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From Affect to Mood: Homophobia as Case in Point

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Abstract

This article reflects on emotion as an internal state caused by external forces that can result in mood disturbance. It traces the shift from affect to feeling to emotion to mood, following Johann Gottfried von Herder (1744–1803) to Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834) to William James (1842–1910) to Donald Capps (1939-) as mileposts. It reflects on the phenomena of homophobia/heterosexism and heteronormativity as ideological climate and concludes with a proposal for healing the unhealed wound of sexual minorities.

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Notes

  1. In this paper, the discussion concerning homophobia is based on sections in three earlier articles by the author (Dreyer 2006, 2007, 2008).

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Acknowledgments

This article is based on a paper read at a conference of the New Directions in Practical Theology group hosted May 1–3, 2013, by Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ. The paper was also extensively reworked for a contribution to the Festschrift of Prof. Dr. Julian C. Müller in Verbum et Ecclesia (2013).

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Dreyer, Y. From Affect to Mood: Homophobia as Case in Point. Pastoral Psychol 63, 597–610 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-013-0582-0

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