Explore your feelings, and how they affect your behaviour, with this new series on the psychology of the emotions.

    We tend to think of our emotions as having laws unto themselves, but one psychological researcher has suggested that our emotions do follow certain general rules.

    This post begins a new series on the psychology of emotions with Professor Nico Frijda's twelve laws of the emotions (Fridja, 2006). As for most laws there are exceptions, but these have been synthesised from years of psychological research and hold true much of the time..

    1. The Law of Situational Meaning
    The first law is simply that emotions derive from situations. Generally the same types of situation will elicit the same types of emotional response. Loss makes us grieve, gains make us happy and scary things make us fearful (mostly anyway - see all the other laws).

    2. The Law of Concern
    We feel because we care about something, when we have some interest in what happens, whether it's to an object, ourselves, or another person. Emotions arise from these particular goals, motivations or concerns. When we are unconcerned we don't feel anything.

    3. The Law of Apparent Reality
    Whatever seems real to us, can elicit an emotional response. In other words how we appraise or interpret a situation governs the emotion we feel (compare with laws 11 & 12). The reason poor movies, plays or books don't engage us emotionally is because, in some sense, we fail to detect truth. Similarly it's difficult to get emotional about things that aren't obvious, right in front of us. For example grief may not strike when we are told about the death of loved one, but only once it becomes real to us in some way - say when we pick up the phone to call them, forgetting they are gone.

    4, 5 & 6. The Laws of Change, Habituation and Comparative Feeling
    The law of habituation means that in life we get used to our circumstances whatever they are (mostly true, but see laws 7 & 8). The emotions, therefore, respond most readily to change. This means that we are always comparing what is happening to a relatively steady frame of reference (what we are used to). As a result our emotions tend to respond most readily to changes that are relative to this frame of reference.

    7. The Law of Hedonic Asymmetry
    There are certain awful circumstances to which we can never become accustomed. If things are bad enough, it is impossible to escape negative feelings like fear or anxiety. On the other hand positive emotions always fade over time. No matter how much we are in love, how big the lottery win, or how copious the quantities of drugs consumed, positive emotions like pleasure always slip away.

    8. The Law of Conservation of Emotional Momentum
    Time doesn't heal all wounds - or if it does, it only does so indirectly. Events can retain their emotional power over the years unless we re-experience and re-evaluate them. It's this re-experiencing and consequent re-definition that reduces the emotional charge of an event. This is why events that haven't been re-evaluated - say, failing an exam or being rejected by a potential lover - retain their emotional power across the decades.

    9. The Law of Closure
    The way we respond to our emotions tends to be absolute. They often lead immediately to actions of one kind or another, and they will brook no discussion (but see laws 10, 11 & 12). In other words emotional responses are closed to goals other than their own or judgements that can mitigate the response. An emotion seizes us and send us resolutely down one path, until later that is, when a different emotion sends us down the opposite path.

    10. The Law of Care for Consequences
    People naturally consider the consequences of their emotions and modify them accordingly. For example anger may provoke violent feelings towards another, but generally people refrain from stabbing each other willy-nilly. Instead they will shout, hit their head on the wall or just silently fume. Emotions may absolutely dictate a type of response, but people do modulate the size of that response (usually!).

    11 & 12. Laws of the Lightest Load and the Greatest Gain
    The emotional impact of an event or situation depends on its interpretation. Putting a different 'spin' on a situation can change the feeling. The law of the lightest load means people are particularly motivated to use re-interpretations to reduce negative emotions. For example we might reduce the fear of the credit crunch by generating the illusion we won't be affected. The exact reverse is also true: whenever a situation can be reinterpreted for a positive emotional gain, it will be. For example anger can be used to make others back down, grief attracts help and fear may stop us rashly attempting difficult or dangerous tasks.

    Exploring the emotions

    You may not agree with all of these 'laws', for example this is quite an individually based account of emotion, and tends to downplay the social aspects of emotion. Nevertheless it is an excellent starting point which provides a very useful way of thinking about emotions, and helps pave the way for examining individual emotions.

    我們通過(guò)這個(gè)新的心理學(xué)系列文章探討你的感覺(jué)，以及它們是如何影響你的行為的相關(guān)規(guī)律。

    我們一般會(huì)認(rèn)為情緒無(wú)規(guī)律可言，然而，心理學(xué)研究者認(rèn)為確實(shí)有關(guān)于情緒的普適規(guī)律存在。

    本文是討論Nico Frijda 教授的情緒相關(guān)的12條規(guī)律的開(kāi)篇 (Fridja, 2006)。這里討論的大部分定律絕非絕對(duì)普適，但都是多年的言之有物的集大成的心理學(xué)研究成果。

    1. 情勢(shì)影響定律
    第一個(gè)規(guī)律講的是情緒會(huì)受（當(dāng)事人）所面臨的情勢(shì)影響。一般而言，相同的情勢(shì)觸發(fā)相同的情緒反應(yīng)。得之則喜，失之則悲，駭懼之則驚恐（大多數(shù)情況下，該定律和其他定律一起發(fā)生作用）。

    2. 關(guān)注定律 (Cloud: 這個(gè)關(guān)注很像是“在意”“在乎”的意思)
無(wú)論事物，我們自己還是其他人，我們關(guān)注才會(huì)感受到其變化。情緒源于具體的目標(biāo)、動(dòng)機(jī)或者關(guān)注。如果不關(guān)注，我們會(huì)全無(wú)感受。

    3. 真實(shí)定律
    真實(shí)激發(fā)我們的情緒反應(yīng)。換言之，我們的對(duì)情勢(shì)的判斷和解釋會(huì)影響我們的感覺(jué)（對(duì)照定律11、12）。這個(gè)也是為什么爛的電影、戲劇或者書(shū)不能激發(fā)我們的 情緒，原因在于它們讓我們覺(jué)得不夠真實(shí)。同理，如果一個(gè)事情不夠顯著，也難于影響我們的情緒。比如，當(dāng)有人告知愛(ài)人已逝，可能會(huì)感覺(jué)木然，但當(dāng)已然忘卻此事，想起和愛(ài)人聯(lián)系時(shí)候，驀然發(fā)覺(jué)斯人已去，才會(huì)讓人痛徹心肺。

    4、5、6：變化定律，慣性定律和比較定律
    慣性定律講的是習(xí)慣于當(dāng)下（也有例外，參見(jiàn)定律7、8）。因此，我們的情緒會(huì)立即對(duì)變化做出響應(yīng)。這意味著我們會(huì)以我們適應(yīng)的環(huán)境為參照來(lái)審視發(fā)生著的變化。因此，我們熟知事物的變化更能觸發(fā)我們的情緒。

    7. 快樂(lè)不對(duì)稱定律
    我們可能永遠(yuǎn)也不會(huì)適應(yīng)有些糟糕的情形。一邊是負(fù)面情緒總是揮之不去，另一邊是正面情緒總會(huì)慢慢消失。不管是刻骨銘心的愛(ài)、超級(jí)樂(lè)透獎(jiǎng)還是大量嗑藥，它們所帶來(lái)的快樂(lè)總是會(huì)慢慢溜走。

    8.情緒慣性定律
    時(shí)間并不能撫平所有傷痛──即使它能，也不是直接見(jiàn)效的。曾經(jīng)發(fā)生過(guò)的事情會(huì)在很長(zhǎng)一段時(shí)期對(duì)我們的情緒產(chǎn)生影響，除非我們重新體驗(yàn)或重新審視它們。正是重新體驗(yàn)和重新定義的結(jié)論，才能減少曾經(jīng)發(fā)生過(guò)的這件事對(duì)情緒的影響。這是為什么在沒(méi)有更新體驗(yàn)的情況下，比如考試失敗或者求愛(ài)被拒之類，會(huì)在頭腦中纏繞糾結(jié)、久久不去的原因。

    9.閉合定律
    我們的情緒的反映總是傾向于絕對(duì)。這種傾向總是導(dǎo)致我們不經(jīng)思索就采取不是這種就是那種行為（但是也有例外，參見(jiàn)10、11、12定律）。換言之，情緒響應(yīng)既不是無(wú)緣無(wú)故的自然發(fā)生，也不是深思熟慮的結(jié)果，而是更接近于目標(biāo)（我們活動(dòng)的目標(biāo)對(duì)情緒影響更為強(qiáng)烈）。情緒籠罩我們、驅(qū)策我們采用某種反應(yīng)方式，直到我們被另外的情緒主宰，才會(huì)調(diào)整改變。

    10. 關(guān)注后果定律
    人們會(huì)很自然地顧慮情緒導(dǎo)致的后果，并隨之調(diào)整（自己的情緒）。比如，憤怒可能激起對(duì)他人的過(guò)激行為，但是一般情況下，人們會(huì)避免和人死磕。他們會(huì)選擇咆哮宣泄，以頭撞墻或者忍氣吞聲。情緒必然會(huì)促發(fā)某種響應(yīng)，但人們會(huì)適時(shí)調(diào)整反應(yīng)的烈度（而且一貫如此）。

    11&12.最小苦惱定律和最大受益定律
對(duì)事情和局勢(shì)的不同闡釋觸發(fā)不同的情緒。不同的認(rèn)知導(dǎo)致不同的感覺(jué)。最小苦惱定律講的是人們傾向通過(guò)對(duì)事情的重新解釋來(lái)減少負(fù)面情緒。比如，我們可以妄想信用壞記錄對(duì)自己沒(méi)有影響，來(lái)降低對(duì)信用違紀(jì)的恐懼。反之，哪種解釋讓我們情緒好受，我們會(huì)傾向采用哪種解釋。比如，（我們可以認(rèn)為），憤怒可以讓他人退避，悲傷可以引來(lái)幫助，恐懼可以讓我們不輕易范險(xiǎn)。

    探索情緒

    你可能不盡認(rèn)同上述定律，比如，這僅僅是眾多情緒中的和個(gè)體有關(guān)的例子，并沒(méi)有考慮到社會(huì)因素對(duì)情緒的影響。這僅僅是眾多情緒中的和個(gè)體有關(guān)的例子，并沒(méi)有考慮到社會(huì)因素對(duì)情緒的影響。但是，這些定律為思考和探索情緒提供了良好的基礎(chǔ)。