Action Tendency Emotions

Emotions are psychological constructs that consist of five components: cognitive appraisal or evaluation of a situation, arousal, subjective feelings, motor expression, and action motivation. Because all emotions are organizers and motivators of behavior, all are, by definition, action tendency emotions. However, different emotions are associated with different action tendencies. Some emotions are associated with greater avoidance responses, such as fear and disgust. Others are associated with greater approach responses, such as anger and joy, and still others associate more with inaction, such as sadness. However, depending on the context and target of the emotional arousal, any of these emotions may facilitate or impede health-related behaviors. This discussion identifies fear, anger, guilt, hope, and amusement as emotions directly relevant to health-oriented action. The eliciting circumstances of ...