Analyzing Emotional Interaction

Abstract

Jesse J. Prinz (2004) uses the concept of calibration to designate the process through which beliefs are set up in memory files as triggers for certain emotions. In basic emotions, these files are genetically determined. In derived emotions, the genetically determined files are supplanted, or recalibrated, based on cultural imperatives. Along with calibration files, argues Prinz, emotions may also have behavioral files—cultural scripts that regulate our behavior when we experience a particular emotion. According to Prinz, calibration allows us to make the case for the existence of culturally unique affective states. For example, the p’a-leng disorder in China is an extreme fear of the cold that causes its victims to wrap themselves up in blankets even when it is quite warm.