Emotion-Oriented Systems

Chapter 1

Contemporary Theories and Concepts in the Psychology of Emotions ¹

Is emotion more than a chapter heading?

Bentley, 1928

Everyone knows what an emotion is, until asked to give a definition. Then, it seems, no one knows.

Fehr and Russell, 1984

1.1. Introduction

Following the decisive change of the 1980s, which was marked by a veritable explosion in the scientific study of emotions, emotion is now considered to be a determining explanatory factor in human behavior. In this context, it seems important for any area of research into the functioning of psychological processes and their modeling, as is the case in informatics, to consider current theories and concepts in the psychology of emotions [SAN 09a, SAN 09b]. The central role of emotion in the cognitive system is illustrated by the fact that emotion occupies a “privileged status” in the human brain [DAV 04]; the majority of psychological mechanisms are either necessary for emotion, as such, or are influenced by emotion or involved in regulating emotions. However, as the above quotations suggest, conceptual precision of emotion remains a problem [ALV 02], so much so that there are almost as many definitions of emotion as there are theories and/or researchers working on this topic [KLE 81, STR 96]. In this introductory chapter, we will present the main contemporary theories and concepts of emotion, touching on the notions established towards the end of the 19th Century in which modern approaches are rooted. For each ...