Question

How do William James's ideas of emotions differ from the "common" sense approach to emotions (e.g., we see a bear, we become frightened, then we run)?

Answer 1

The james lange theory is very different from the commonsense beliefs about emotion. This theory does not believe that we laugh because we are happy or we cry because we are sad. Instead, this theory proposed by William James and Carl Lange says that people percieve their physilogical responses to extrenal events. This means that the bodily responses lead to a particular emotion. Therefore, we may feel anxious because our heart is beating fast, or we may feel happy because we are smiling.