Human Emotions: Theories and Processes. The Psychology of Emotion: Theories of Emotion in Perspective (4th edn). K. T. Strongman. Wiley, New York, 1996, 255 pp. Changing Moods, the Psychology of Mood and Mood Regulation. B. Parkinson, P. Totterell, R. B. Briner and S. Reynolds. Addison-Wesley–Longman, New York, 1996, 254 pp.
✍ Scribed by Maria D. Avia
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 62 KB
- Volume
- 13
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0890-2070
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
Research on emotions began at the end of the 19th century, particularly with the works of Darwin and James. The results of this research, however, were not consistent, and until the last 15 years the study of mood and emotion was not a preferred topic. But things change. The number of papers on mood and emotion in the social sciences citation indices has doubled over the last ten years! These two books oer the interested reader a good opportunity to obtain a view of two dierent, perhaps opposite, approaches to the scene on mood and emotions. Strongman's textbook presents a traditional, rather conventional, and hardly innovative proposal to the theories of emotion. Unlike previous editions of the book, there is no mention of empirical work in it, and, instead of that, an eort has been made to include almost every past and present viewpointÐI would not use the word theory'Ðregarding emotions in whatever form. In my opinion, the results of this eort are not very satisfactory. To begin with, the reader may ask him/herself what the criteria are that guided the selection of theories. Why, one could also ask, do theories with solid empirical bases receive the same treatment as formulations for which empirical evidence is almost entirely lacking? Or, why do relevant authors with a wide and well known contribution receive the same attention as others who are included due to one, sometimes anecdotal piece of work? The organization of the book and the criteria for theory classi®cation might produce some doubts as well. Thus, together with the chapters devoted to early theories, phenomenological, behavioural, physiological, or cognitive theories, are others directed to ambitious theories', clinical theories', theories from the individual, the environment and the culture', or `theories outside psychology'. As for particular chapters, not everyone would agree with the authors between who are to be considered representative of the orientation in which people are included. For instance, phenomenological approaches include Sartre and D. Rapaport's 1950 formulation of Freudian theories. Perhaps because of these inconsistencies, it is not uncommon that one author would appear simultaneously in several chapters or theories of the book.
A very dierent impression could be obtained after the study of the book by Parkinson, Totterell, Briner and Reynolds. Here the authors oer a dynamic, process view to the study of emotional life. Being interested in the ways in which moods change over time, both in quality and in intensity, and in the processes underlying variations in mood, they present also the ways in which people try to understand, modulate, or modify these changes.