ChapTER 13 Emotion, Stress, and Health 477the person thinks your anger is appropriate.
When researchers compared the use of anger
by Asian-American and Anglo-American ne-
gotiators, expressing anger was effective for
the Anglo teams—it got more concessions
from the other side—but was much less
effective for the Asians (Adam, Shirako, &
Maddux, 2010).
Think carefully about how to express anger so
that you will get the results you want. What
do you want your anger to accomplish? Do
you just want to make the other person feel
bad, or do you want the other person to un-
derstand your concerns and make amends?
Shouting “You moron! How could you be
so stupid!” might accomplish the former
goal, but it’s not likely to get the person to
apologize, let alone to change his or her
behavior. If your goal is to improve a bad
situation or achieve justice, learning how to
express anger so the other person will listen
is essential.Don’t take it personally. If you feel that you
have been insulted, check your perception
for its accuracy. Could there be another
reason for the behavior you find offen-
sive? People who are quick to feel anger
tend to interpret other people’s actions
as intentional offenses. People who are
slow to anger tend to give others the ben-
efit of the doubt, and they are not as fo-
cused on their own injured pride. Empathy
(“Poor guy, he’s feeling rotten”) is usually
incompatible with anger, so practice see-
ing the situation from the other person’s
perspective.
If you decide that expressing anger is ap-
propriate, be sure you use the right verbal
and nonverbal language to make yourself un-
derstood. Because cultures (and families)
have different display rules, make sure the
recipient of your anger understands what you
are feeling and what complaint you are try-
ing to convey—and find out whether or not
Of course, if you just want to blow off
steam, go right ahead; but you risk becom-
ing a hothead.Emotion and the Mind
• Emotions evolved to bind people together, motivate them to
achieve their goals, and help them make decisions and plans.
The experience of emotion involves physiological changes
in the face, brain, and autonomic nervous system; cognitive
processes such as appraisal and interpretation; action ten-
dencies; and subjective feelings. In turn, emotions and their
expression are influenced and shaped by cultural norms and
regulations.
• Some facial expressions—anger, fear, sadness, happiness, dis-
gust, surprise, contempt, and possibly pride—are widely recog-
nized across cultures. They foster communication with others,
signal our intentions to others, enhance infant survival, and,
as studies of facial feedback show, help us to identify our own
emotional states. But an accurate reading of others’ facial ex-
pressions increases among members of the same ethnicity, and
depends on the social context. Also, because people can and do
disguise their emotions, their expressions do not always commu-
nicate accurately.
• Many aspects of emotion are associated with specific parts of
the brain. The amygdala is responsible for initially evaluating
the emotional importance of incoming sensory information and
is especially involved in fear. The cerebral cortex provides the
cognitive ability to override this initial appraisal. Emotions gen-
erally involve the motivation to approach or withdraw; regions
of the left prefrontal cortex appear to be specialized for the
motivation to approach others (as with happiness and anger),
whereas regions of the right prefrontal region are specialized for
withdrawal or escape (as with disgust and fear).
• Mirror neurons throughout the brain are activated when people
observe others, especially other people of the same group or
others they like. These neurons seem to be involved in empathy,
imitation, synchrony, and mood contagion.
• During the experience of any emotion, the autonomic nervous
system spurs production of the hormones epinephrine and nor-
epinephrine, producing a state of physiological arousal to pre-
pare the body for an output of energy.
• The most popular method of so-called lie detection is the poly-
graph machine, but it has low reliability and validity because
no patterns of autonomic nervous system activity are specific
to lying. Other methods, such as voice analyzers or brain scans,
have similar drawbacks.
• Cognitive approaches to emotion emphasize the appraisals
that are involved in different emotions. Thoughts and emotions
operate reciprocally, each influencing the other. Some emotions,
such as shame and guilt, require complex cognitive capacities.Emotion and Culture
• Many psychologists believe that all human beings share the
ability to experience a few basic emotions, a view supported by
research on emotion prototypes. However, cultural differences in
values, norms, and appraisals generate emotion blends and cul-
ture-specific emotional variations. Culture affects almost everySummary
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