Emotions – What are they and how can we govern them?
On the surface, emotions are a form of reaction we display in response to various experiences. They are officially defined as a physiological states involving three distinct components: one is the subjective experience, another is the physiological reaction to the experience, and the third is the subsequent behavioral or expressive response (Hockenbury & Hockenbury, 2010).
As it is understood by most people, emotions and their subsequent effect on our minds and behavior are extremely powerful and can dictate how we function as human beings. Research shows that a consistent expression of healthy emotions tents to elicit significantly beneficial mental health outcomes and protective mechanisms against detrimental processes such as depression and anxiety (Steptoe, 2019). Conversely, when emotions are expressed negatively, the risk of developing issues is compounded, as studies have shown that pathological changes in an individual’s neurochemical functioning can emerge (Clark & Beck, 2010). Moving beyond the impact they can have on mental health, emotions themselves are fundamental to human functioning, where they play a significant evolutionary, social, and even spiritual role in many domains. The spectrum of human activities they drive is exhaustive and includes what it means to live as a sovereign and complete individual.
However, what are emotions? Where do they come from? And how do we govern them? These are all questions we aim to answer in the following essay, where we will begin by exploring the underlying roots from which emotions arise. Second, we discuss the art of emotional governance and the different outcomes that it can bring to the individual, and to complete the essay, we will finalize by outlining the various techniques and practices one can implement in order to take control of their own emotions.
Emotions – What are they?
Before delving into the underlying nature of emotions, we must first uncover their function within the human mind.
Although they fulfill many different functions, at their base, the role of emotions can be boiled down to the process of signaling an element of interest to your mind (Frijda, 1986). More specifically, to signify whether a given factor in the environment will be an object of advantage or disadvantage to your survival.
To place this into context, the human brain receives thousands of different messages throughout the day, many of which are irrelevant and fade from our memory or attention. However, it is critical that the brain applies different methods to select and follow through information relevant to processes such as social functioning, survival, and well-being. Hence, emotions come into play to signal that a particular experience or item demands attention from the brain’s higher-order structures, which are responsible for planning an action (Lench, Lench & Ryan, 2018). Essentially, emotions support the brain’s rational layer in making sense and appropriately responding to various experiences.
This notion is particularly apparent within social dynamics and instances of threat and danger. For example, fear is a highly pervasive yet necessary emotion that informs us of incoming danger that could arise from the situation (Asmundson et al., 1999). This emotion is crucial for signaling our neurochemical and cognitive processes to attend to any potential threat and act in order to ensure safety and survival. Another example of this is disgust, which is an emotion that signals the brain to avoid an item (i.e., rotten food) because it may cause harm to the body and mind (Chapman & Anderson, 2012).
Emotions vs. feelings
Ultimately, emotions do not stem from a singular neurological process within the brain. Rather, they arise from the complex interaction of multiple systems that give rise to the affective state we refer to as emotions (LeDoux, 1998). They arise from the brain’s rapid and highly coordinated responses that work together to produce a given emotion. Feelings, which are higher-order responses, are basically opinions about the emotions experienced, and include mental or visual representations of what is happening within the body. In contrast, emotions are lower-order, quasi-automatic responses that have distinct effects from feelings (LeDoux, 1998). Put simply, feelings are always filled with personal subjective experience stemming from memories and beliefs, whereas emotions are innate genetic properties that do not possess subjective values. Moreover, emotions are heavily loaded with different physiological properties, such as goosebumps, sweating, and increased heart rate, which lie outside of conscious control (Denollet et al., 2008).
Different brain regions need to be activated in a cascade to produce these varying set of responses we experience as emotions (Davidson & Irwin, 1999). Areas such as the amygdala, insula, anterior cingulate, and orbitofrontal cortex are directly responsible for producing emotions such as fear, disgust, and happiness (Izard, 2010). However, the Limbic System, the brain’s center for emotional processing, is the most important in how we manage and feel our emotions.
For emotions to be produced, they need to be triggered by an event or thought that activates the relevant brain regions, which send electrical signals to the Limbic System to increase its production of various hormones, creating an instant emotion of happiness, fear, or anger (Rajmohan, 2007). One crucial function of the Limbic System is its role of modulating the fight-or-flight response and its role as the primary actor in how our emotions are felt and processed.
The art of emotional governance
Before continuing, a significant point must be made – the term emotional governance cannot refer to controlling the actual emotions. At the end of the day, emotions are ingrained within ancient brain systems, which produce them automatically in response to various experiences. At the time of occurrence, we are unable to control the type or degree to which they are present. However, we can evoke further, buffering emotions to achieve change in our condition. What can be controlled is the psychological and cognitive responses to the emotional reaction, which in the long term can change the degree of the generated emotional response, hence the chosen term we use for that, emotional governance. In research, this process is also referred to as emotional regulation, and it describes someone’s ability to effectively manage and respond to an emotional experience (Hill & Updegraff, 2012).
Interestingly, emotional governance is a learned ability that can be built up the desired level. Emotions can be very challenging to face at times, as they have the capability to swallow our normal cognitive processes and significantly deviate our behavioral responses.
An often cited mechanism of emotional governance is cognitive reappraisal, which is how emotions are cognitively framed within the mind (Gross, 1998a). In many instances, various emotions become intensified due to how they are perceived by someone, resulting in the subsequent increase in physiological and psychological influence of those emotions. Hence, the impact of a given emotion depends on how it is interpreted or responded to by an individual’s cognitive processes (Gross & John, 2003). For example, suppose an emotional situation is appraised through a negative lens. In that case, this may lead to an attentional bias towards the negative aspects of the situation, making it challenging to control the emotional state caused by this compounded effect. On the other hand, if an emotionally challenging situation was appraised through a positive or adaptive lens, this would significantly reduce the psychological and physiological impact of the experience.
Effectively, the concept of appraisal demonstrates that each experience has the potential to elicit intense combinations of emotions that may impact the way we feel and behave. One way to ensure that those emotions do not significantly influence our usual functioning is to control our response to them through cognitive reappraisal. This is crucial, as studies have shown that the maladaptive view of emotions can cause pathological states of depression and anxiety to form (Dryman & Heimberg, 2018).
The inability to control negative emotions is associated with a prolonged stress response that can cause damage to homeostatic functions (Romero, Dickens & Cyr, 2009). Thus, when the system is disrupted, dysfunctional processes can appear. However, if we can bring ourselves back to an emotional baseline following a particularly distressing experience, the stress response will be significantly reduced, allowing our neurochemical processes to function normally in balanced homeostasis.
How to cultivate emotional governance – Techniques
Research in the domain of emotional regulation has shown that there are various ways in which the impact of emotions can be effectively managed and governed. To better understand how emotional governance can be developed, we must shift our vision to the various professions and abilities that demand high levels of emotional regulation in order to succeed. Special operations officers, elite and combat athletes, leaders, and even Buddhist monks have been shown to possess significant levels of emotional regulation (Van Vugt et al., 2019; Sohail & Ahmad, 2021). Considering this, there must be overlapping features between these professions that impart the capability of managing one’s emotions consistently and effectively. Here are a few methods that have been informed by research to elicit efficient emotional regulation:
- Mindfulness (Hill & Updergraff, 2012) – Mindfulness ticks multiple boxes that support the ability to regulate one’s emotions. First, it allows the individual to undergo various experiences as an observer without inserting any preconceived judgment or interpretation into them. Second, it tunes awareness into one’s bodily processes and allows the mind to attend to the natural experiences of feelings and emotions. Lastly, it emphasizes the present moment and does not let the focus shift to negative past events. This combination of processes teaches the mind to acknowledge the different emotions as they are without adding or removing the weight of their impact.
- Affirmations (Lakuta, 2020) – When an individual is able to create a mental path, usually with the strategic support of a relevant professional, to positively affirm their way through life’s events, research shows that they feed their subconscious mind with positive and beneficial content that enhances processes such as emotional resilience (Cohen & Sherman, 2014). This is also tied into the concept of belief effects that athletes often adopt to increase their performance. Beliefs change slowly, though, and require cognitive effort to move them from one frame to another, so they often require a structured program to change.
- Stress tolerance (Benuto et al., 2022)– There are multiple ways to build up tolerance to stress. After all, cortisol (i.e., the stress hormone) production decreases when the mind becomes habituated to a recurring stressful stimulus (Grissom & Bhatnagar, 2009). It can be achieved by voluntarily, and more importantly, in a controlled and planned manner, by placing oneself in emotionally stressful situations, such as intense training, to build tolerance. By doing this, they gain the ability to cope, navigate instances of stress, and function with a clear mind despite adversity.
- Cognitive reappraisal (Gross, 1998a) – Cognitive reappraisal can be implemented daily in almost every situation; it does require mindful reflection on what triggers your emotional spike. Whenever a triggering event occurs, it is advised to take a mental step back and watch how your mind automatically attributes a negative appraisal to that event. Being aware of this ensures that you do not identify with that negative appraisal and reorient yourself to a stance that does not worsen the emotions. For example, every negative event also produces new opportunities to be explored, much like every closure indicates a new beginning. By distancing yourself from the negative appraisal as an external voice that doesn’t identify with you, you create space for new thoughts that can support your goals. The practice takes effort to build up and can be effectively supported by cognitive behavioral programs.
The bottom line
To govern our emotions, we need to look towards both the environment that evokes them and the aspects of our psychology that react to them. All lines of evidence agree that emotional regulation demands the presence of an cognitive infrastructure that allows the mind to respond adaptively to overwhelming emotions. The more you implement practices that promote this infrastructure, the higher the level of control that will be present. Whether from complex practices or simple mindfulness, or practical resilience exercises, there are ways that contribute to the ability to understand and regulate the plethora of different emotions that can arise.
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