Emotion as Heterostasis

Harry Klopf is a notable exception. His view is just the opposite: organisms are not hiding in the environment, trying to minimize action and change; they actively seek stimulation. If homeostasis is the seeking of a steady-state condition, "heterostasis" is the seeking of maximum stimulation. According to Klopf, all parts of the brain are independently seeking positive stimulation (or "pleasure") and avoiding negative stimulation (or "pain"). Klopf also thinks that cognition and emotion coexist and complement each other, but their relative roles are significantly different: emotion provides the sense of what the organism needs, cognition provides the means for achieving those needs.

Emotion as Cognition

The common theme underlying all of these studies is that emotions are not as irrational as they seem to be; quite the opposite, actually.

Richard Lazarus has provided a synthesis of all of these themes. He agrees that the final goal of our emotions is to help the organism survive in the environment. Emotions arise from the relationship between the individual and its environment, or, better, the regularities of its environment. Emotion requires an appraisal of the situation and its consequences. For example, such an appraisal may lead to fear if the situation turns out to be dangerous. Emotions are genetically determined, but they can change during a lifetime: both biological and social variables may alter our set of emotions, and this explains why emotions change through the various stages of life.

Ultimately, emotions express the personal meaning of an individual's experience. The meaning of each emotion is about the significance of the triggering event (the situation) for the well-being of the individual.

Each emotion is defined by a set of benefits and harms in the relationship between individual and environment, and that set is constructed by a process of appraisal. Appraisal is key to emotion. Each type of emotion is distinguished by a pattern of appraisal factors.

Since appraisal is the fundamental process for the occurrence of emotion, Lazarus believes that cognition is a requisite for emotion: a cognitive process (an appraisal) must occur before one can have an emotion.