Emotions and other affective phenomena play a central role in human behavior, both in a positive way, optimizing performance and well-being, and in a negative sense, encouraging violence and fostering psychopathology. Not surprisingly, the areas of application are vast. Affective phenomena are primarily subjective, individual phenomena, and a better understanding of emotional processes and especially individual differences in how emotions are generated, experienced, and managed is useful for questions related to physical and psychological health and well-being. In addition, affective phenomena should help individuals adapt to their social environment (family, work, community). In particular, interpersonal relationships are created and maintained through perception, use, and management of emotions.
Understanding how individual and contextual factors shape and modulate emotion regulation goals and skills may help educators, managers, parents, and policy makers create more effective socialization practices, laws, and interventions, which in turn should help foster family cohesion, a favorable organizational climate, and community cooperation. Finally, affective phenomena play useful and interesting roles in areas of art, music, and theater and are used by advertisers to influence consumers and sell their products.
PEOPLE INVOLVED:
