EMOZIONI

[Autom. eng. transl.] the formal definition of the concept of emotion by psychological literature has turned out to be rather arduous, so that, even today, the question "What is an emotion?" - formulated by James in 1884 - has not received a univocal and shared answer . Over the last few decades, many theories have been developed to explain the emotional experience, each of which has however focused on a particular component of the emotional phenomenon: the physiological activation of the body, the cognitive evaluation of the event, communication and expression, internal subjective experience, etc., so that they have reached very different definitions of emotion. However, although the many theories proposed differ with respect to the importance and weight assigned to each of the components, theorists agree in recognizing emotion as a complex and multi-component psychological process. Let's think for example of happiness or anger. They are accompanied by perceptible physical changes, such as increased heart rate or sweating. Besides body modifications, there is also a cognitive component: the understanding and evaluation of the meaning of what happens. Thus, for example, it is the evaluation of an event as positive and conducive to the achievement of one's goals to cause happiness and, vice versa, if an event hinders the realization of an objective it will generate anger. Again, each emotion can be communicated and expressed through behaviors, as in the case described at the beginning, "jumping from joy" or smiling, exclaiming etc. In this chapter we will deal with the theme of nature and the functions of emotions, using this complexity as a common thread. In the course of the chapter the main theories formulated within the psychological literature on emotions will first be taken into consideration. Later we will examine the different components of an emotion in order to recompose the emotional process in its complexity.