Article: On the Interaction of Attitudes and Emotions

Abstract

The use of the words “attitudes” and “emotions” are common in the English lexicon, and everyone has some intuitive idea of what each of these words mean. This paper explores the psychological definition of each and seeks to answer the question of how they interact and inform one another. Ultimately, one references one’s attitude to inform emotional responses to stimuli. Attitudes can be formed by emotional responses, or by the usefulness of the attitude object, or by habits in one’s behavioral history.

Keywords: psychology