Emotions Models and Cases – Psychology Essay (Critical Writing)

Related Concept

This a good example of a related concept because:

1. The sensation can be discussed as the description of different emotions, their nature, intensity, and character.
2. While speaking about emotions, people often describe sensations because these concepts are quite similar in their character.
3. Sensations can also be discussed in relation to the idea of irrationality because the causes of sensations can be unconscious.

Emotions are often sensations in their nature because of their immediate and unexpected nature. That is why, sensations are often described as irrational, while accentuating their unreasonableness.

Related Concept Model Case

Susan is a young woman who cannot stop keeping a lot of different things round her. Many of these things are rather old and unpleasant to pick up, but Susan can find the best place for every object and thing that she can find out of doors. Susan’s apartments remind the storehouse where all the things are kept cumulated in a chaotic order.

All the things stored in Susan’s apartments can be discussed as a large mass which makes the woman’s guests shiver from disgust. However, Susan often tells about opposite feelings because she discusses the interior of the apartments as the ‘mirror’ to reflect her inner world. In addition, Susan feels comfortable only when she is at home. The woman’s friends state that she has the unique perception of the reality, and they also agree that Susan can feel comfortable only in the chaos of her apartments.

This is a good example of a model case because:

1. Susan feels comfortable while being in the chaotic environment because she sees it subjectively, while focusing on her own experience and senses.
2. The woman rejects the other people’s opinion on the case, while accentuating the role of her own perception and vision.
3. Susan focuses on her own unique reasons which differ from the traditional ones in order to explain the excitement associated with her home.
4. The woman’s perception of the apartments is the reflection of her own feelings that is why she concentrates on the chaos as her vision of the perfect order.

Related Concept Contrary Case

Dan can be described as too pedantic while comparing him to the other men of his age. Dan likes when everything is in its place, when the daily plan is completed perfectly, and when all the events are predicted. Dan prefers to eat the same food every morning and evening, and his menu depends on the days of the week. Thus, on Monday, Dan is usually prepared for dining at home. He traditionally prefers the Chinese food on Monday.

However, on Tuesday, Dan can eat only the Italian dishes, and the similar rules work for the other weekdays. While being asked about his strange habits, Dan draws the opponent’s attention to the fact that such a life style prevents him from experiencing unexpected negative emotions because they can ‘unsettle’ Dan for a long period of time. Dan sees the secret of the happy life in the carefully followed routine because any changes can upset his routine and make him struggle and suffer.

This is a good example of a contrary case because:

1. Dan’s focus on the daily routine is a result of his understanding of the cause of his being uncomfortable.
2. Dan can strictly state that the cause of his negative emotions is the change of the situations and conditions, as a result, Dan consciously chooses to avoid any disturbances.
3. The man prefers the things, situations, and feelings which can be predicted. That is why, Dan’s feelings are highly conditioned.
4. Dan knows that his habits are characterized by the experienced and predicted consequences, but changes in the daily activities are perceived as the sources of many threats to stability.

The Concept of Emotions

Difficult to be hidden – Challenges associated with the attempts to hide the concrete information, reactions, or processes.

Conditioned – Dependent on the certain conditions, situations, and events.

The role of the stimulus – Dependence on the concrete incentive to influence the situation or the process.

Identifiable – Visible, which can be determined and understood depending on the certain features and aspects.

The Concept of Irrationality

The ignorance of the cause and consequence effect – Non-dependence on the factors which can cause the situation’s development, and the obvious rejection to see the consequences of the process.

Non-dependent on arguments and rationales – Non-reliant and free to be based on any logical products such as reasons and proofs.

Disassociation with the objective reality – Non-dependence on the factors and visible features of the observed or real world.

Ignorance of the previous experience – Rejection of the background and the results of the earlier practices.

Results in Language

The proposed analysis clarifies the meanings of such concepts as emotions and irrationality while answering the question whether emotions are irrational because the analysis presents the detailed discussion of all the aspects of the stated concepts in their variety. Thus, now it is possible to answer the question while focusing on the fact that emotions are rational instead of being irrational.

The analysis clarifies the question and meanings of the concepts because it is possible to state that emotions are conditioned, they cannot be hidden, and as a result, they are easily identifiable. The emotions are rational because they depend on a certain stimulus which can cause different emotions. These features of such a concept as ‘emotions’ are opposite to the features associated with the idea of irrationality.

From this perspective, irrationality is discussed with references to the opposite ideas which are the ignorance of the cause and consequence effect, non-dependence on arguments and reasoning, disassociation with the objective reality, and the rejection of the previous experience. Emotions are rational because they operate the idea of stimulus and reaction when irrationality ignores any additional conditions.

The proposed criteria to discuss emotions and irrationality should not be changed or modified because the analysis represents the discussion of the concepts from the perspective which is commonly reflected in the language. Thus, people traditionally use the concept of ‘emotions’ in order to speak about revealed and conditioned reactions, and the concept of ‘irrationality’ is used to speak about something that cannot be supported with arguments or evidence. The chosen criteria work effectively to describe the concepts in detail.

Are emotions irrational?

Emotions are not irrational in their nature and character because they directly depend on reasoning when the idea of irrationality is in rejecting any reasoning at all. From this point, such concepts as ‘emotions’ and ‘irrationality’ are not related to each other because the fundamental criteria used to discuss these concepts separately are contradictory.

This conceptual conflict can be discussed as obvious while focusing on the definitions of emotions and irrationality. Emotions are immediate, momentary, and easily identifiable feelings which are usually conditioned in their nature because they are reactions to different stimuli. On the contrary, irrationality is the rejection of any conditions, reasons, and arguments to explain the certain process because of non-dependence on the cause and consequence effect.

It is necessary to focus on the detailed discussion of the concepts in order to understand their unique nature. Thus, the concept of emotions is traditionally described with references to such notions as subjectivity, intensity, and expression. From this perspective, an emotion is the subjective and often intense feeling expressed by a person who cannot hide it and needs to reveal. It is rather difficult to control emotions because they are provoked or caused by a concrete stimulus which is an event, situation, or process related to the real world. Different stimuli provoke different reactions, and these reactions are expressed in the form of emotions.

It is possible to hide an emotion, but it is rather difficult to do this because they are easily identifiable. In this case, a person can hide the emotion as the expression and reaction, but the person cannot ignore those factors or conditions which caused or provoked the emotion. That is why, emotions cannot be irrational because they need reasons or causes to appear and make a person demonstrate happiness, gladness, or sadness.

Irrationality, in its turn, is independence in relation to any reason, argument cause, and proof. Irrationality is closely associated with the ideas of ignorance, absence, and rejection. Everything which develops while ignoring the principle of the cause and consequence can be discussed as irrational. However, emotions are fed by reasons, causes, and stimuli, and they cannot be discussed as irrational in their character.

Irrationality is associated with the idea of the chaos, when there are no clear arguments to explain the process or phenomenon. Furthermore, irrationality ignores the previous experience and the laws of the objective reality to form a new reality. That is why, there is dissonance in discussing rational emotions and the concept of irrationality.

However, there are many persons who discuss emotions as irrational because they believe that emotions are the fair reactions of the human organisms and minds which cannot be associated with any conditions. These persons can state that emotions are truthful and subjective that is why it is irrelevant to apply the concept of rationality to the discussion of their nature. From this point, emotions cannot have any connections with the rational processes. Nevertheless, there should be a stimulus behind any emotion in order to provoke the expression which can be identified with references to the person’s mimics, words, or actions.

The focus on a stimulus behind the emotion means the concentration on the condition which can cause this or that reaction. Thus, there should be a reason behind the emotion. The focus on a reason means the focus on the rationale to explain the demonstration of this or that emotion. That is why, the concept of irrationality cannot be discussed in relation to the concept of emotions because emotions are not absurd, but reasonable and conditioned even if a person cannot identify the real cause.

Emotions and irrationality are not related concepts because their fundamental principles can be discussed as conflicting. Thus, emotions are subjective expressions which are usually conditioned and caused by a concrete situation, process, or phenomenon. These causes serve as stimuli for provoking reactions identified as emotions.

The chain between the stimulus and reaction in the case of emotions cannot be observed easily, but it exists. That is why, emotions are rational. On the contrary, the idea of irrationality rejects any references to dependence or to the cause and consequence effect. As a result, it is almost impossible to correlate such concepts as emotions and irrationality in order to see the connection between them. Emotions and irrationality are different concepts which need to be discussed from various perspectives in order to explain the basic differences related to the concepts’ nature and development in the society.