emotion
A response of the whole organism, involving (1) physiological arousal, (2) expressive behaviors, and (3) conscious experience
James-Lange theory
The theory that our experience of emotion is our awareness of our physiological responses to emotion-arousing stimuli
Cannon-Bard theory
The theory that an emotion-arousing stimulus simultaneously triggers (1) physiological responses and (2) the subjective experience of emotion
two-factor theory
Schachter's theory that to experience emotion one must (1) be physically aroused and (2) cognitively label the arousal
polygraph
A machine, commonly used in attempts to detect lies, that measures several of the physiological responses accompanying emotion
catharsis
Emotional release - in psychology, the catharsis hypothesis maintains that "releasing" aggressive energy relieves aggressive urges
feel-good, do-good phenomenon
People's tendency to be helpful when already in a good mood
subjective well-being
Self-perceived happiness or satisfaction with life (used along with measures of objective well-being to evaluate people's quality of life)
adaptation-level phenomenon
Our tendency to form judgments relative to a "neutral" level defined by our prior experience
relative deprivation
The perception that one is worse off relative to those with whom one compares oneself