OVERVIEW
The Centre's research program is structured around three aspects of emotions: emotions as complex multi-faceted reactions to our surroundings, emotions as disruptive states requiring control and regulation, and emotions as themselves a regulating force in society. Consequently the individual research projects are organised around three domains of research related to these aspects:
- emotion elicitation and perception,
- emotion regulation, and
- social functions of emotions.
The individual research projects within the various domains are closely inter-related, as the program structure serves to bring together researchers from the full diversity of disciplines that study the biological, psychological, and social dimensions of emotion. The projects are also linked by modules that collate findings and coordinate applications regarding a set of common issues and objectives.
The domain of emotion elicitation and perception comprises the study of the causes of emotions, the processes involved on different levels, as well as the effects on our behaviour and well-being. Researchers look at the sorts of objects and events that trigger emotions, the various factors – genetic, environmental, social, psychological – that influence our emotional responses, the psychological and physiological processes involved, the neural architecture involved in affective processing, and the effects of our emotional predispositions on our subjective well-being.
The domain of emotion regulation comprises the study of how we cope with stress and conflict (or fail to do so) by controlling and modulating our emotions. Researchers look at the role of emotion regulation in family settings and at the workplace with the aim of assessing attempts at such regulation, gaining a better grasp of its role in processes of pro-social behaviour, and evaluating its broader effects on our life.
The domain of social functions of emotions covers questions about the role of emotions in norm compliance and their neural basis, questions regarding their role in making and applying laws, and questions regarding their relation to social values and cultural identity that raise historical, cultural, and conceptual issues.
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