Social Appraisal: The Social World as Object of and Influence on Appraisal Processes

Abstract

Abstract It is not our purpose in this chapter to take issue with appraisal theory. The fact that appraisal theory has made a substantial contribution to our understanding of the emotion process is evident from the sheer scope of this book. Furthermore, appraisal theory can be seen as providing a useful framework within which the study of social and cultural influences on the emotion process can proceed, and indeed, the role played by social and cultural processes in emotion is our concern in this chapter. Our general thesis is that although it has been acknowledged that emotions have social causes and that emotion expressions have social functions (see, e.g., Averill, 1980a, Parkinson, 1995, for an overview), appraisals have generally assumed to be the core of inner emotional experience. Appraisals are considered to reflect the meaning of an event for the individual and its implications for his or her personal well-being and are thus located outside the realm of the social environment (for exceptions, see Mesquita & Ellsworth, this volume; Kappas, 1996; Parkinson, this volume). This does not mean that appraisal theory does not permit the study of social and cultural processes but rather that there has been a tendency in appraisal research to study the operation of appraisal processes at the level of the socially isolated individual.

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