The Function Of Emotion As A Motive Essays Examples

Emotions accompany almost any manifestation of the human activity and determine its character. Positive emotions caused by beneficial effects, induce the subject to attain and maintain them. Negative emotions initiate activity aimed at avoiding harmful effects. Emotions as a special class of mental processes and states are reflected in the form of direct experience, thus effect on the individual events and situations of life. They arise in response to significant events of life.
Motivation considers subject as an emotional phenomena. In this case we assume that the emotional distress may be the final, effective form of motivation existence.
The trouble is in the fact that theories were advised in different historical periods and do not have continuity. In general, a unified theory of emotions related to others, but still such a variety of emotional events, such as the emotional tone of sensations, emotions and feelings can exist. But many theories illustrate the motivation in human behavior.
The doctrine of emotions is traditionally called a promising word" theory ", but essentially represents separated fragments, only in aggregate form bearing the resemblance to perfectly comprehensive theory. Each of them illustrates one aspect of the problem, thus considers only a special case of an emotion or some of its components.
Freud based his understanding of the affect on the theory of attraction and in fact identified the desire to motivation. The most concentrated representation of psychoanalysts of the mechanism of emotions was considered by D. Rapaport. The essence of these ideas is that perceived external perceptual image causes unconscious process. During this process duration the mobilization of instinctual energy unconscious by person passes. If it cannot become apparent in an external activity of the person, this mobilization is looking for other channels to be represented in the form of involuntary discharge activity; different types of such activity are "emotional expression" and "emotional experience". They can occur simultaneously, or even serially independently.
According to Deigh (2001), Freud and his followers have considered only the negative emotions that arise as a result of conflict drives. Therefore, they point out in affect three aspects: energy component of instinctual drive ("charge" of affect), the process of "relaxation" and the perception of the final discharge (emotion feeling or emotion experience).
There was thoroughly developed the theory of cognitive dissonance. The founder is Festinger. According to this theory (Festinger, 2004), Between expected and actual results of operations there is a discrepancy (cognitive dissonance), the negative emotions may emerge, while the coincidence of expectations and outcomes (cognitive consonance) gives rise to positive emotions. Arising from the dissonance and consonance emotions are considered in this theory as the main motives of the corresponding human behavior.
Despite the many studies proving the correctness of this theory, there are other facts illustrate the contrary. In some cases discord can cause positive emotions. It should take place the certain degree of discrepancy between attitudes and signals, some "optimum discrepancy" (novelty, unusual, inconsistencies etc.) for the emergence of positive emotions. If the signal is not different from the preceding, it is estimated to be uninteresting; if it is really different, it is considered to be dangerous.
Despite certain differences and contradictions because of different methodological approaches among the theories discussed above, more detailed analysis and many similarities can be found in them. In addition, some theories that differ in simplistic or one-sided understanding of the problem of emotions, however, reveal important aspects of it.

References

Deigh, J. (2001). Emotions: The Legacy Of James And Freud. International Journal of Psychoanalysis, 1247-1256.
Cognitive Dissonance by Leon Festinger.(Charles Vallance, founding partner VCCP)(Book Review). (2004, November 1). Brand Strategy.