Emotionality

Definition

Emotionality includes a variety of subjective feeling states that predictably influence observable behavior and physiological responses for functional purposes related to adaptation. Emotions typically involve multiple components including autonomic, hormonal, behavioral, and cognitive components. Physiological signs of emotions may include change in autonomic nervous system activity which includes changes in heart rate, muscle tension, perspiration, and metabolic changes. Ekman’s research on the cross-cultural invariance of emotional identification and expression is suggestive of emotions as a species-typical response. The coordination of the emotional state is facilitated by the amygdala. The amygdala, a cluster of nuclei in the limbic system near the temporal lobes, has been found to be important for eliciting a cascade of physiological changes involved in emotional behavior.

Various theories of emotions have been proposed. The James-Lange theory postulates that emotions...