What is Emotion?

The psychologist and author addresses the ambiguities and embraces the controversies that surround this subject. Jerome Kagan examines what exactly do know about emotions, which popular about emotions are incorrect, and how scientific study must proceed if we are to uncover the answers to persistent and questions about emotions. He also discusses variations among individuals within the same culture and the influences of gender, class, ethnicity, and temperament on a person’s emotional patina. In his closing chapter, the author proposes that three sources of evidence - verbal descriptions of feelings, behaviors, and measures of brain states - provide legitimate but different definitions of emotion. Translating data from one of these sources to another may not be possible, Kagan warns, and those who study emotions must accept - at least for now - that their understanding is limited to and by the domain of their information.