APPRAISAL COMPONENTS, CORE RELATIONAL THEMES, AND THE EMOTIONS

This study experimentally tests the contributions of specific appraisa ls, considered at both molecular (appraisal components) and molar (cor e relational themes) levels of analysis, to the experience of four emo tions (anger, guilt, fear/anxiety, and sadness) using a two-stage dire cted imagery task. In Stage 1, subjects imagined themselves in scenari os designed to evoke appraisals hypothesised to produce either anger o r sadness. In Stage 2, the scenarios unfolded in time to produce a sec ond manipulation designed to systematically evoke the appraisals hypot hesised to produce each of the four emotions under study. The results provided substantial support for the theoretically specified appraisal -emotion relationships for anger, guilt, and fear/anxiety. However, su pport for the prediction's for sadness was weaker, partially due to in effective manipulation of the relevant appraisals. Implications for th e further development and testing of emotion theory are discussed.