The different functions of emotions: a sneak peek from interpersonal to cultural roles

Let's not forget that the little emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realizing it. -Vincent van Gogh

The primary and essential role of emotions is to help us survive and thrive in our environment. How? Here comes a non-exhaustive list.

Intrapersonal functions: how emotions play within each of us

●      Emotions are somatic markers, meaning they associate specific body sensations with specific feelings. They give meaning to events, things, and situations. Robert Zajonc, a famous psychologist who worked extensively on the effects of mere exposure, affirmed that it is impossible to think about something and not having any kind of emotion associated. If we observe a ‘house’, we don’t only see a house but a ‘beautiful house’ or a ‘phony house’. Any perception is accompanied by some kind of affect or emotion.

Therefore, emotions help you weigh different options, distinguishing the ones that would generate negative emotions and the ones that would generate positive emotions. This is fundamental for rational behaviors such as decision-making processes since it allows you to predict the emotional outcome associated with a decision, proceed to a quick mental cost/benefit analysis, and ultimately increase the probabilities of a positive decision.

 ●      Emotions are rapid information-processing systems. They drive our behavior and allow us to act quickly without thinking much. A simple illustration is when you put your hand on something very hot, your body reacts and makes you remove your hand to prevent it from burning. You may actually not be conscious of the heat before you move your hand. 

 Psychologist Pultchik developed a sequential model identifying survival behaviors that drive your actions:

• Protection: Withdrawal, retreat (activated by fear and terror)
• Destruction: Elimination of barrier to the satisfaction of needs (activated by anger and rage)
• Incorporation: Ingesting nourishment (activated by acceptance)
• Rejection: Riddance response to harmful material (activated by disgust)
• Reproduction: Approach, contract, genetic exchanges (activated by joy and pleasure)
• Reintegration: Reaction to loss of nutrient product (activated by sadness and grief)
• Exploration: Investigating an environment (activated by curiosity and play)
• Orientation: Reaction to contact with an unfamiliar object (activated by surprise)

That being said, emotions are only one of many influencing factors of behavior. They prepare the body for actions but it depends on the individual to ultimately engage or not in the action.

 ●      Emotions influence our thoughts and memories through codification. Cognitive psychologist Gordon H. Bower observed the impact of emotions over memory and explained that we tend to align our internal emotional state with the information retrieved from our surroundings. Meaning that for any given experience, if you are happy, you identify and easily remember the positive information received whereas if you are angry, you identify and remember more of the provocations and negative outcomes. Consequently, emotions influence the way we compute the data received and how we create our memories.

 ●      Emotions help us learn and motivate ourselves. The learning processes are much more enhanced when positive emotions are involved – that’s why playing, which is fun and joyful, is still up to date one of the most efficient learning tools not only for children but also for adults. (No surprise that the serious games market size is expected to reach over $9,167 million by 2023, representing a growth of 19.2% since 2017).

The same goes for motivation – we attract pleasure and avoid pain. Example: for a similar objective of practicing sport, some of us get motivated because we don’t want to become fat nor feel any kind of disgust or shame about our body, whereas others are motivated because they want to become strong and good-looking, and ultimately feel pride and self-confidence. Emotions are fully integrated into our motivational strategies, whether it is conscious or unconscious. The more you develop self-consciousness towards identifying what are the most efficient motivational factors for you, the easiest and fastest you will reach your next goals. 

Interpersonal functions: the meaning of emotions to our relationships with others

●      Emotions are social cues to assess each other. We are constantly expressing our emotions when we interact and therefore sending information to our peers. These signals are instinctively processed by our ‘mirror neuron’ systems and help us evaluate others’ intentions, thoughts, feelings, and ultimately decide if we trust them or not.

 ●      Emotions are behaviors facilitators. They drive the way we react towards others – for example, if someone displays signs of fear, we are more easily drawn to express compassion and sympathy, whereas if someone shows aggressivity, we are more likely to adopt an avoidant behavior. This is something easily used especially in marketing to operate on our perception of products, services, or even people, and incentivize specific responses. 

●      Emotions are communication tools. Our whole brain processes emotions but each part have its function:

• The right side is commonly known as our emotional brain – it’s the part we use to make decisions and to get people’s attention leveraging basic emotions such as anger, fear, joy, or surprise.
• The left side is the rational brain, it’s where we justify our decisions and influence our audience, appealing to academic emotions such as frustration, engagement, or curiosity.

Something else to keep in mind is that we tend to label the ‘what’ with the left side, and the ‘how’ with the right side. For example, if you’re discussing with someone, the ‘what’ refers to the semantic – what has been said -, and the ‘how’ refers to the tone of voice, volume, and velocity. If the ‘what’ conveys something nice and positive but the ‘how’ is aggressive, you may sense some confusion and generate opposite emotions regarding the situation.

Social and cultural functions: the maintenance of social order within a society

●      Emotions bring social cohesion. They drive desired social behaviors, meaning how to act and how not to. Depending on your culture or social belonging, some emotions are praised and encouraged whereas others are simply unacceptable - for example, ambition can be highly valued in some cultures, and yet been considered as aggressive in others. Emotions represent social common references - they are integrated into our daily interactions and communicated through cultural elements such as books, movies, or marketing ads.

To illustrate the influence of cultural values and emotions, let have a look at this Mercedes-Benz advertising campaign.

As you can observe, for the same car associated with excitement, safety, and boldness, the first ad which was created for the US market emphasizes performance, resistance, and adventure, whereas, in China, where the culture is more collectivist and family-oriented, the focus was made on togetherness and creating surprises. For the same campaign, Mercedes-Benz decided to leverage completely different emotions according to their cultural effectiveness and meaning.

●      Cultures tell us what to do with our emotions – they create cultural display rules. Not only cultures influence what kind of emotions we should seek, but they also impact what we should do with them: do we express them or not, and if so, how? That’s why in some cultures boys are taught not to cry when they’re sad or that we should always laugh at our boss’ jokes even if they aren’t funny.

●      Overall, cultures define norms and rules about emotions, leading to socially appropriate behaviors and less social complexity. Cultures play a big role in moderating our emotions and containing them. This way, we create stable environments that we can easily navigate as long as we have the codes and values – it’s also a group survival instinct that helps us identify potential outsiders or deviant personalities, which represent a threat to the community.

Emotions color our world, both internally and externally, guiding us towards what to see, what to listen to, what to choose, what to think, what to remember, what to do.

So, tell me, how is your world?  :)