"Appraisal theory is the theory in psychology that emotions are extracted from our evaluations (appraisals or estimates) of events that cause specific reactions in different people."
Theory explaining that emotions are the result of the cognitive appraisal of a situation, including evaluating the situation's relevance to one's goals and the ability to cope with it.
Appraisal theory: A theoretical framework that explains how people evaluate events and situations and how these evaluations impact their emotional responses.
Emotion: A complex psychological state characterized by physiological arousal, subjective feelings, and behavioral responses.
Motivation: The driving force that initiates, guides, and sustains behavior in order to achieve goals, rewards, or satisfy needs.
Cognitive appraisal: The process by which individuals assess the meaning, relevance, and implications of an event or situation for their personal goals, resources, and values.
Primary appraisal: The first stage of cognitive appraisal that involves assessing the relevance and significance of an event or stimulus to one's well-being.
Secondary appraisal: The second stage of cognitive appraisal that involves evaluating the available resources and coping strategies to deal with an event or stressor.
Reappraisal: The process by which individuals modify their initial appraisal of an event or situation in response to new information or feedback.
Emotion regulation: The cognitive and behavioral processes that individuals use to manage and modulate their emotional experiences and expressions.
Emotion-focused coping: The coping strategies that focus on managing the emotional and psychological distress caused by a stressor, rather than directly changing the stressor itself.
Problem-focused coping: The coping strategies that focus on directly changing or resolving the problem or stressor that is causing distress.
Individual differences in appraisal: The ways in which people differ in their cognitive and emotional appraisals of events and situations based on their personality traits, values, culture, and past experiences.
Social and cultural influences on appraisal: The ways in which social norms, expectations, and cultural values shape our cognitive and emotional appraisals of events and situations.
Emotional intelligence: The ability to understand, regulate, and effectively express one's own emotions and empathize with others' emotions.
Biological basis of emotion: The physiological and neural mechanisms that underlie emotional experiences and expressions.
Applications of appraisal theory in clinical psychology: The use of appraisal theory concepts and techniques in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of emotional disorders such as anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Core Appraisal Theory: This theory proposes that the emotional response is based on a set of core appraisal dimensions that are universal, such as relevance, goal conduciveness or inconduciveness, certainty, and control.
Cognitive-Mediational Theory: This theory argues that the emotional response is not due to direct perception of situations or stimuli, but to the interpretation or appraisal of them by cognitive processes.
Transactional Model of Stress and Coping: This theory proposes that emotions arise from the transactions between individuals and their environment, as they evaluate the demands of the environment and their resources for coping with those demands.
Scherer’s Component Process Model: This theory suggests that emotions involve different appraisal processes, such as evaluation of the novelty of a stimulus, its intrinsic pleasantness or unpleasantness, its coping relevance, its goal conduciveness, and its regulation potential.
Cognitive-Experiential Theory: This theory argues that emotions result from the interaction between cognitive and experiential processes, such as the interpretation of events, the activation of schemas or scripts, and the generation of subjective feelings.
Constructivist Theory: This theory proposes that emotions are constructed by individuals through the ongoing interpretation and construction of meanings in their interactions with their environment, based on their perceptual, cognitive, and affective processes.
Appraisal-Contextualist Model: This theory argues that emotions arise from the evaluation of situational cues in the context of personal goals, values, beliefs, norms, and expectations, as well as from the social and cultural context in which the appraisal occurs.
"Essentially, our appraisal of a situation causes an emotional, or affective, response that is going to be based on that appraisal."
"An example of this is going on a first date."
"If the date is perceived as positive, one might feel happiness, joy, giddiness, excitement, and/or anticipation..."
"...our emotions, as a result, might include dejection, sadness, emptiness, or fear."
"Reasoning and understanding of one's emotional reaction becomes important for future appraisals as well."
"The important aspect of the appraisal theory is that it accounts for individual variability in emotional reactions to the same event."
"Appraisal theories of emotion are theories that state that emotions result from people's interpretations and explanations of their circumstances even in the absence of physiological arousal."
"There are two basic approaches; the structural approach and process model."
"The structural approach [...] provides an explanation for the appraisal of emotions and explain[s] in different ways how emotions can develop."
"These models both provide an explanation for the appraisal of emotions and explain in different ways how emotions can develop."
"Thus the sequence of events is as follows: event, thinking, and simultaneous events of arousal and emotion."
"Social psychologists have used this theory to explain and predict coping mechanisms and people's patterns of emotionality."
"Personality psychology relates to analyzing factors that influence how people are similar to one another and their unique differences."
"Personality psychology [...] does not take into account the person's appraisal, or cognitive response, to a situation."
"The main controversy surrounding these theories argues that emotions cannot happen without physiological arousal."
"Emotions cannot happen without physiological arousal."
"In the absence of physiological arousal we decide how to feel about a situation after we have interpreted and explained the phenomena."
"Personality psychology [...] does not take into account the person's appraisal, or cognitive response, to a situation."
"Personality psychology relates to analyzing factors that influence how people are similar to one another and their unique differences."