ABSTRACT
Recent years have witnessed substantial progress in understanding the cognitive underpinnings of emotional states. Research on the cognitive appraisal of emotion has had substantial theoretical and heuristic value (e.g., Frijda, 1986, 1987; Frijda, Kuipers, & Ter Schure, 1989). Building on these ideas, the present chapter maintains that, under some circumstances, emotions may be thought of as psychological achievements, the end states of goal-directed activity. That is, we suggest that augmenting positive emotions and avoiding negative ones can be the goals of cognitive appraisals, and that events are interpreted and distorted in ways that enable people to maintain or enhance their emotional well-being. We review a variety of literature indicating that people have available to them positive illusions about themselves, the world, and the future that enable them to experience positive emotions in a world that might otherwise be filled with disappointment, sadness, and frustration.
