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Interacting Bodies and Interacting Minds. The case of Emotions

Interacting Bodies and Interacting Minds. The case of Emotions. Isabella Poggi Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Educazione Università Roma Tre poggi@uniroma3.it Lyon – 15-18 June 2005. Outline. 1. Emotion and communication 2. Communication and Expression of emotions

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Interacting Bodies and Interacting Minds. The case of Emotions

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  1. Interacting Bodies and Interacting Minds.The case of Emotions • Isabella Poggi • Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Educazione • Università Roma Tre • poggi@uniroma3.it • Lyon – 15-18 June 2005

  2. Outline 1. Emotion and communication 2. Communication and Expression of emotions 3. Emotions from mind to mind 4. Contagion and Empathy 5. Induction of emotions, persuasion, and deception 6. Conclusion

  3. 1. Emotion and communication

  4. Research on multimodal communication has overviewed the multifaceted possibilities of our body to convey information about the world, our beliefs, goals, emotions, identity. • But body behaviour shows many different levels of intentionality and consciousness. • This work proposes a set of criteria • to distinguish communication from non communication, • to define different ways in which information passes from mind to mind. • It focuses on a particular domain: the communication of emotions

  5. 2.Communication and Expression of Emotions

  6. CONSCIOUS A is angry at B and tells him: “I am angry at you” UNCONSCIOUS A does not want to show he is angry at B but inadvertently pulls a long face while staying with B TACIT A emphasizes the comment of his discourse with a higher vocal intensity BIOLOGICAL FUNCTION The stickleback’s reddened abdomen; Human blushing SOCIAL FUNCTION The nurse’s dress piercing ARTIFACT FUNCTION The gasoline red light 2.1. Communication: A general definitionA has the Goal G to cause B to believe belief KIn order to this goal, A produces a signal s that A believes is linked to belief K, in both A’s and B’s minds, in terms of a Communication Siystem CS Internal Goals External Goals

  7. STRICT A feels an emotion E A has the goal G1 that B know A feels E A has the goal G2 that B know A has the goal G1 that B know A feels E In order to goals G1 and G2, A produces a communicative signal CS of emotion E Prof. A, while seeing Prof.B, tells her: “I’m glad to see you”. BROAD A feels an emotion E A has the goal G1 that B know A feels E In order to goals G1, A produces a communicative signal CS of emotion E Prof. A, while seeing Prof. B, spontaneously smiles at her. 2.2Communication of emotions: a strict and a broad definition

  8. Egocentric Emotional expression is only aimed at giving vent to the emotion itself, at relieving A from too high an arousal, but not to let another Agent believe that A is feeling that emotion A is alone, she is very angry and to give vent to her feeling smashes a glass on the floor Communicative Emotional expression is precisely aimed at having someone else believe that A is feeling an Emotion A is very angry at B, and to express her anger she smashes a glass on the floor 2.3Expression of emotions • A feels an emotion E and, driven by the physiological correlates of emotion E, produces a behavior (e.g. smokes avidly) or exhibits a morphological trait (gets pale), that is, an Expressive Signal ES • Another Agent B, from this perceivable ES, can come to believe that A is feeling Emotion E

  9. A type of communication On the Agent’s mind Agent not necessarily conscious of delivering the Emotional Signal Communicative goal: Biological function, unconscious or tacit goal No meta-goal of communicating the goal of communicating Different from egocentric expression Not about the external world Not a sentence but, typically, a voice pitch, a smile, a grimace, a beat gesture, an interjection A blush, a tic, a beat gesture 2.4Communicative expression

  10. 3Emotions from mind to mind

  11. 3.Emotions from mind to mind • An emotion is a subjective state: a pleasant or unpleasant state that we feel within our body, and that, by definition, cannot be felt by any other person exactly in the same way we do feel it. • So, an emotion can, and sometimes does, remain in our mind, but often it can pass through to other minds. • We can feel an emotion and not communicate it: we can communicate, but not emotions. Finally, people may know about our emotions – they may even feel them – also if we do not perform any communicative act. • Emotions can flow from one mind to another in many ways: • Transmission Induction Expression • Communication Contagion Empathy • Obstentatious expression, Faked expression • Simulation Masking Concealment

  12. 3.1The flowing of emotions E E • Transmission • Induction • Communication E E

  13. 3.2Communication, Transmission, Induction • An emotion is communicated when • A produces an expressive signal ES in order to the goal that B believe A feels an emotion E • An emotion is transmitted when • A feels an emotion E • and this causes that • also B comes to feel emotion E • But… • Transmission necessarily requires that A (really) feels an emotion • In some cases, B comes to feel an emotion also if A does not • An emotion is induced in B any time a belief about Agent A • causes Agent B • to feel an emotion E

  14. an event that occurs to A a feature of A an action of A a communicative action an emotion of A A stumbles and falls down  B is worrried A is beautiful  B falls in love with her A suddenly comes after B  B is scared; A does something funny  B is amused A tell B che B won the contest  B exults A tells B she is happy  B is happy too 3.3 The induction of emotions The belief that induces an emotion in B may concern:

  15. Action Communicative action Emotion EFFECT A inadvertedly does something funny  B is amused A tells B that C got married, while not knowing B loves C  B becomes sad A has a sad face and he does not know that B is seeing him  B becomes sad 3.4Induction as an effect,induction as a goal • GOAL • A hides B’s purse to make him angry • A tells a joke to B, to make him amused • A shows his anger to make B afraid

  16. Identical or Similar Reciprocal Complementary A communicates her joy to B to have B feel joy too. The teacher expresses her passion to a shooltopic, and the pupil start to feel interest in it A tells B that A likes B, in order to have B like A A tells B she is upset in order for B to feel pity of A; A tells B she feels proud to make B feel envious 3.5B’s and A’s emotion

  17. 4Contagion and Empathy

  18. 4.1Emotional contagion • Emotional Contagion is • the induction of a similar emotion in B caused by the expression of an emotion by A • Contagion occurs when • The production of an expressive signal ES by A causes B to feel an emotion that is similar or identical to A’s  • 1.     A feels E • 2.     A produces a expressive signal SE of emotion E • 3.     B perceives SE • 4.     B produces SE • 5.   B feels the same emotion as A or a similar one

  19. An undeliberate effect A goal While waiting for the exam, A walks up and down nervously, and B becomes nervous too The political journalist expresses his indignation with passion to have readers indignated too 4.2Contagion as an effect or as a goal • A and B may be conscious or not of feeling the emotion and of producing the signal • A is conscious of producing the signal, and may deceive: s/he may not really feel the emotion

  20. 4.3Empathy • Empathy is • the induction in B of an emotion, due to B’s belief that A feels a similar or reciprocal emotion • The belief that A feels an emotion E may come to B • either from actual communication or expression • or by inference (through reasoning or putting one in the other’s shoes)

  21. Necessary vs. non-necessary emotion expression and emotion feeling Whose emotion, whose goal Contagion requires that A (whether sincerely or not) express an emotion B’s Empathy does not require - that A express his emotion - that A feels (or pretends to feel) an emotion If A is a“cold” and B is “warm”, B might anyway empathise In contagion, A’s emotion is functional to A’s goals, while B’s emotion is functional to B’s goals In panic , A’s panic is aimed at saving A, B’s panic at saving B In Empaty, B’s emotion is functional to A’s goals: If I am sad for my misfortune, when you empathize you are not sad for your but for my misfortune This is why Empathy may lead to Altruism 4.4Contagion vs. Empathy

  22. 5.The induction of Emotions,Persuasion,and Deception

  23. 5.Emotion induction, persuasion, and deception • We often want to induce emotions in others because emotions have a strong motivating effect, that is, they induce to action. • Social influence and persuasion often exploit emotion induction. • When emotion induction is deliberately aimed at persuasion, and when it in its turn depends on our emotion display, we may need to display also emotions we don’t feel, or not to let others know how much we want want to display our emotions. • Moreover, to induce emotions more effectively, we must not show we want to induce emotions. Therefore, to induce an emotion in B while not letting B know about my emotion, sometimes A must pretend to feel emotions she does not feel or pretend she does not want to communicate her emotions

  24. Obstentatious expression of an emotion A feels an emotion, wants B to know it, but does not want B to know A wants B to know this; so A pretends her expression to be spontaneous and not deliberate, but wants to be sure that B will perceive it Expression of a faked emotion A is not feeling an emotion, but pretends she is feeling it and expresses it through its typical expressive signal To induce B to do something, A wants him to feel guilty: so A pretends she does not know B is seeing her, and she silently cries Mother feels tenderness for her child’s pranks, but she pretends to be angry, to prevent him to do it again 5.1Deceptive emotion expression

  25. Emotion Simulation A does not feel an emotion, but wants B to believe he does, so he produces a communicative signal of that emotion (display rules, Ekman 1978). Emotion Masking A feels an emotion, but wants B to believe he feels another emotion, so he produces the corresponding signal Emotion Concealment A deos not want B to knwo he feels a certain emotion, so he inhibits its expressive signals Questi casi possono ben avere uno scopo di induzione, ed eventualmente un ulteriore scopo di influenzamento. A shows sad at the funeral of an acquaintance Professor A hates her colleague, but when she meets her, she smiles to her Ekman’s “poker face” : to show impassible Professor A meets a colleague she hates, but she dissimulates her hostility A hides her being afraid of B, so B does not know how much power he has over A 5.2To deceive about emotions

  26. 6.Conclusion • Our bodies, beside referential contents, very importantly convey emotions to each other. • But it is very important to distinguish when our emotions are consciously or unconsciously transimitted, induced, received by other people, when they are faked or masked, and when and why we come to feel them through empathy or contagion

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