ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the emotions in terms of their relationship with goals using a control theory approach. The wider literature on goals and emotions will be reviewed in order to describe the current state of knowledge in this area, and then the control theory model will be used to elaborate and describe a mechanistic, functional account of the role of emotions. Emotions are defined in ways that link the closely with goals; they are volitional, involved in action regulation, and they are seen to have functional roles including communication, orientation and activation in the context of purposeful activities such a meeting basic needs, social engagements and competitive sports and past-times. The notion of intrinsic control systems in Powers’s theory, indicates that there are goals for a range of physiological variables, and that these are maintained through both internal, hormonally mediated pathways and through actions in the outside world.
