Question

While hiking in the woods Sonya and Paul encountered a snake on the trail. While Sonya was extremely frightened of the snake, Paul, realizing the snake was harmless, picked up the snake to examine it more closely. Explain how the JamesLange theory and the two-factor theory would explain the emotional reactions of Sonya and Paul.

Answer 1

The James-Lange theory explains Sonya's fear due to physiological arousal occurring before emotional response. The two-factor theory states that Paul's lack of fear is due to cognitive interpretation of the snake as harmless.

Step-by-step explanation:

The James-Lange theory of emotion states that emotions arise from physiological arousal. In the scenario given, when Sonya and Paul encountered the snake, Sonya experienced fear because her physiological arousal (e.g. racing heart) occurred before her emotional response. On the other hand, Paul, realizing the snake was harmless, did not experience fear because his physiological arousal did not trigger the emotional response.

The two-factor theory, also known as the Schachter-Singer theory, adds a cognitive component to the emotional experience. According to this theory, emotions are composed of two factors: physiological arousal and cognitive interpretation. In the scenario, Paul's cognitive interpretation that the snake was harmless led to his lack of fear, despite the physiological arousal. Sonya, on the other hand, interpreted the snake as a threat, which resulted in her fear response.

Answer 2

According to James-Lange, it is the physiological reactions that provoke feelings.

So in this case it can be said that physiologically Sonia had reactions and this caused her fear of the snake unlike Paul who had no feeling of fear.

In the Two-Factor Theory the factors that caused satisfaction are related to the task itself, relationships with what it does, recognition for the accomplishment of the task, nature of the task, responsibility, professional advancement and ability to perform it better. On the other hand, it was found that the factors that cause dissatisfaction are environmental factors, that is, external to the task.