Chapter 7 - Reactions to the Actions of Agents

Summary

Four “Attribution” emotions relating to the attribution of responsibility for actions are presented as the emotion types that emerge from praising or blaming oneself or some other agent for some action. The intensity of these “Pride” and “Self-reproach” emotions, and “Admiration” and “Reproach” emotions is influenced by the perceived praiseworthiness (including its converse, blameworthiness) of the agent’s action and the degree to which it is seen as being incongruous, that is, as deviating from what might be expected of such an agent in such a situation. The notion of a cognitive unit is used to explain such facts as that people can be proud of the actions of other people. Also covered are four Compound emotions that result from focusing on both an agent’s action and its outcome at the same time. These emotion types include what are referred to as “Gratitude,” “Anger,” “Self-satisfaction,” and “Self-anger” emotions, with the first of these, for example, being characterized as a positive feeling about someone else’s praiseworthy action and the associated desirable event.