The James-Lange Theory of Emotion (AQA GCSE Psychology)

Physical arousal leads to emotion

• The James-Lange theory of emotion (JLE) is an explanation of the fight or flight response suggested in the 1880s by two different researchers who had the same idea roughly at the same time (hence the name of the theory)

• The theory suggests that emotions occur as the result of the physiological reaction experienced by someone who is in the presence of a threat/danger

• According to the JLE, receiving an external stimulus leads to a physiological reaction which will then determine the nature of the emotional response

• Therefore your emotional reaction depends on how you interpret your own, bodily, and physiological reactions, for example:

  • You are walking home at night down a dark street and you hear footsteps behind you (adrenaline is released into your bloodstream)

  • You begin to breathe faster, you start to shake, your hairs stand on end, and your heart rate increases (the sympathetic nervous system has been ‘switched on’)

  • The JLE proposes that you will interpret these physical sensations and conclude that ‘I am frightened’

• Emotions are feelings which come about as a result of physiological changes; they are not the cause of these changes

• This can be summarised as:

Event → Physiological Reaction → Interpretation of Physical Response → Emotion

• According to the JLE theory it is impossible to feel an emotion if there is no accompanying physiological reaction/sensations

Evaluation of the James-Lange theory of emotion

Strengths

• The theory is straightforward to understand

• The theory may explain extreme emotional responses e.g. to phobic stimuli as the physical reaction may precede the emotional reaction

Weaknesses

• The theory is possibly too simple:

  • the physical reactions to a fear stimulus may be the same as those elicited by being in love or riding on a roller coaster, thus it lacks validity

• Canon-Bard challenged the theory in the 1920s, saying that emotions occur at the same time as the physiological response, plus the physiological response to exercising vigorously is not interpreted as a fear response even though it shares features of the same e.g. raised heart rate, sweating etc.