Heather C. Lench Editor The Function of Emotions When and Why Emotions Help Us The Function of Emotions Heather C. Lench Editor The Function of Emotions When and Why Emotions Help Us Editor Heather C. Lench Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences Texas A&M University College Station, TX, USA ISBN 978-3-319-77618-7 ISBN 978-3-319-77619-4 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77619-4 Library of Congress Control Number: 2018938555 © Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Printed on acid-free paper This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer International Publishing AG part of Springer Nature. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland Special thanks to the Emotion Science Laboratory Group, who were continuously passionate about the idea that emotions must do something. Especially Zari Carpenter, whose conscientiousness and compassion helped foster the collaboration necessary, and whose comments for authors and fact checking helped develop this book. Thanks to the Virtue, Happiness, and Meaning of Life Working Group sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation for comments on the ideas and scope of this book. Synopsis This book poses and answers the question: What do emotions do for us? This ques- tion is centuries old, but only recently has behavioral and neurological study of emotion progressed to the point that we can start to answer. Emotions do not just make us feel good or bad. Findings have revealed that they change the way that we think, feel, and behave in powerful ways. The changes wrought by emotion have real-world implications for whether or not we succeed in attaining our goals, for our relationships with others, and for our well-being and life satisfaction. This book draws on current work in psychology, management, education, and neuroscience to address the functions of emotion in everyday life. The authors discuss a range of emotional experiences and their functions, including fear, love, sadness, boredom, awe, and pride. vii Contents 1 What Do Emotions Do for Us?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Heather C. Lench and Zari Koebel Carpenter 2 Fear and Anxiety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Parisa Parsafar and Elizabeth L. Davis 3 On Sentinels and Rapid Responders: The Adaptive Functions of Emotion Dysregulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Tsachi Ein-Dor and Gilad Hirschberger 4 Sadness, the Architect of Cognitive Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Melissa M. Karnaze and Linda J. Levine 5 On the Functions of Sadness and Grief. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 David Huron 6 Boredom: What Is It Good For? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 James Danckert, Jhotisha Mugon, Andriy Struk, and John Eastwood 7 The Adaptive Functions of Jealousy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 Jose C. Yong and Norman P. Li 8 Functions of Anger in the Emotion System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141 Ira J. Roseman 9 Nurturant Love and Caregiving Emotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175 Makenzie J. O’Neil, Alexander F. Danvers, and Michelle N. Shiota 10 The Functional and Dysfunctional Aspects of Happiness: Cognitive, Physiological, Behavioral, and Health Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195 Justin Storbeck and Jordan Wylie ix x Contents 11 Awe: A Self-Transcendent and Sometimes Transformative Emotion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221 Alice Chirico and David B. Yaden 12 Emotions of Excellence: Communal and Agentic Functions of Pride, Moral Elevation, and Admiration . . . . . . . . . . . . 235 Lisa A. Williams 13 The Emotional Toolkit: Lessons from the Science of Emotion . . . . . . 253 Heather C. Lench, Cassandra L. Baldwin, Dong An, and Katie E. Garrison Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263 Contributors Dong An Department of Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA Cassandra L. Baldwin Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA Zari Koebel Carpenter Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA Alice Chirico Department of Psychology, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Milan, Italy James Danckert Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada Alexander F. Danvers Institute for the Study of Human Flourishing, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, USA Elizabeth L. Davis Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA John Eastwood Department of Psychology, York University, Toronto, ON, Canada Tsachi Ein-Dor The Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, The Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Herzliya, Israel Katie E. Garrison Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA Gilad Hirschberger The Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, The Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, Herzliya, Israel David Huron Center for Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA Melissa M. Karnaze Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA xi xii Contributors Heather C. Lench Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA Linda J. Levine Department of Psychology and Social Behavior, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA Norman P. Li School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, Singapore, Singapore Jhotisha Mugon Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada Makenzie J. O’Neil Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA Parisa Parsafar Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA, USA Ira J. Roseman Department of Psychology, Rutgers University, Camden, NJ, USA Michelle N. Shiota Department of Psychology, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA Justin Storbeck Queens College, CUNY, Flushing, NY, USA The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, NY, USA Andriy Struk Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada Lisa A. Williams School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia Jordan Wylie The Graduate Center, CUNY, New York, NY, USA David  B.  Yaden Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA Jose C. Yong School of Social Sciences, Singapore Management University, Singapore, Singapore