In basic psychology, there are many theories that try to explain the origin of emotions (psychological, cognitive, biological, social theories,…). In this article we will talk about one in particular, the Theory of Emotion by Schachter and Singer .

It is a bifactorial theory that involves two factors: physiological activation and cognitive attribution. Let’s see what it consists of, studies made by the same authors and what their main postulates are.

Schachter and Singer’s theory of emotion: characteristics

Schachter and Singer’s Theory of Emotion states that the origin of emotions comes, on the one hand, from the interpretation we make of the body’s peripheral physiological responses, and from the cognitive evaluation of the situation, on the other hand, that originates such physiological responses.

What determines the intensity of the emotion felt by the person is the way in which he or she interprets such physiological responses ; on the other hand, the quality of the emotion is determined by the way in which he or she cognitively evaluates the situation that has provoked such responses.

Thus, while the intensity may be low, medium or high, the quality is the type of emotion (for example fear, sadness, joy,…).

Related studies and research

To test Schachter and Singer’s Theory of Emotion, the authors themselves conducted an experiment in 1962 and published their results. What they did was give an injection of epinephrine (adrenaline) , a hormone that increases heart rate and blood pressure, to a group of volunteer subjects.

Subsequently, they formed 4 experimental groups with these subjects at random (all of equal size). While 2 of the groups were informed that the injection would cause some physiological effects in their bodies, the other 2 groups were not given this information.

On the other hand, one of the 2 groups of informed subjects was put in a situation that induced them to be happy, while in the other group of informed subjects they were put in a situation that induced them to be angry. In addition, the same was done with the other 2 groups of subjects with the condition of non-information; one was induced to be happy and the other to be angry.

Results

What was seen in the results, is that one could confirm, in general terms, the Theory of Emotion of Schachter and Singer. This was because the subjects informed of the effects of the injection were not particularly likely to feel angry or sad , as they attributed their physiological reaction to the effects of the adrenaline injection itself.

It can be thought that their cognitive evaluation of the information they had been given led them to believe that the body’s physiological reactions came from the injection itself.

However, in the case of the subjects not informed of the effects of adrenaline, the “opposite” occurred; they did experience the physiological responses (activation) (the same as the previous group), but they did not attribute such responses to the effects of the injection, since they had not been informed of them.

Hypothesis

It can be hypothesized that uninformed subjects, having no explanation for their physiological activation, attributed it to some emotion. They would look for such an emotion in the “available” emotion at that moment; for example, the joy or anger induced by the researchers.

When they found it, they found “their” explanation: then they adjusted their emotion to the situation ; in the case of the uninformed subjects in a happy situation, they behaved in a happy way, and claimed to feel this way. However, the uninformed subjects in an angry situation reacted with anger and claimed to feel this way too.

Principles of the theory

Also in relation to Schachter and Singer’s Theory of Emotion, Schachter himself, in 1971, made a later work, and established three principles that tried to explain human emotional behavior:

1. Labeling emotions

When a state of physiological activation (physiological responses) is experienced, and the person experiencing it has no explanation at that moment for such activation, what he will do is “label” that state and describe what he feels in relation to the emotion that is available to him at that moment (or, in other words, the emotion he feels at that moment).

Thus, the state of physiological activation itself can be labeled as “sadness”, “fear” or “joy”, for example (or whatever the emotion is), depending on the cognitive assessment of the situation that has generated such activation.

2. When no labeling is done

The second principle of Schachter and Singer’s Theory of Emotion states that, in the case that the individual has a complete explanation for the physiological activation he is feeling (for example, “I feel this way because I have been injected with adrenaline, or because I have consumed X drug”), then it is not necessary to perform any kind of cognitive assessment of the situation .

In this case, it will be difficult for the person to “label” the emotion they feel as they would in the previous case.

3. Experience physiological activation

The third assumption is that, in the same cognitive situations, the individual will describe/tag his feelings as emotions (or react emotionally) only when he experiences a state of physiological activation (this, as we know, involves a series of physiological responses, e.g. increased heart rate).

Bibliographic references:

  • Aguado, L. (2005). Emotion, affection and motivation. A process approach. Editorial Alliance. Madrid.
  • Fernández, E.G.; García, B.; Jiménez, M.P.; Martín, M.D. and Domínguez, F.J. (2010). Psychology of emotion. Ramon Areces University Press. Madrid.
  • Reeve, J. (2010). Motivation and emotion. 5th Edition. McGraw- Hill/Interamericana. Mexico.