ABSTRACT
This chapter examines principal theories of emotion, especially the two-factor theory of emotional state, are examined in terms of assumptions and propositions regarding the self-perception of excitatory reactions and its projected implications for emotional behavior in man. Research findings on the transfer of excitation in emotional behavior are drawn upon to support the three-factor model in general and its assumptions regarding attributional processes in particular. In attribution theory, it is generally assumed that man seeks to comprehend the causal relationships that govern his interaction with the environment. The emotional experience is obviously entirely fixed with the immediate reaction to an arousing event. There is no leeway for cognitive modification–no room for attributions or misattributions of excitation. H. Leventhal has challenged the attributional interpretation of investigations in which subjects were provided either with appropriate or with false information about an experienced arousal state.
