Example

Example of Emotion Theories

A classic example of encountering a snake illustrates how different theories of emotion explain our emotional experience. According to the James-Lange theory, seeing the snake causes physiological arousal (e.g., heart pounding), which then leads to the emotion of fear. The Cannon-Bard theory suggests the arousal and the emotion of fear occur simultaneously but independently. The Schachter-Singer Two-Factor theory posits that the physiological arousal is combined with a cognitive label ("I'm scared") to produce the emotion of fear. Finally, Lazarus' cognitive-mediational theory suggests that the sight of the snake triggers an immediate cognitive appraisal, which then leads to both the physiological arousal and the emotion of fear.

Image 0

0

1

Updated 2026-06-30

Contributors are:

Who are from:

Tags

Psychology @ OpenStax

OpenStax