ABSTRACT
Charles Darwin (1872/1965) argued that the central function of emotions is to trigger emotion specific behavior and emotional expressions. He traced the similarities in emotional expressions of humans and animals back to a common origin. Accordingly, emotional expressions and behavior can be conceived of as innate and adaptive responses to challenges that resemble those that humans were confronted with in the past. Darwin (1872/1965) was not only concerned with facial expressions of emotions but also with behavioral responses to emotions in general (e.g., the body posture of a dog attacking another dog). Derived from Darwin’s ideas, Plutchik (1980) was interested in specific behavior evoked by specific emotions. He suggested that for example anger is associated with destruction and disgust with rejection. However, in contrast to these assumptions the correlation between emotions and behavior is relatively low. But, if one focuses on action readiness or intentions to act instead of open behavior, correla tions with specific emotions can be observed (Frijda, Kuipers & Ter Schure, 1989). Thus, these results can be interpreted as evidence for the assumption that emotions trigger behavioral responses.
