are making a decision about someone of the same sex, they can let their jealousy get the better of them.

One recent study has suggested that people who are highly attractive are at a disadvantage in the hiring process when the decision-makers are the same sex (Agthe et al., 2011). It seems we perceive beautiful people who are the same sex as a threat.

2. Beauty is beastly

Similarly there's evidence that female beauty can be a problem in jobs with strong gender stereotypes. For example a beautiful woman may be at a disadvantage when applying for a job which is associated with masculinity, like a prison guard or a mechanical engineer (Johnson et al, 2010).

The same doesn't seem to be true for attractive men. They can happily apply for jobs as nurses, lingerie salespersons or HR managers without their beauty counting against them.

3. Perceived to be less talented

The halo effect tells us that when we judge more attractive members of the opposite sex, we generally assume they're more talented than those who are less attractive. This happens even though what they do or say is no cleverer than less attractive people.

But this changes when it's members of the same sex. In a study by Anderson and Nida (1978) highly attractive people of the same sex were judged as less talented than average-looking people.

4. Lucky to be pretty

If beautiful people are successful, is it because of their talent, or is it just their looks? After all, people are lucky to be beautiful and we know all the advantages of that.

Research finds that when judging their own sex, people are more likely to think beautiful people's success is down to their beauty, not their talent (Forsterling et al., 2007). So you're lucky to be pretty, but probably just rely on that rather than talent.

5. Social rejection

Although attractive people are generally more popular socially, there's some evidence that very attractive people can experience social rejection from members of their own sex (Krebs and Adinolfi, 1978).

People in relationships also protect themselves from beauty by ignoring it. Research shows that when we're thinking about love we automatically ignore attractive members of the opposite sex, probably to protect our feelings about our long-term partner (Maner et al., 2008).

Gender and jealousy

Most of the research has been done on heterosexuals but it's possible similar biases operate for gay people. For both gay and straight, the extent of the biases probably depends on how attractive you are (or at least how attractive you perceive yourself to be). People who are themselves attractive probably don't feel as defensive around other attractive people, so the biases are likely to be weaker for them.

Although we all know about the benefits of being beautiful, it's easy to forget the pitfalls. This psychological research is a reminder that beauty can be threatening. It can threaten our relationships, our work and our image of ourselves. We admire it and defer to it, but sometimes we have to defend ourselves against it.

Courtesy: http://www.spring.org.uk

10 Traits Of Positive Thinking

1. Optimism- Do you have a belief in and expectation of positive outcomes, even in the face of difficulty, challenge, or crisis? Being optimistic is a choice. You can choose to be a victim or a victor regardless of what life puts in your path.

2. Enthusiasm-Are your levels of positive energy, passion, and personal motivation consistency high? A smile and a controlled rush can show that you expect good things to come your way. Are you always striving to add value to others? Enthusiasm can also be considered charisma.

3. Belief- Do you always trust in yourself, others, and God to provide support and guidance when needed? Mary Kay Ash said, "Expect great things and great things will happen!" I have always found that to be true.

4. Integrity- Do you have a personal commitment to honesty, openness, and fairness, always living by and for your consistent ethical standards? It's what you do when nobody is watching that will show your true character.

5. Courage- How willing are you to take risks and overcome fears, even when the outcome is uncertain? Courage is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to go forward even when you feel the fear!

6. Confidence- Are you personally assured of your abilities, capabilities and full potential? Every person is unique, like a snowflake. There is no other person exactly like you- even if you are a twin. Discover what makes you unique and use it wisely.

7. Determination-Do you exhibit a tireless pursuit of a goal, purpose or cause? This can be a positive trait as well as a negative one. The ability to continue when the challenges of life get in your way will take you farther than you can imagine. Even setbacks and failures are stumbling blocks, character building experiences and opportunities for growth.

8. Patience-Have you developed the willingness to wait for opportunity, readiness, or results from oneself or others.? I don't believe that anyone is born with patience. It is something that you can learn. A determined person will create their own patience.

9. Calmness- Do you maintain serenity and seek balance daily in response to difficulty, challenge or crisis; taking time to reflect and think? What do you put your faith in? A faith and trust in God will give you peace regardless of your circumstances.

10. Focus- Is your attention directed through the setting of goals and priorities? This is so important. Follow One Course Until Successful. Keeping it simple and focused frees your time from unnecessary tasks. 

The lesson in this is simple. Our beliefs shape our thoughts. Our thoughts influence our feelings. What you think about, you bring about. Positive thinking motivates us to actions. Once you have mastered the secrets to keeping a positive attitude, you can achieve anything that you want in life! Are you ready to take action now?