How We React

I was wondering how we reacted to certain events and I came across three theories. So I decided to research them and here are my thoughts.

I have come to this conclusion through past experiences that I have had. The first one confirming that the James-Lange theory is accurate in its assumption that we act before we think. One day I was playing football in a league that was only designed for passing. I was running my route when the quarter back threw the football my way. It was a little off course and I decided to dive for the ball. I ended up touching it, but not being able to catch it. I rolled once on the ground to gain control of my body and as I laid there about to get up, I punched the ground with my fist. I was angry that I hadn’t held on to the ball, but didn’t label it as anger until I was up on my feet again. I know now that I should have labeled it as anger and then thought about my actions before performing them because I ended up breaking my finger with the little intelligence I used.

I also believe in Schachter’s Cognitive theory of thinking and labeling an emotion and then acting on it because, like the first theory, I have experienced it. It happens many times during the day, because I have a couple classes with the same friend. Sometimes this friend annoys me, but it’s only joking around, but it still gets kind of annoying. I know that I am annoyed and have labeled it so, and in order to stop the annoying action that he is administering at the time I decide to inflict pain on him. It’s not serious, just like a smack in the chest or something like that, but it’s only temporary and he eventually begins to do it again. Then I will have to repeat what I did before. Because I label it and know what I am feeling at the time and then decide what to do from it I know that it represents the Cognitive theory in action.

Obviously the only one I haven’t mentioned is the only one I don’t think I’ve experienced. It is the Cannon-Bard theory, which says we label our emotion and act on it at the same time. This is why I think I haven’t experienced it. It is because I don’t think we can simultaneously perform actions, I think it may happen quickly, but one always has to take place before the other it seems. The gap between them may be incalculably small, but there still is an order to which things happen.