ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors discuss the political implications of a number of discrete emotional reactions such as anger, enthusiasm, fear, pride, shame, guilt, and disgust. Emotions turn out to be key motivational forces, capable of (re-)directing human decision-making and behavior. The authors highlight some of what they have learned about the emotional foundations of democratic citizenship. Emotions not only vary in predictable ways across individuals, but also over time and across diverse situations. Recall that disgust primarily arises from appraisals that noxious contaminants are present and motivates both avoidance and the impulse to purge physical or moral impurities from one’s environment—brain functions sometimes referred to as the behavioral immune system. Emotions also motivate people to act in ways that are specific to a particular emotion, what psychologists call the “action tendencies” of the emotion in question.
