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From (Unconscious) Perception to Emotion: A Global-to-Specific Unfolding View of Emotional Responding

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Emotion Regulation and Well-Being

Abstract

We present research showing that emotional reactions unfold from global to more specific emotional reactions, depending on processing specificity. Initially, global processing of, for example, a filthy toilet occurs eliciting a general negative emotional reaction. Subsequently, specific processing occurs, eliciting a more specific disgust reaction. What is crucial according to our global-to-specific unfolding view of emotional responding is that both global and specific emotional reactions can emerge without knowing what caused these emotional reactions. The observation that emotional reactions emerge without conscious awareness of their cause substantiates the idea of a direct link between perception and emotion. In this chapter, we provide more evidence for this link between perception and emotion, explain how our view differs from mainstream appraisal theory, and discuss the interplay between global and more specific emotional reactions.

An erratum to this chapter can be found athttp://dx.doi.org/10.1007/10.1007/978-1-4419-6953-8_20

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, Utrecht University, 80140, 3508 TC, Utrecht, Netherlands

    Kirsten I. Ruys

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  1. Kirsten I. Ruys
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  2. Diederik A. Stapel
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  3. Henk Aarts
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Correspondence to Kirsten I. Ruys .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Center of Research on Psychology in Soma, Tilburg University, Tilburg, 5000 LE, Netherlands

    Ivan Nyklíček

  2. , Department of Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, 5000 LE, Netherlands

    Ad Vingerhoets

  3. Tilburg Institute for Behavioral Economi, Department of Social Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, 5000 LE, Netherlands

    Marcel Zeelenberg

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Ruys, K.I., Stapel, D.A., Aarts, H. (2011). From (Unconscious) Perception to Emotion: A Global-to-Specific Unfolding View of Emotional Responding. In: Nyklíček, I., Vingerhoets, A., Zeelenberg, M. (eds) Emotion Regulation and Well-Being. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6953-8_4

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