The influence of emotions on the functioning of the body. The influence of emotions on the functional characteristics of the human body from the point of view of Ayurveda and Oriental medicine
Psychophysiology of emotional states. Psychological characteristics of emotions. Emotion as a reflection of an actual need and the likelihood of its satisfaction. Brain localization of emotions: limbic structures, frontal lobes, mediobasal cortex. Interhemispheric asymmetry. Localization of positive and negative emotions. Brain localization of emotional expression. Influence of emotions on activity and objective methods of control of human emotional states.
Emotions are reactions of a colored experience that reflect the significance of the stimulus or the result of the action (successfully - unsuccessfully). The entire conscious life of a person is accompanied by emotions that determine the sensual attitude to ongoing events. Emotions are what distinguishes a person from the most perfect artificial mechanisms.
Emotions arose in the process of evolution of the animal world as adaptive reactions, as a mechanism for an immediate response to a sudden action of an external stimulus. The latter is due to the fact that the emotional state quickly causes pronounced experiences of a certain color and instantly brings all the functions of the body into readiness for a response. This preparation, as a rule, is expedient, useful for the body. The physiological changes that accompany emotional states can serve as functional preparation for the upcoming struggle and possible damage. An increase in sugar content, an increased secretion of adrenaline, an acceleration of blood circulation and blood clotting that occur with emotions contribute to the body's resistance to external influences and increase its vitality. Any emotional reaction, as a rule, is accompanied by motor activity. Emotions make it possible to assess the nature of incoming information from various external and internal stimuli. Ultimately, any factors of the external and internal environment of the body serve as a source of emotional shifts that give a general qualitative characteristic of the incoming signal even before the influencing factor is fully detailed. However, the biological essence of emotion lies not only in protecting the body from the adverse effects of the environment, but also in the participation and launch of physiological mechanisms for adapting the body to changing conditions, i.e., mechanisms aimed at maintaining homeostasis. Emotions unite a rather diverse range of experiences. According to their biological significance, two types of emotions are distinguished: negative, which form such behavior that would eliminate the unfavorable state of the body, characterized by active behavior aimed at maintaining or strengthening this state, and positive.
The emergence of positive emotions is associated with the satisfaction of emotions, characterizes the success of the search to achieve the goal and leads to the termination of the search goal. Unlike positive emotions, negative emotions appear after birth.
Depending on the biological characteristics, lower and higher emotions are distinguished. The lower emotions are more elementary, connected with the organic needs of a person and are divided into homeostatic (have a negative character) and instinctive (can be positive and negative). Higher emotions arise in connection with the satisfaction of social needs and develop on the basis of consciousness. They have a controlling and inhibitory effect on the lower emotions. The most important reason for the emergence of emotions are situations caused by the receipt and processing of sensory information.
The psychophysiological substantiation of emotional states includes both the determination of the intimate mechanisms of nervous relationships between different brain structures and the assessment of the physiological reactions that accompany these states, external manifestations.
According to physiological knowledge, nerve signals from the sense organs are sent along the nerve pathways of the trunk to the cerebral cortex. At the same time, they pass through one or more structures of the limbic system: the hypothalamus, the hippocampus, the reticular formation. The limbic system also includes the olfactory bulb, tract and tubercle.
2. EMOTION AS A REFLECTION OF THE CURRENT NEEDS AND THE PROBABILITY OF ITS SATISFACTION
William James, the author of one of the first physiological theories of emotion, gave his article, published more than 100 years ago, a very expressive title: "What is an emotion?" . Nevertheless, 100 years after this question was formulated, we can read the following admission in the Human Physiology manual: “Despite the fact that each of us knows what emotion is, it is impossible to give this condition an exact scientific definition. .. Currently, there is no single generally accepted scientific theory of emotions, as well as accurate data on in which centers and how these emotions arise and what their nervous substrate is. According to B. Reim, the current state of the study of emotions is "disparate knowledge, unsuitable for solving specific problems." I.A. also tends to the conclusion about the crisis state of the study of emotions. Vasiliev.
In 1964, the results of psychophysiological experiments and an analysis of the literature data available by that time led to the conclusion that the emotions of higher animals and humans are determined by some actual need and an assessment of the probability (possibility) of its satisfaction based on phylo and ontogenetic experience. The subject makes this assessment involuntarily and often unconsciously compares information about the means and time supposedly necessary to satisfy the need with the information that he has at the moment. A low probability of achieving the goal leads to negative emotions (fear, anxiety, anger, grief, etc.), which are actively minimized by the subject. An increase in the likelihood that the need will be satisfied (compared to the previously available forecast) generates positive emotions pleasures, joys and celebrations, which the subject seeks to maximize, i.e. intensify, extend, repeat. Attaching decisive importance to the assessment of the probability of satisfying a need in the genesis of emotions, P.V. Simonov called his concept "need-information theory of emotions" .
In its most general form, the rule for the emergence of emotions can be represented as the following structural formula: E \u003d f [-P (In - Is)], where E is an emotion, its strength, quality and sign; P - the strength and quality of the actual need in the broadest sense of the word (for a person, these are not only vital needs such as hunger and thirst, but equally diverse social and ideal (spiritual) needs up to the most complex and sublime); ( Ying-Is) is an assessment of the probability (possibility) of satisfying a need based on phylogenetic and previously acquired individual experience, where Ying– information about the means and time predictively necessary to meet the need; Is- information about the means and time that the subject has at the moment. The term "information" is used here in the sense of its pragmatic meaning, which is determined by the change in the probability of achieving the goal.
In 1984, D. Price and J. Burrell reproduced the experiments of P.V. Simonov and his colleagues in a purely psychological version, inviting the subjects to mentally imagine some emotionally colored event and then mark on special scales the strength of their desire, the estimated probability of achieving the goal and the degree of emotional experience. Quantitative processing of the data obtained confirmed the existence of a relationship called "the general law of human emotions." The correspondence of the information theory of emotions to actually observed and experimentally obtained facts has been repeatedly demonstrated using examples from aerospace [Lebedev, 1980; Beregovoy, Ponomarenko, 1983], managerial [Kotik, Emelyanov, 1985], and pedagogical [Konev et al., 1987] practice. The "Formula of Emotions" was included in textbooks and manuals.
7. The influence of emotions on activity and objective methods of monitoring the emotional state of a person
The very fact of generating emotions in a situation of pragmatic uncertainty predetermines and explains their adaptive compensatory value. The fact is that when emotional stress occurs, the volume of vegetative changes (increased heart rate, blood pressure rise, hormones released into the bloodstream, etc.) usually exceeds the real needs of the body. Apparently, the process of natural selection fixed the expediency of this excessive mobilization of energy resources. When it is not known how much and what will be needed in the next few minutes, it is better to go to waste than in the midst of strenuous activity - fight or flight - to be left without sufficient metabolic support.
But the compensatory function of emotions is by no means limited to hypermobilization of the autonomic system. The emergence of emotional stress is accompanied by a transition to other than in a calm state, forms of behavior, principles for assessing external signals and responding to them. Physiologically, the essence of this transition can be defined as a return from finely specialized conditioned reactions to a response according to the principle of A.A. Ukhtomsky. So, in a situation of a potential, but unclear threat, a person (hunter, detective, scout) begins to react to any event in the environment - a rustle, a crack of a branch, a flashing shadow - as a danger signal. He freezes, hides, aims his weapon, in other words, demonstrates a lot of "false alarms" in order to avoid that "missing signal", the cost of which may be his own life.
Regular changes in the number and nature of errors as emotional stress increased were systematically studied in the laboratory of M.V. Frolov [Frolov, 1987]. The perceptual activity of operators – novice skydivers – was recorded at several stages of approaching the moment of a parachute jump: immediately after boarding the plane, during takeoff, during climb, during jumps of other skydivers who jumped in turn to the person under study, and also immediately before the jump. . Tachistoscopy presented visual images were Arabic numerals with a noise level of 10 to 30%; half of the frames exposed "pure" noise. On fig. Figure 7.7 shows examples of a noisy number "9" (C) and "pure" noise (B). An objective indicator of the degree of emotional stress was the normalized sum of electrocardiographic parameters - the average duration of the interval R-R and tooth amplitude T.
An analysis of the change in the probability of errors made by the operator as the emotional stress increases at successive stages of the flight showed that an increase in emotional stress and a transition to a response according to the dominant principle is accompanied by a decrease in the number of “signal skip” errors, when the subject takes a number for noise, and an increase in the number "false alarms", when the subject takes the noise for an objectively non-existent figure. As for the erroneous identifications of a symbol (the subject takes the figure shown to him for another), their number first decreases, and then begins to increase.
The study of the dynamics of the spatiotemporal parameters of the electroencephalogram during the recognition of noisy visual stimuli showed that errors of various types are characterized by specific features of the coherent characteristics of the prestimulus EEG. On fig. 7.8 schematically shows coherent intrahemispheric connections with errors such as "false alarm" (A) and "signal skip" (B). Thick lines correspond to the most significant coherent relationships. With “false alarms”, coherence in the beta frequency range maximizes in the anterior sections of the right hemisphere, and with “signal skips”, the synchrony of alpha activity in the anteroposterior sections of the same right hemisphere increases. The leading role of this hemisphere in the genesis of errors in perceptual activity against the background of emotional stress is in good agreement with numerous data on the predominant attitude of the right hemisphere to negative human emotions.
Rice. 7.7. Samples of visual signals presented for identification:
A - the number "9"; B - noisy signal (light circles - elements removed from the contour of the figure); B - noise
The operator's resistance to the disorganizing influence of excessive emotional stress depends, of course, on his individual typological characteristics. In experiments with the influence of exam stress on visual pattern recognition, an increased vulnerability of persons diagnosed with the help of psychological questionnaires as introverts with a high level of anxiety was revealed, compared with representatives of other studied groups that did not reveal significant differences in the quality of the activities performed. On fig. 7.9 on the y-axis is the percentage of all errors made immediately before the exam, which determines the professional suitability of operators (I), and 1 hour after it (II). As follows from the figure, in a stressful situation, the number of errors in introverts with a high level of anxiety (1) significantly exceeds the number of errors recorded in representatives of all other groups (2), although outside stress, "anxious" introverts cope with the task even somewhat better than the rest. participants in the experiment.
Rice. 7.8. Coherent intrahemispheric EEG connections in case of errors such as "false alarm" (A) and "missing signal" (B). EEG derivations - according to the "10-20" system (see Chapter 2)
So far, we have talked about the impact on the efficiency of activity of relatively high degrees of emotional stress, diagnosed with the help of an integral indicator of ECG characteristics, registration of speech articulation speed (number of syllables per second) and analysis of emotionally significant parameters of stressed vowels that are invariant to the lexical and grammatical composition of speech and personal characteristics of speakers. On fig. Figure 7.10 shows an example of the results of a similar analysis of speech in three pilots during flight simulator training, when failures of navigation equipment and engines were deliberately introduced. Recordings of radio conversations with the leader of the training sessions served as the material for the analysis. Signs of emotional stress diagnosed according to the decision rule (solid dividing line in the figure) are circled with a dotted curve. In this series of experiments, when recognizing the "norm" and "emotion" states, only two errors were made for one of the three pilots, indicated by a black square.
Rice. 7.9. Percentage of mistakes made in excess of the norm (100%) (K) before the exam (I) and an hour after it (II) in introverts with a high level of anxiety (1) and representatives of all other groups (2). The norm, determined seven days before the exams, is not shown on the graphs
Rice. 7.10. are the relative values of the frequency of zeros, the centroid of the spectrum, and the frequency of the main type of speech, respectively
But the activity worsens even with a decrease in activation and the disappearance of its emotional coloring, which is often observed in conditions of monotony (Fig. 7.11). When the activation level falls below a certain optimum, when the operator's state loses its emotional coloring, and his activity becomes tiringly monotonous, a picture is observed that is directly opposite to that which we saw under conditions of emotional stress. There are no “false alarms”, but the number of missed significant signals is steadily increasing. It is not difficult to imagine what dramatic consequences this can lead to if we are dealing not with a participant in the experiment, but with an operator who manages the most complex transport or energy system.
Rice. 7.11. A set of methods for assessing the functional state of the operator: PS - spatial synchronization; EEG - electroencephalogram; ECG - electrocardiogram
DEGREE OF ACTIVATION
The obtained experimental facts show that even in the case when emotional stress is associated with a motivation that is extraneous for the work performed by a person, this stress does not have a uniquely disorganizing effect. A moderate degree of emotional stress can increase the efficiency of activity and reduce the number of mistakes made by the subject. The beneficial effect of emotions is especially clearly manifested in the case when these emotions arise on the basis of a need that motivates this activity of the subject, and are organically connected with it. It is here that we meet with the adaptive-compensatory function of positive emotions, which is realized through the influence on the need that initiates behavior. In a difficult situation with a low probability of achieving the goal, even a small success (increase in probability) generates a positive emotion of inspiration, which reinforces the need to achieve the goal according to the rule arising from the “emotion formula”.
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An example of the compensatory function of emotions at the population level is the imitative behavior characteristic of an emotionally excited brain. When the subject does not have the data or time for an independent and well-founded decision, he is left to rely on the example of other members of the group. Since the likelihood of reinforcing the signals emanating from them remains problematic, imitation behavior is far from always optimal, and in the event of mass panic, often leads to disastrous consequences.
This is the briefest overview of the adaptive functions of emotions at the individual and population levels. Unlike concepts that operate with such categories as "relationship", "significance", "meaning", etc., the proposed approach clearly defines the objective reality that is subjectively reflected in the emotions of humans and higher animals: the need and probability of its satisfaction. It is these two factors that make events significant for the subject, give them a personal meaning and encourage the subject not only to experience, but also to effectively realize their attitude to the world around them and to themselves.
Introduction
Substratum of emotions
Theories of emotion
Methods for studying and diagnosing emotions
Conclusion
Literature
Introduction
For many years, the problem of emotions was practically not considered by domestic legal literature, and only one of their components - the state of passion was studied in order to establish the subjective side of the crime. At the same time, this issue deserves wider consideration abroad.
Emotions are one of the essential functions of a person's neuropsychic activity; they create a personal coloring for any behavioral act and are an energy component of any type of productive activity.
The largest Russian physiologists I.P. Pavlov and I.M. Sechenov in their works on higher nervous activity emphasized the close relationship between mental and physiological processes in the body. Psychologist B.D. Porshnev noted that any thoughts of psychology without physiology are unscientific and conflict with modern knowledge.
A crime, like any other act of behavior, cannot be considered in isolation from the human psyche, from the characteristics of the intellectual, emotional, volitional sphere of a given person. Operative officers, investigators and judges are well aware that the memories of the committed crime are stored in the memory of the guilty person for a long time. Therefore, the emotional state that he experienced, you can try to reproduce in his mind by pronouncing stimulus words, presenting objects associated with the crime, or showing their images. In a person not involved in the crime, these irritants, as irrelevant emotional manifestations and the psychophysiological reactions that accompany them, will not cause.
Developing this topic, A.R. Luria wrote that emotions are associated not only with the crime itself, but also with its individual details, which turn out to be sharply emotionally colored for the criminal and practically do not touch the suspect by mistake. The totality of images directly or accidentally associated with a crime that gave rise to a strong emotional experience forms a strong complex in the memory. Artificial activation of one of the elements of this complex, even against the will of the subject, automatically recreates all its elements in the mind.
Thus, the emotional and psychophysiological spheres of a person are closely interconnected with all aspects of his activity, not excluding the criminal actions of offenders. Lie detector successfully solves the tasks
A person's behavior throughout the day, like a rainbow, changes from bursts of joy to unreasonable sadness. All his actions and deeds are controlled by many factors. It can be a change of weather, and the specifics of the situation, and just good or not good news. These factors cause a person to have certain emotions, a specific attitude to a particular event. They are the main lever in the formation of behavior.
Depending on what emotions prevail over a person at the moment, the behavior may be adequate and correct, or it may be illogical for the situation.
The well-known psychologist K. Izard suggested that 10 emotions be singled out as fundamental ones. According to his theory, interest, fear, joy, surprise, anger, suffering, disgust, contempt, shame and embarrassment are of decisive importance in a person's life, his activities and behavior.
Behavior, in turn, is of great importance for a person in terms of survival. By changing behavioral responses, a person avoids dangerous situations and adapts to a changing external environment. For example, a person under the influence of the emotion of fear is not sure and is very tense. All his actions come down to trying to get away from a frightening situation. A person can do reckless things. In most cases, actions are performed automatically, unconsciously. Visually, the person appears tense and cowering. The pupils dilate and the skin becomes pale. Sweating increases. A distinctive feature of a person in a state of fear is a change in voice associated with difficulty breathing.
Satisfaction of interest is an important need in human life. Thanks to the feeling of emotion of interest, a person gets to know the world around him more deeply, gets acquainted with new facts and objects, deriving personal benefit from this. The thoughts and attention of an interested person are directed to the subject of knowledge. He looks and hears carefully. All internal forces are directed to the process of touching and understanding the object of interest.
joyful person gesticulates intensively, makes quick and energetic movements. He feels light and cheerful. Blood flow to the brain activates mental activity. A person who feels the emotion of joy speaks animatedly and thinks quickly. Work productivity is greatly increased. With joyful experiences, the body temperature rises, the eyes shine, the face shines. The activity of the organs of external secretion intensifies - tears appear, salivation increases.
The emotion of surprise easiest to recognize. It occurs in response to any unexpected event or action. The surprised person is tense, opens his eyes wide, wrinkles his forehead and raises his eyebrows. Surprise is temporary.
It is difficult to confuse a person with someone in anger. All his actions and even facial expressions show aggression. The person becomes tense and impulsive. His movements become more active, and self-confidence appears. Thinking, memory, imagination do not function as they should. The face takes on a reddish tint and a stone appearance.
During the experience suffering, a person experiences physical and mental discomfort, pain or even anguish. This state is extremely unpleasant for him, as evidenced by external manifestations in behavior. Motor activity is reduced, may develop into a complete lack of movement. Thinking and attention are significantly reduced. The person is apathetic and unable to adequately assess the situation.
Emotions of disgust arise when a person observes a phenomenon or process that is unacceptable and unpleasant for him. There are no generally accepted criteria for determining what is ugly and unpleasant. One person is disgusted by looking at an insect or a rat, while another is disgusted by a certain food product. All actions of a person, his facial expressions and gestures are aimed at avoiding contact with the object of disgust. The facial expressions are dominated by wrinkling of the nose and eyebrows, lowering of the corners of the mouth.
Contempt in its manifestation similar to disgust. They differ only in the object of hostility. So disgust can be experienced exclusively for objects or phenomena, and contempt applies exclusively to people. In addition to the main manifestations, contempt is characterized by the presence of sarcasm and irony in words, as well as a demonstration of superiority over the opponent.
Emotion of shame arises as a result of their own actions that do not meet generally accepted standards and stereotypes. A person experiencing shame is tense, silent. His movements are stiff. The face turns red, the look is lost and sinks to the bottom. The mental activity of the brain is activated.
Embarrassment, emotion is similar in its manifestations to a sense of shame, but does not have a clear negative color.
Depending on what effect emotions produce on the body, they are sthenic and asthenic. Sthenic emotions are strong feelings that bring all the resources of the body into a state of mobilization. They stimulate human activity. Asthenic emotions, on the contrary, suppress the vital processes of the body.
It should be remembered that no matter what emotion a person experiences, serious physiological changes occur in the body. The significance of such processes for the body cannot be underestimated and ignored. Long-term exposure to emotion forms a certain mood of a person. And if it has a negative connotation, such an impact can lead to mental and physical disorders.
Emotions have a generalized influence, and each of them affects differently. Human behavior depends on emotions that activate and organize perception, thinking, and imagination. Emotions can cloud the perception of the world or paint it with bright colors.
Health
What we think and feel directly affects how we live. Our health is linked to our lifestyle, genetics and disease susceptibility. But beyond that, there is a strong relationship between your emotional state and your health.
The ability to deal with emotions, especially negative ones, is an important part of our vitality. The emotions we keep inside can one day explode and become a real disaster. for ourselves. That's why it's important to release them.
Strong emotional health is quite rare these days. Negative emotions such as anxiety, stress, fear, anger, jealousy, hatred, doubt and irritability can significantly affect our health.
Layoffs, marital turmoil, financial hardship, and the death of loved ones can be detrimental to our mental health and affect our health.
Here's how emotions can destroy our health.
The impact of emotions on health
1. Anger: heart and liver
Anger is a strong emotion that arises in response to despair, pain, disappointment and threat. If you take action right away and express it properly, anger can be good for your health. But in most cases, anger destroys our health.
In particular, anger affects our logical abilities and increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Anger leads to constriction of blood vessels, increased heart rate, blood pressure, and rapid breathing. If this happens frequently, it leads to wear and tear of the walls of the arteries.
A 2015 study found that the risk of a heart attack increases 8.5 times two hours after an outburst of intense anger.
Anger also raises levels of cytokines (molecules that cause inflammation), which increases the risk of developing arthritis, diabetes and cancer.
To better manage your anger, get regular physical activity, learn relaxation techniques, or see a therapist.
2. Anxiety: stomach and spleen
Chronic anxiety can lead to a range of health problems. It affects spleen and weakens the stomach. When we worry a lot, our body is attacked by chemicals that make us react with a sick or weak stomach.
Anxiety or obsession with something can lead to problems such as nausea, diarrhea, stomach problems and other chronic disorders.
Excessive anxiety is associated with chest pain, high blood pressure, weakened immune system, and premature aging.
Severe anxiety also harms our personal relationships, disrupts sleep, and can make us distracted and inattentive to our health.
3. Sadness or grief: lungs
Of the many emotions we experience in life, sadness is the longest lasting emotion.
Sadness or longing weakens the lungs, causing fatigue and difficulty in breathing.
It disrupts the natural flow of breathing by constricting the lungs and bronchi. When you are overwhelmed with grief or sadness, air can no longer flow easily in and out of your lungs, which can lead to asthma attacks and bronchial diseases.
Depression and melancholy also spoil the skin, cause constipation and low oxygen levels in the blood. People suffering from depression tend to gain or lose weight and are easily addicted to drugs and other harmful substances.
If you're sad, don't hold back your tears, because that way you can release those emotions.
4. Stress: heart and brain
Each person experiences and reacts to stress differently. A little stress is good for your health and can help you get through your daily tasks.
However, if the stress becomes too much, it can lead to high blood pressure, asthma, stomach ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome.
As you know, stress is one of the main culprits for the occurrence of heart disease. It raises blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and also serves as an impetus for bad habits such as smoking, physical inactivity and overeating. All these factors can damage the walls of blood vessels and lead to heart disease.
Stress can also lead to a number of diseases such as:
Asthmatic disorders
· Hair loss
Mouth ulcers and excessive dryness
Mental problems: insomnia, headaches, irritability
Cardiovascular disease and hypertension
Neck and shoulder pain, musculoskeletal pain, lower back pain, nervous tics
Skin rashes, psoriasis and eczema
· Disorders of the reproductive system: menstrual disorders, recurrence of genital infections in women and impotence and premature ejaculation in men.
Diseases of the digestive system: gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcers, ulcerative colitis and irritable bowel
Connection between emotions and organs
5. Loneliness: heart
Loneliness is a condition that makes a person cry and fall into deep melancholy.
Loneliness is a serious health hazard. When we're lonely, our brains release more stress hormones like cortisol, which cause depression. This in turn affects blood pressure and sleep quality.
Studies have shown that loneliness increases the chances of developing mental illness, and is also a risk factor for coronary heart disease and stroke.
In addition, loneliness has a negative impact on the immune system. Lonely people are more likely to develop inflammation in response to stress, which can weaken the immune system.
6. Fear: adrenal glands and kidneys
Fear leads to anxiety, which wears us down. kidneys, adrenal glands and reproductive system.
The situation when fear arises leads to a decrease in the flow of energy in the body and makes it defend itself. This leads to a slowing of the respiratory rate and blood circulation, which causes a state of stagnation, due to which our limbs practically freeze with fear.
Most of all, fear affects the kidneys, and this leads to frequent urination and other kidney problems.
Fear also causes the adrenal glands to produce more stress hormones, which have a devastating effect on the body.
Strong fear can cause pain and disease of the adrenal glands, kidneys and lower back and urinary tract diseases. In children, this emotion can be expressed through urinary incontinence which is closely related to anxiety and self-doubt.
7. Shock: kidneys and heart
Shock is a manifestation of trauma caused by an unexpected situation that knocks you down.
A sudden shock can upset the balance in the body, causing overexcitation and fear.
A strong shock can undermine our health, especially the kidneys and heart. A traumatic reaction leads to the production of a large amount of adrenaline, which is deposited in the kidneys. This leads to heart palpitations, insomnia, stress and anxiety. The shock can even change the structure of the brain, affecting areas of emotion and survival.
The physical consequences of emotional trauma or shock are often low energy, pale skin, shortness of breath, palpitations, sleep and digestive disturbances, sexual dysfunction, and chronic pain.
8. Irritability and hatred: liver and heart
Emotions of hate and irritability can affect gut and heart health, leading to chest pain, hypertension and heart palpitations.
Both of these emotions increase the risk of high blood pressure. Irritable people are also more prone to cellular aging than good-natured people.
Irritability is also bad for the liver. When verbally expressing hatred, a person exhales condensed molecules containing toxins that damage the liver and gallbladder.
9. Jealousy and envy: the brain, gallbladder and liver
Jealousy, despair and envy directly affect our brain, gallbladder and liver.
As you know, jealousy leads to slow thinking and impairs the ability to see clearly.
In addition, jealousy causes symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression, which leads to excessive production of adrenaline and norepinephrine in the blood.
Jealousy has a negative effect on the gallbladder and leads to stagnation of blood in the liver. This causes a weakened immune system, insomnia, increased blood pressure, palpitations, high cholesterol and poor digestion.
10. Anxiety: stomach, spleen, pancreas
Anxiety is a normal part of life. Anxiety can increase breathing and heart rate, increase concentration and blood flow to the brain, which can be beneficial to health.
However, when anxiety becomes a part of life, it has a devastating effects on physical and mental health.
Gastrointestinal diseases are often closely associated with anxiety. It affects the stomach, spleen, and pancreas, which can lead to problems such as indigestion, constipation, ulcerative colitis.
Anxiety disorders are often a risk factor for a range of chronic diseases, such as coronary heart disease.
Emotions are an integral part of the reaction of man and other higher animals to environmental factors. They appear constantly and affect the behavior and actions of any thinking being throughout life, so it is obvious that not only the spiritual state of a person, but also his physical health depends on the emotional background to a certain extent.
The word “emotion” itself comes from the Latin “emoveo”, which means excitement, shock, experience. That is, it is logical to perceive the emotions that arise in us as fluctuations passing through the whole body, affecting all organs and systems, linking them together.
Since ancient times, scientists interested in medicine have observed a correlation between the prevailing emotional state and human health. This is written in the treatises of oriental medicine, the works of Hippocrates and other ancient Greek scientists. We can also trace the understanding of the relationship between emotional and physical health among the people thanks to well-known sayings: “joy makes you young, and grief makes you old”, “like rust eats iron, sadness corrodes the heart”, “you can’t buy health - it gives the mind”, “all diseases from nerves." These statements call for attention to the detrimental effect of heavy emotional stress on the nervous system, which negatively affects the health of other organs and systems.
In modern science, the connection between physical health and emotions was confirmed by neurophysiologist Charles Sherington, Nobel Prize winner. He deduced a pattern: the resulting emotional experiences flow into somatic and vegetative changes.
- Physiology of the influence of emotions on the body.
The reaction to the world around us, first of all, occurs in the central nervous system. Receptors from the sense organs send signals to the brain, and it responds to emerging stimuli, forming a set of commands to help overcome an emerging obstacle or consolidate the correct action.
- Scheme of the impact of negative emotions.
With negative emotions, for example, in response to resentment, aggression occurs, reinforced by the adrenal hormone norepinephrine; when danger is felt, fear arises, reinforced by adrenaline; the appearance of a rival or competitor for resources becomes a cause of jealousy and envy. Regular irritation appropriately transforms ordinary, controlled emotions into something more: in the first case, aggression develops into hatred, in the second, fear into anxiety (the state of the victim), in the third, into irritability and discontent.
- Scheme of action of positive emotions.
Positive emotions are accompanied by the release of happiness hormones (endorphins, dopamine), they give a euphoric effect that makes a person try harder to get joy and peace again. Similarly, serotonin works, the level of which in the blood determines sensitivity to pain and physical factors (it is thanks to it that children so easily forget about injuries and are able to ignore obvious injuries such as cuts, tears, etc. for a long time).
- Physiological manifestations of emotions.
Hormones prepare the body to respond to irritation: the heart rate accelerates, blood vessels dilate, characteristic facial expressions occur, abdominal muscles contract, breathing quickens, the evacuation function of the gastrointestinal tract is stimulated, “goosebumps” appear (adaptation to air temperature), fever, nervous excitement.
When the boundary of regular influence is overcome, this means that the person has not coped with the problem on his own, which constantly evoked the corresponding emotions. Upon reaching a certain limit, individual for each, the body itself takes the levers to control the body. Thus, with the new appearance of the stimulus, the conscious part of the personality loses control. In this case, a person begins to behave like an animal, is able to harm himself or others, that is, emotions can not only harm the physical body, but also seriously undermine spiritual health.
In the case of constant emotional influence, be it positive or negative, the body self-destructs, as a person ceases to pay attention to his primary needs. A constant strong reaction (excitement, concern, fear, euphoria) exhausts the body, which becomes the cause of the disease.
Each of us knows that emotions that arise as a result of any events are an aid to the formation of mood. And the mood, in turn, depends on the ability to cope with certain problems. Cheerfulness of spirit is always accompanied by success and joy, and depression and fatigue are always accompanied by illnesses and misfortunes.
Oriental medicine has an extensive knowledge base to find the relationship between individual internal organs and external manifestations of their condition. For example, it was Eastern doctors who created maps of bioactive points, a urinalysis system, schemes for the values of the type and color of plaque on the tongue, it was determined by what changes in facial features one or another disease can be detected.
How negative emotions affect health:
Anxiety, anxiety, depression - these emotions extinguish the manifestations of energy in a person, make them fear the world around them. The consequence of constant restraint is problems with the tonsils (tonsillitis) and throat (bronchitis, laryngitis), up to loss of voice;
Jealousy - unrest caused by the desire to limit the freedom of a nearby person and greed, provoke insomnia and frequent migraines;
Hatred - sudden surges of energy that overwhelm the body, splash out to no avail, shaking the human psyche. He often and greatly suffers from the slightest setbacks, and improper impulsive behavior leads to problems with the gallbladder, stomach and liver.
Irritation - when every little thing irritates a person, we can talk about sensitization of the body caused by a weakening of protective functions. It is not surprising that such people suffer from frequent bouts of nausea (a physiological reaction to poisoning), which no medication can cope with;
Arrogance and snobbery - arrogance provokes constant dissatisfaction with the things and people around a person, which causes problems with the joints, intestines and pancreas;
Fear - appears in people for whom the main goal is survival. Fear absorbs energy, makes a person cynical, withdrawn, dry and cold. Suspicion and confidence in the hostility of the world provoke arthritis, deafness and senile dementia in such a person;
Self-doubt - guilt for every oversight and mistake overloads thoughts and causes chronic headaches;
Despondency, boredom, sadness - such emotions stop the flow of energy in the body, provoke stagnation, loss of motivation. In an effort to protect himself from risks and new attachments, a person goes into his own sadness and loses the opportunity to get bright positive emotions. As a result, he is overtaken by constipation, asthma, immunodeficiency, impotence, frigidity.
Excessive joy is also referred to negative manifestations of emotions, because because of it, a person’s energy dissipates without a trace, getting lost and wasted in vain. Due to constant loss, a person is forced to look for new pleasures, which he is again unable to keep. The cycle closes, and life turns into a constant search for entertainment, which leads to anxiety (fear of losing access to what you want), despair and insomnia.
Of course, it should be borne in mind that one-time, rare manifestations of negative emotions are a completely normal reaction to problems that every person has. To a certain extent, they even turn out to be useful, because, firstly, they are able to push a person to an important decision and stimulate the desire to correct the problem situation in the right direction, and secondly, they are a contrast against which positive emotions become more desirable and better tangible. .
Problems bring long-term emotional impacts that become pathological over time. It is they that undermine the body from the inside and are able to make a person defenseless against the surrounding harmful factors, creating the basis for the development of all kinds of diseases.
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Chapter 2 |
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Introduction
Every adult in his life repeatedly experienced certain emotions and feelings from early childhood. Emotions and feelings constitute a special, very important side of a person's inner life. Emotional manifestations of a person are very diverse: joy, grief, fear, anger, surprise, sadness, anxiety, admiration, contempt, etc. The world of emotional experiences permeates all aspects of life: relationships with other people, activity, communication and knowledge. Emotions and feelings motivate a person to action, influence decision-making and setting life goals, determine behavior, and are simply necessary in overcoming the difficulties of everyday life. Thanks to feelings and emotions, a person perceives the world around him not as an extraneous phenomenon, but takes an active part in it, and experiences certain experiences.
But psychologists do not have a single point of view regarding the role that feelings and emotions play in a person's life. So, some of them, believing reason to be a characteristic of a truly human in a person, argue that the meaning of human existence should be precisely cognitive-intellectual activity. Other scientists classify humans as emotional beings. In their opinion, the very meaning of human existence has an affective, emotional nature, i.e. a person surrounds himself with people, objects to which he is emotionally attached.
Thus, scientists have not yet been able to reach a consensus on the nature and significance of emotions and feelings in human life, so this topic is relevant today.
The purpose of the essay is to determine the role of emotions and feelings in human life.
Tasks: 1) describe the characteristics of the essence of emotions;
2) to study the distinctive features of emotions and feelings;
4) to reveal the influence of feelings and emotions on the personality.
Chapter 1. Emotions and feelings as psychological processes
1.1. Emotions and their characteristics
In the first half of the 20th century, psychologists began to talk about affects as emotional reactions aimed at defusing the resulting emotional arousal. So S. L. Rubinshtein used the terms “emotional” and “affective” as equivalent: “... the three-term division of mental phenomena into intellectual, emotional and volitional cannot be maintained. Primary, basic is the two-term division of mental processes into intellectual and affective ... " 1 . To date, emotion is understood as an experience, emotional excitement. Emotions mobilize energy, and this energy is sometimes felt by the subject as a tendency to act. They direct the mental and physical activity of the individual, direct in a certain direction. For example, if a person is seized with anger, then he will not rush to his heels, and if a person is frightened, then he is unlikely to decide on aggression.
Emotions or emotional responses are characterized by positive or negative experiences, influence on behavior and activity (stimulating or inhibitory), intensity (the depth of experiences and the magnitude of physiological changes), the duration of the course (short-term or long-term), objectivity (the degree of awareness and connection with a specific object).
In addition to the main characteristics, psychologist E. D. Khomskaya identifies such characteristics as the reactivity of emotions (the speed of occurrence or change), quality (connection with need), and the degree of their arbitrary control.
1) A sign of emotional response. According to what experiences a person has (positive - pleasure or negative - disgust), emotional response is marked with a "+" or "-" sign. However, it should be noted that this division is largely arbitrary and at least does not correspond to the positive or negative role of emotions for a given person in a particular situation. For example, such an emotion as fear is unconditionally classified as negative, but it certainly has a positive meaning for animals and humans, and in addition, it can give a person pleasure. K. Izard notes the positive role of such a negative emotion as shame. In addition, he notes that joy, manifested in the form of gloating, can bring the person experiencing it the same harm as anger.
Therefore, K. Izard believes that “instead of talking about negative and positive emotions, it would be more correct to assume that there are such emotions that contribute to an increase in psychological entropy 2 , and emotions, which, on the contrary, facilitate constructive behavior. Such an approach makes it possible to attribute this or that emotion to the category of positive or negative, depending on what effect it has on intrapersonal processes and the processes of interaction of the individual with the immediate social environment, taking into account more general ethological and environmental factors. 3
2) Intensity of emotional response. A high degree of positive emotional response is called bliss. For example, a person experiences bliss when warming himself by the fire after a long stay in the cold, or, conversely, consuming a cold drink in hot weather. It is characteristic of bliss that a pleasant sensation spreads throughout the body. The highest degree of positive emotional response is called ecstasy, or an ecstatic state. It may be the religious ecstasy experienced by the mystics of the Middle Ages, and now observed in the members of certain religious sects; this state is also characteristic of shamans. Usually people experience ecstasy when they experience the height of happiness. This state is characterized by the fact that it captures the entire consciousness of a person, becomes dominant, due to which the external world disappears in subjective perception, and the person is outside of time and space.
3) Duration of emotional response. Emotional response can be of different duration: from fleeting experiences to states lasting hours and days.
4) Objectivity as a characteristic of emotional response. As V. K. Vilyunas writes 4 , a person admires or is indignant, he may be saddened or proud of someone or something. The so-called non-objective emotions usually also have an object, only less definite (for example, the situation as a whole can cause anxiety: night, forest, hostile environment) orunconscious (when the mood is spoiled by failure, in which a person cannot admit).
Since the time when philosophers and natural scientists began to seriously think about the nature and essence of emotions, two main positions have arisen. Scientists occupying one of them, intellectualistic, most clearly marked by I.-F. Herbart, argued that the organic manifestations of emotions are the result of mental phenomena. According to Herbart, emotion is a connection that is established between representations. Emotion is a mental disorder caused by a mismatch (conflict) between ideas. This affective state involuntarily causes vegetative changes.
Representatives of another position - the sensualists - on the contrary, declared that organic reactions affect mental phenomena. These two positions were later developed in the cognitive theories of emotions and in the peripheral theory of emotions by W. James - G. Lange. -
"Peripheral" theory W. Jam - G. Lange.The American psychologist W. James put forward a "peripheral" theory of emotions based on the fact that emotions are associated with certain physiological reactions. Joy, from his point of view, is a combination of two phenomena: increased motor innervation and expansion of blood vessels. This is where the expressive expression of this emotion comes from: fast, strong movements, loud speech, laughter. Sadness, on the contrary, is the result of a weakening of the motor innervation and narrowing of the blood vessels. Hence sluggish, slow movements, weakness and soundlessness of the voice, relaxation and silence.
From the standpoint of the James-Lange theory, the act of generating an emotion is as follows:
irritant - the occurrence of physiological changes - signals about these changes to the brain - emotion (emotional experience).
The meaning of this paradoxical statement is that an arbitrary change in facial expressions and pantomime leads to the involuntary appearance of the corresponding emotions.
Mimic means of expression.The face of a person has the greatest ability to express various emotional shades. Even Leonardo da Vinci said that the eyebrows and mouth change differently for various reasons for crying, and L. N. Tolstoy described 85 shades of eye expression and 97 shades of a smile that reveal the emotional state of a person (restrained, strained, artificial, sad, contemptuous, sardonic, joyful, sincere, etc.).
Reikovsky 5 notes that the formation of mimic expression of emotions is influenced by three factors:
- congenital species-typical facial patterns corresponding to certain emotional states;
- acquired, learned, socialized ways of expressing emotions, arbitrarily controlled;
- individual expressive features that give specific and social forms of mimic expression specific features that are unique to this individual.
As G. Oster and P. Ekman note, a person is born with a ready-made mechanism for expressing emotions with the help of facial expressions. All facial muscles necessary for expressing various emotions are formed during the 15-18th week of uterine development, and changes in "facial expression" take place starting from the 20th week. The most frequently manifested mimic patterns 6 are a smile (with pleasure) and a "sour mine" (with disgust). Differences in smiles appear as early as 10-month-old babies. The child reacts to the mother with a smile, in which the large zygomatic muscle and the circular muscle of the eye are activated. At the approach of a stranger, the child also smiles, but activation occurs only in the large zygomatic muscle; the orbicular muscle of the eye does not respond. With age, the range of smiles expands.
P. Ekman and K. Izard described the mimic signs of primary, or basic, emotions (joy, grief, disgust-contempt, surprise, anger, fear) and identified three autonomous areas of the face: the forehead and eyebrows, the eye area (eyes, eyelids, base of the nose) and the lower part of the face (nose, cheeks, mouth, jaws, chin). The studies carried out made it possible to develop original “formulas” of facial expressions that fix characteristic changes in each of the three areas of the face, as well as to construct photo standards for facial expressions of a number of emotions. So, for example, in fear, the eyebrows are raised and shifted, the upper eyelids are raised, the mouth is open, the lips are stretched and tense, but in surprise, the eyebrows are raised and rounded high, the upper eyelids are raised, and the lower ones are lowered, the mouth is open, lips and teeth are separated.
Types of emotions. The nature of the emotional attitude to different objects is manifested in the experience of positive or negative emotions by a person. According to Lazarus 7 , 16 different emotions can be distinguished, of which 4 are positive, 9 are negative and 3 emotions - hope, compassion and gratitude - are mixed.
Positive emotions are:
happiness - experiencing the successful implementation of the goal;
pride - strengthening of identity due to obtaining a valuable result;
relief - relieving stress that has arisen when achieving the goal;
love - Desire or experience of attachment.
Negative emotions are:
anger - emotional reaction to an insult, resentment directed against a person;
fright - reaction to significant physical danger;
guilt - experience that arose as a result of violation of the boundaries of moral norms;
shame - experience of the impossibility to live in accordance with the ideal Self;
sadness - experience of irretrievable loss;
envy - desire for something that another has;
jealousy - a threat to lose the love and affection of another;
disgust - action and opposition to an unpleasant object or idea;
fear - reaction to an uncertain situation and a situation of a real threat.
Emotions are usually difficult to explain conceptually. The usual technique is the expression of an emotional state through a description of the accompanying bodily sensations.
1.2. The relationship of feelings and emotions in a person's personality
To date, the concept of “feeling” has been mixed with the designation of sensations (“feeling of pain”), the return of consciousness after fainting (“come to your senses”), self-esteem (self-esteem, feelings of inferiority), intellectual processes and human states. For example, K. D. Ushinsky in his work “Man as an Object of Education” examines in detail such “mental feelings” as a sense of similarity and difference, a sense of mental tension, a sense of expectation, a sense of surprise, a sense of deception, a sense of doubt (indecision), a sense of confidence, a sense of irreconcilable contrast, a sense of success. Unfortunately, this takes place not only in the past, but also now.
The fact that feelings and emotions are closely related does not require discussion. The question is not this, but what is invested in these concepts and what is the relationship between them. Attempts to separate the concepts of "feeling" and "emotion" have been made for a long time. Even W. McDougall wrote that “the terms "emotion" and "feeling" ... are used with great uncertainty and confusion, which corresponds to the uncertainty and diversity of opinions about the foundations, conditions for the occurrence and functions of the processes to which these terms refer" . He writes that there are two primary and fundamental forms of feeling - pleasure and pain, or satisfaction and dissatisfaction, which color and determine, to some, at least an insignificant degree, all the aspirations of the organism. As the organism develops, it becomes capable of experiencing a whole range of feelings, which are a combination, a mixture of pleasure and pain; as a result, feelings such as hope, anxiety, despair, a sense of hopelessness, remorse, sadness appear. Such complex feelings in everyday speech are called emotions. McDougall believes that it is appropriate to call these complex "derivative emotions" feelings. They arise after a person's aspirations have been successfully or unsuccessfully implemented. Genuine emotions precede success or failure and do not depend on them. They do not directly affect the change in the strength of aspirations. They only reveal to the self-conscious organism the nature of the active impulses, i.e., the existing needs.
Complex feelings, according to McDougall, depend on the development of cognitive functions and are secondary in relation to this process. They are inherent only in man, although their simplest forms are probably also available to higher animals. Genuine emotions appear at much earlier stages of evolutionary development.
W. McDougall's attempt to separate emotions and feelings cannot be considered successful. The criteria he gives for such a dilution are too vague, and the attribution of one or another emotional phenomenon to feelings or emotions is little substantiated and understandable. For example, there is no exact distinction between the "mixed emotion" of shame, disgrace and the phenomena attributed to them by feelings, like remorse, despair. Both those and others can appear after the implementation or non-fulfillment of aspirations.
In "Philosophical Dictionary" 8 the author of the article on feelings and emotions sees the difference between emotions and feelings in the duration of the experience: for emotions proper, they are short-term, and for feelings, they are long-term, stable.
The dictionary "Psychology" says that "feelings are one of the main forms of a person's experience of his attitude to objects and phenomena of reality, which is distinguished by relative stability." 9 But experiencing one's attitude to something is an emotion. Therefore, here, too, feeling is understood as a stable emotion. But often emotions are called feelings, and vice versa, feelings are designated as emotions even by those scientists who, in principle, breed them.
A. G. Maklakov, 10 considering feelings as one of the types of emotional states, declares the following signs as differentiating emotions and feelings.
1. Emotions, as a rule, are of the nature of an orienting reaction, i.e., they carry primary information about a lack or excess of something, therefore they are often vague and insufficiently conscious (for example, a vague feeling of something). Feelings, on the contrary, in most cases are objective and concrete. Such a phenomenon as a “vague feeling” (for example, “vague torment”) speaks of the uncertainty of feelings and is considered by the author as a process of transition from emotional sensations to feelings.
2. Emotions are more connected with biological processes, and feelings - with the social sphere.
3. Emotions are more connected with the area of the unconscious, and feelings are maximally represented in our consciousness.
4. Emotions most often do not have a specific external manifestation, but feelings do.
5. Emotions are short-term, and feelings are long-term, reflect a stable attitude towards any specific objects.
Feelings are expressed through certain emotions, depending on the situation in which the object to which the person feels is located.For example, a mother, loving her child, will experience different emotions during his examination session, depending on what the result of the exams will be. When the child goes to the exam, the mother will have anxiety, when he reports that he has successfully passed the exam - joy, and if he fails - disappointment, annoyance, anger. This and similar examples show that emotions and feelings are not the same thing.
Thus, there is no direct correspondence between feelings and emotions: the same emotion can express different feelings, and the same feeling can be expressed in different emotions.Without showing outwardly emotions, a person hides his feelings from others.
Characteristics of emotional relationships.Feelings as emotional relationships are characterized from different angles.
1) Relationship sign. It is believed that the attitude can be positive, negative, indifferent. A person relates positively to what attracts him, negatively to what repels him, causes disgust, displeasure. A true indifferent attitude can only be towards objects that are insignificant for a person (that is, those that do not arouse his interest, are not important to him).
2) The intensity of emotional relationships. Differences in the intensity of feelings are visible at least on the example of the following row: a positive attitude towards a friend - friendship - love. In the course of the development of subjective relations, their intensity changes, and often quite sharply. Sometimes a small push is enough for the positive attitude not only to decrease in intensity, but even to change in modality, that is, to become negative.
3) The stability of emotional relationships. Emotional relationships are not always stable. Children's relationships are especially unstable. So, within one hour of playing together, children can quarrel and make peace several times. In adults, some emotional relationships can be quite stable, taking the form of rigid attitudes, conservative views, or expressing the principled position of the individual.
4) The breadth of emotional relationships. Each personality in the process of its development forms a complex multidimensional, multilevel and dynamic system of subjective relations. The more objects a person expresses his attitude to, the wider this system, the richer the personality itself, the greater, in the words of E. Erickson, "radii of meaningful relationships."
5) Generalization and differentiation of relations. The diversity or narrowness of relations is closely related to another characteristic - the differentiation of relations. For example, elementary school students in most cases are satisfied with both the lesson itself in any subject and its various aspects: relations with the teacher, the results achieved, the conditions in which the lessons are conducted, etc. Their subjective attitudes often arise under the influence random events (I liked the first lesson, it means that it is interesting to study this subject). This generalized positive attitude most likely indicates the immaturity of younger students as individuals, their inability to separate one factor from another in their assessments. The generalization of emotional relations occurs when a person generalizes emotional impressions and knowledge and is guided by them in the manifestation of his attitude to something. For example, a person's positive attitude to physical education will be generalized and stable, and the need to engage in physical education will become his conviction if he understands the role of any physical education for his development and regularly enjoys it.
6) Subjectivity of emotional relations. Feelings are subjective., since the same phenomena can have different meanings for different people. Moreover, a number of feelings are characterized by their intimacy., that is, the deeply personal meaning of experiences, their secrecy.
Classification of feelings.The traditional division of feelings into lower and higher does not reflect the actual reality and is due only to the fact that emotions that reflect the biological essence of a person are also accepted as feelings. Feelings reflect the social essence of a person and can reach a high degree of generalization.(love for the Motherland, hatred for the enemy, etc.).
Based on what sphere of social phenomena becomes the object of higher feelings, they are divided into three groups: moral, intellectual and aesthetic. 11
moral called the feelings that a person experiences in connection with the realization of the conformity or inconsistency of his behavior with the requirements of public morality. They reflect a different degree of attachment to certain people, the need to communicate with them, the attitude towards them. Positive moral feelings include feelings of benevolence, pity, tenderness, sympathy, friendship, comradeship, collectivism, patriotism, duty, etc. Negative moral feelings include feelings of individualism, selfishness, enmity, envy, malevolence, hatred, malevolence, etc.
intellectualcalled the feelings associated with human cognitive activity. These include curiosity, curiosity, surprise, the joy of solving a problem, a sense of clarity or fuzziness of thought, bewilderment, a sense of conjecture, a sense of confidence, doubt. aesthetic called the feelings associated with the experience of pleasure or displeasure, caused by the beauty or ugliness of perceived objects, whether natural phenomena, works of art or people, as well as their actions and actions. This is an understanding of beauty, harmony, sublime, tragic and comic. These feelings are realized through emotions, which in their intensity range from slight excitement to deep excitement, from emotions of pleasure to aesthetic delight.
Thus, the question of the specific composition of feelings remains open. Most of the so-called feelings are emotions, and many do not relate to emotional attitudes at all, that is, they do not express a biased attitude towards someone or something. Such are many of the moral sentiments singled out in ethics.
Chapter 2 The influence of feelings and emotions on a person's personality
Emotional education of a person is not only one of the significant goals of education, but also an equally important component of its content. P. K. Anokhin 12 wrote: "Producing almost instantaneous integration (combining into a single whole) of all functions of the body, emotions in themselves and in the first place can be an absolute signal of a beneficial or harmful effect on the body, often even before the localization of effects and the specific mechanism of the body's response are determined. ". Thanks to the emotion that has arisen in time, the body has the opportunity to adapt extremely favorably to the surrounding conditions. He is able to respond quickly with great speed to external influences, without having yet determined its type, form, and other particular specific parameters. Positive emotions and feelings (joy, bliss, sympathy) create an optimistic mood in a person, contribute to the development of his volitional sphere. Positive emotional arousal improves the performance of easier tasks and makes it more difficult for more difficult ones. But at the same time, positive emotions associated with achieving success contribute to an increase, and negative emotions associated with failure - to a decrease in the level of performance of activities and exercises. Positive emotions have a significant impact on the course of any activity, including educational. The regulatory role of emotions and feelings increases if they not only accompany this or that activity, but also precede it, anticipate it, which prepares a person for inclusion in this activity. Thus, emotions themselves depend on activity and exert their influence on it.
In physiological terms, positive emotions and feelings, acting on the human nervous system, contribute to the improvement of the body, while negative ones destroy it and lead to various diseases. Positive emotions and feelings have a powerful effect on behavioral processes and thinking.
1) Positive thinking. Being in a good mood, a person argues in a completely different way than when he is in a bad mood. Studies have shown that good mood is manifested in positive free associations, in writing funny stories when asked on the TAT (thematic apperception test). The TAT includes a set of cards with pictures that are indeterminate in content, allowing for arbitrary interpretation by the subjects, who are instructed to write a story for each picture. Interpretation of the answers makes it possible to judge personality traits, as well as the temporary, current state of the subject, his mood.), favorable descriptions of social situations, perception of himself as a socially competent person, a sense of self-confidence and self-esteem.
2) Memory. In a good mood, it is easier to remember joyful events in life or words filled with positive meaning. The generally accepted explanation for this phenomenon is that memory is based on a network of associative links between events and representations. They interact with emotions, and at the moment when the individual is in a certain emotional state, his memory is tuned to the events associated with this particular state.
3) Problem solving. People who are in a good mood approach problems differently than those in a neutral or sad mood. The former are characterized by increased reaction, the ability to develop the simplest solution strategy and make the first solution found. Experiments have shown that stimulating good mood (positive emotions) leads to original and varied word associations, suggesting a potentially wider creative range. All this contributes to an increase in creative returns and favorably affects the process of solving problems.
4) Help, altruism and sympathy. Many studies have shown that happy people are characterized by such qualities as generosity and willingness to help others. The same qualities are also characteristic of people whose good mood was caused by artificial stimulation of positive experiences (receiving small gifts, recalling pleasant events, etc.). People who are in a good mood believe that helping others is a compensatory and beneficial action that contributes to maintaining a positive emotional state. Observations show that people who are in a good mood and notice a discrepancy between their own state and the state of others try to somehow balance this inequality. It has been established that the environment also has a significant impact on the relationship of people.
Negative emotion disorganizes the activity that leads to its occurrence, but organizes actions aimed at reducing or eliminating harmful effects. There is emotional tension. It is characterized by a temporary decrease in the stability of mental and psychomotor processes, which, in turn, is accompanied by various rather pronounced vegetative reactions and external manifestations of emotions.
The emotional factor can have a very strong influence on a person and even lead to much deeper pathological changes in organs and tissues than any strong physical effect. Cases of death are known not only from great grief, but also from too much joy. So, the famous philosopher Sophocles died at the moment when the crowd gave him a stormy ovation on the occasion of the presentation of his brilliant tragedy.
Mental tension, especially the so-called negative emotions - fear, envy, hatred, longing, grief, sadness, despondency, anger - weaken the normal activity of the central nervous system and the whole organism. They can be not only the cause of serious diseases, but also cause the onset of premature old age. Studies show that a person who is constantly anxious experiences visual impairment over time. Practice also speaks of this: people who have cried a lot and experienced great anxieties have weak eyes. An aggressive feeling also has a negative effect on a person. In the structure of aggressive behavior, feelings are the force (expression) that activates and to some extent accompanies aggression, ensuring the unity and interpenetration of its sides: internal (aggression) and external (aggressive action). An aggressive feeling is, first of all, a person's ability to experience such emotional states as anger, anger, hostility, revenge, resentment, pleasure, and others. People can be plunged into such states both by unconscious (for example, heat, noise, tightness) and conscious (jealousy, competition, and others) reasons. The formation and development of aggression is carried out on the interweaving of feelings and thoughts. And the more thoughts dominate, the stronger and more sophisticated aggressive actions will be, because only thought can conflict, direct and plan aggression.
Many are accustomed to thinking that negative emotions and feelings (grief, contempt, envy, fear, anxiety, hatred, shame) form weak will and weakness. However, such an alternative division is not always justified: negative emotions also contain a "rational" grain. One who is devoid of the feeling of sadness is just as pathetic as the person who does not know what joy is or who has lost the sense of humor. If there are not too many negative emotions, they stimulate, make you look for new solutions, approaches, methods.
Conclusion
Undoubtedly, the role of emotions in human life is extremely important. Emotions are a specific group of mental states of a subjective nature, which are expressed in the form of experiences and sensations of a positive or negative nature, a person's perception of the world around him and people, his own actions and results of actions. The group of emotions includes feelings and passions, moods and affects, as well as stress. All mental processes are accompanied by these states. In other words, any manifestation of human activity is colored by some kind of emotion. It is thanks to emotions and feelings that people better find a language with others, are able, without using verbal signals, to draw conclusions about the state of their neighbor.
A variety of emotional moments are included in the content of all mental processes - perception, memory, thinking, etc. Feelings determine the brightness and completeness of our perceptions, they affect the speed and strength of memorization. Emotionally colored facts are remembered faster and stronger. Feelings involuntarily activate or, conversely, inhibit the processes of thinking. They stimulate the activity of our imagination, give our speech persuasiveness, brightness and liveliness. Feelings evoke and stimulate our actions. The strength and perseverance of volitional actions is largely determined by feelings. They enrich the content of human life. People with poor and weak emotional experiences become dry, petty pedants. Positive emotions and feelings, along with negative ones, increase our energy and ability to work.
Also, do not forget about the physical condition of the human body. Emotions and feelings affect many internal organs, such as, for example, the heart, vision. There are several suggestions that a positive attitude can protect a person from health problems throughout life. For example, happier people are more likely to adopt an active anti-aging approach, usually by exercising regularly and spending more time with health benefits. At the same time, these people may avoid unhealthy behaviors such as smoking and risky sex.Scientists have proven that people who have experienced more positive emotions and feelings in their lives than negative ones live much longer. On the one hand, negative feelings and emotions can not only cause serious illnesses, but also cause premature old age. On the other hand, they motivate a person to solve pressing problems, to change what does not suit him. Fear is essential for survival and security. Guilt encourages cooperation. Anger motivates the search for justice.
Often negative emotions convey important information to a person, and therefore sometimes they even surpass positive emotions in usefulness. Sadness signals a loss, fear a threat, and anger warns of an unworthy act.
Thus, the role of emotions, both positive and negative, is extremely important for a person. Feelings and emotions are an integral part of personality. They contribute to the growth of the personality and enrich it.
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2 Entropy (in psychoanalytic theory) - the degree to which mental energy becomes unusable after investing it in a particular object. Oxford Dictionary of Psychology / Ed. A. Rebera, 2012
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7 Arnold Lazarus (born 1932) PhD in Psychology, Professor Emeritus in the Graduate School of Applied and Occupational Psychology at Rutgers University.
8 http://gufo.me/content_fil/chuvstva-8274.html
9 http://www.psychologist.ru/dictionary_of_terms/index.htm?id=2846
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11 Rudik P. A. Psychology: Textbook. - M., 2006
12 Anokhin Pyotr Konstantinovich - Soviet physiologist, creator of the theory of functional systems, academician of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences (1945) and USSR Academy of Sciences (1966), laureate of the Lenin Prize (1972).
