Facial Feedback Hypothesis - Essay Example

Facial feedback hypothesis Facial Feedback Hypothesis Facial feedback hypothesis deducts that our facial musculature is always a causal agent in the day-to-day subjective sense of emotion. Research in introspective psychology reveals that an individual possesses a free expression of his or her physical characteristics of emotions. On this regard, a smile in an individual can be a great of happiness. On the other hand, a frown results into the sensation of sadness or anger. It is important to note that, a close analysis of the facial feedback hypothesis further shows that it (FFH) plays a significant role in moderating the intensity or length of an emotional feeling in an individual (Nerb, 2007).

Event-Appraisal-Emotion Sequence It is also vital to note that exposing an individual to a particular situation can hugely induce his or her emotional feeling. A significant number of observational features can cause this situational effect on one’s emotion. These can include the act of having different appraisals of one event inducing different emotions. Secondly, it is about having an appraisal of different events producing same emotion. There is also the one where the outcome of an appraisal process draws out involuntary unfurling of emotions.

Lastly but certainly not the least, it is where an appraisal takes place both above and below one’s level of awareness (Nerb, 2007). Based on the above observations, it is hypothesized that appraisal takes place in four steps. Firstly, it is where an emotion-inducing situation generates a stimulus for emotion. This is followed by the concept where a pre-aware appraisal makes an estimation of a negative and positive valence of said stimulus. This involves a process of neural activity favoring avoidance instead of acquiring pleasure.

Here, the appraisal process moves into awareness causing the stimulus perception to one’s personality. Finally, an individual’s emotion unfolds in different forms such as affect, expression and physiological response. On this regard, a stimulus uncovers expression by using the mechanism as behavior (Nerb, 2007). References Nerb, J. (2007). Exploring the dynamics of the appraisal-emotion relationship: A constraint satisfaction model of the appraisal process. Cognition & Emotion, 21(7), 1382-1413.

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