Bodily Influences on Emotional Feelings: Accumulating Evidence and Extensions of William James’s Theory of Emotion

William James’s theory of emotion has been controversial since its inception, and a basic analysis of Cannon’s critique is provided. Research on the impact of facial expressions, expressive behaviors, and visceral responses on emotional feelings are each reviewed. A good deal of evidence supports Ja...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEmotion Review Vol. 6; no. 1; pp. 27 - 34
Main Authors Laird, James D., Lacasse, Katherine
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.01.2014
Subjects
feelings
emotion
self-perception
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Summary:William James’s theory of emotion has been controversial since its inception, and a basic analysis of Cannon’s critique is provided. Research on the impact of facial expressions, expressive behaviors, and visceral responses on emotional feelings are each reviewed. A good deal of evidence supports James’s theory that these types of bodily feedback, along with perceptions of situational cues, are each important parts of emotional feelings. Extensions to James’s theory are also reviewed, including evidence of individual differences in the effect of bodily responses on emotional experience.
ISSN:1754-0739
1754-0747
DOI:10.1177/1754073913494899