Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-vvkck Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T22:29:25.143Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The adaptiveness of fear (and other emotions) considered more broadly: Missed literature on the nature of emotions and its functions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 May 2023

Margaret S. Clark
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8205 margaret.clark@yale.edu, chance.adkins@yale.edu, Hannah.elizabeth@yale.edu, noah.reed@yale.edu http://clarkrelationshiplab.yale.edu http://noah-reed.com
Chance Adkins
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8205 margaret.clark@yale.edu, chance.adkins@yale.edu, Hannah.elizabeth@yale.edu, noah.reed@yale.edu http://clarkrelationshiplab.yale.edu http://noah-reed.com
Jennifer Hirsch
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, USA, Jennifer.hirsch@pitt.edu
Hannah S. Elizabeth
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8205 margaret.clark@yale.edu, chance.adkins@yale.edu, Hannah.elizabeth@yale.edu, noah.reed@yale.edu http://clarkrelationshiplab.yale.edu http://noah-reed.com
Noah T. Reed
Affiliation:
Department of Psychology, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06520-8205 margaret.clark@yale.edu, chance.adkins@yale.edu, Hannah.elizabeth@yale.edu, noah.reed@yale.edu http://clarkrelationshiplab.yale.edu http://noah-reed.com

Abstract

We agree with Grossmann that fear often builds cooperative relationships. Yet he neglects much extant literature. Prior researchers have discussed how fear (and other emotions) build cooperative relationships, have questioned whether fear per se evolved to serve this purpose, and have emphasized that human cooperation takes many forms. Grossmann's theory would benefit from a wider consideration of this work.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Algoe, S. B., Fredrickson, B., & Gable, S. (2013). The social functions of the emotion of gratitude via expression. Emotion, 13(4), 605609.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Barrett, K. C., & Campos, J. J. (1987). Perspectives on emotional development: II. A functionalist approach to emotions. In Osofsky, J. (Ed.), Handbook of infant development (2nd ed., pp. 555578). Wiley.Google Scholar
Bugental, D. B. (2000). Acquisition of the algorithms of social life: A domain-based approach. Psychological Bulletin, 126(2), 187219.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clark, M. S. (1984). Record keeping in two types of relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 549557.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clark, M. S., Earp, B., & Crockett, M. (2020). Who are “we” and why are we cooperating? Insights from social psychology. Brain and Behavioral Sciences, 43, 2123. doi:1017 /S0140525X19002528CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, M. S., & Finkel, E. J. (2005). Willingness to express emotion: The impact of relationship type, communal orientation, and their interaction. Personal Relationships, 12, 169180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, M. S., & Mills, J. (1979). Interpersonal attraction in exchange and communal relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 37, 1224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, M. S., & Mills, J. (2012). A theory of communal (and exchange) relationships. In Van Lange, P. A. M., Kruglanski, A. W., & Higgins, E. T. (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (Vol. 2, pp. 232250). Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, M. S., Ouellette, R., Powell, M., & Milberg, S. (1987). Recipient's mood, relationship type, and helping. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53, 94103.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Clark, M. S., & Taraban, C. (1991). Reactions to and willingness to express emotion in communal and exchange relationships. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 27, 324336.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donato, S., Pagani, A., Parise, M., Bertoni, A., & IaFrate, R. (2014). The capitalization process in stable couple relationships: Intrapersonal and interpersonal benefits. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 140(2), 207211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Earp, B. D., McLoughlan, K. L., Monrad, J. T., Clark, M. S., & Crockett, M. J. (2021). How social relationships shape moral wrongness judgments. Nature Communications, 12, 5776. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26067-4CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Feinberg, M., Willer, R., & Keltner, D. (2011). Flustered and faithful: Embarrassment as a signal of prosociality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 8197.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gable, S. L., & Reis, H. T. (2010). Good news! Capitalizing on positive events in interpersonal context. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 42, 195257.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, S. M., Huang, J. Y., Clark, M. S., & Helgeson, V. S. (2008). The positives of negative emotions: Willingness to express negative emotions promotes relationships. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 394406.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hoemann, K., Xu, F., & Barrett, L. F. (2019). Emotion words, emotion concepts, and emotional development in children: A constructionist hypothesis. Developmental Psychology, 55(9), 18301849.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Holodynski, M., & Seeger, D. (2019). Expressions as signs and their significance for emotional development. Developmental Psychology, 55, 18121879.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Klinnert, M. D., Emde, R. N., Butterfield, P., & Campos, J. J. (1986). Social referencing: The infant’s use of emotional signals from a friendly adult with mother present. Developmental Psychology, 22(4), 427435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leerkes, E. M., Blankson, A. N., & O’Brien, M. (2009). Differential effects of maternal sensitivity to infant distress and nondistress on social-emotional functioning. Child Development, 80(3), 762775.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lemay, E. P., Jr., & Dudley, K. L. (2011). Caution: Fragile! Regulating the interpersonal security of chronically insecure partners. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100(4), 681702.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scarantino, A., Hareli, S., & Hess, U. (2021). Emotion expressions as appeals to recipients. Emotion, 22(8), 18561868. http:///dx.doi.org/10.1037/emo0001023CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schachter, S. (1959). The psychology of affiliation: Experimental studies of the sources of gregariousness. Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
Semin, G. R., & Manstead, A. S. R. (1982). The social implications of embarrassment displays and restitution behavior. European Journal of Social Psychology, 12(4), 367377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simpson, J. A., Rholes, W. S., & Nelligan, J. S. (1992). Support seeking and support giving within couples in an anxiety provoking situation: The role of attachment styles. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 434446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sorce, J., Emde, R. N., Campos, J. J., & Klinnert, M. D. (1985). Maternal signaling: Its effects on the visual cliff behavior of 1-year-olds. Developmental Psychology, 21(1), 195200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stroufe, J. A. (1996). Emotional development: The organization of emotional life in the early years. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org10.1017/CB09780511527661CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Von Culin, K. R., Hirsch, J. L., & Clark, M. S. (2017). Willingness to express emotion depends upon perceiving partner care. Cognition and Emotion, 32(3), 641650.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed