This volume presents cutting-edge theory and research on emotions as constructed events rather than fixed, essential entities. It provides a thorough introduction to the assumptions, hypotheses, and scientific methods that embody psychological constructionist approaches. Leading scholars examine the neurobiological, cognitive/perceptual, and social processes that give rise to the experiences Western cultures call sadness, anger, fear, and so on. The book explores such compelling questions as how the brain creates emotional experiences, whether the "ingredients" of emotions also give rise to other mental states, and how to define what is or is not an emotion. Introductory and concluding chapters by the editors identify key themes and controversies and compare psychological construction to other theories of emotion.
1. An Introduction to Psychological Construction, Lisa Feldman Barrett and James A. Russell I. Foundations 2. Mental Mechanisms and Psychological Construction, Mitchell Herschbach & William Bechtel 3. Ten Common Misconceptions about Psychological Construction Theories of Emotion, Lisa Feldman Barrett II. Psychological Construction Theories 4. The Conceptual Act Theory: A Roadmap, Lisa Feldman Barrett, Christine D. Wilson-Mendenhall, & Lawrence W. Barsalou 5. The Neuroscience of Construction: What Neuroimaging Approaches Can Tell Us about How the Brain Creates the Mind, Suzanne Oosterwijk, Alexandra Touroutoglou, & Kristen A. Lindquist 6. Emotions as Semantic Pointers: Constructive Neural Mechanisms, Paul Thagard & Tobias Schroeder 7. Affect Dynamics: Iterative Reprocessing in the Production of Emotional Responses, William A. Cunningham, Kristen Dunfield, & Paul Stillman 8. My Psychological Construction Perspective, with a Focus on Conscious Affective Experience, James A. Russell 9. Emotions as Emergent Variables, James A. Coan & Marlen Z. Gonzalez III. Core Affect 10. Brain Mechanisms of Pleasure: The Core Affect Component of Emotion, Morton L. Kringelbach & Kent C. Berridge 11. Mesolimbic Dopamine and Emotion: A Complex Contribution to a Complex Phenomenon, John D. Salamone, Merce Correa, Patrick A. Randall, & Eric J. Nunes 12. An Approach to Mapping the Neurophysiological State of the Body to Affective Experience, Ian R. Kleckner and Karen S. Quigley IV. Commentary and Consilience 13. Can an Appraisal Model Be Compatible with Psychological Constructionism?, Andrew Ortony & Gerald Clore 14. Basic Emotions, Psychological Construction, and the Problem of Variability, Andrea Scarantino 15. A Sociodynamic Perspective on the Construction of Emotion, Michael Boiger & Batja Mesquita 16. Evolutionary Constraints and Cognitive Mechanisms in the Construction of an Emotion: Insights from Human and Nonhuman Primates, Jennifer M. B. Fugate V. Integration and Reflection 17. The Greater Constructionist Project for Emotion, James A. Russell 18. Construction as an Integrative Framework for the Science of the Emotion, Lisa Feldman Barrett Afterword: Emotional Construction in the Brain, Joseph LeDoux Index
