ABSTRACT
The remarkable spurt of interest in the psychology of emotion over the past few decades has inevitably generated considerable controversy and theoretical ferment. The mounting research has brought not only new findings but ever more challenges to old ideas. It is now clearer than ever before that the most popular psychological analyses of emotion can readily account for some phenomena but have difficulty explaining other research results. Some examples come quickly to mind: The so-called “peripheral theories” cannot satisfactorily deal with the influence of attributions using only their own terms, whereas the cognitive formulations have problems with the facial feedback effects, and none of the leading analyses can say why the experimental establishment of such negative emotional states as sadness often produces anger as well (Moore & Isen, 1990).
