Flavors of appraisal theory

Componential views of emotion define emotions as collections of components such as appraisal, action tendencies, somatic responses, expressive behavior, and feelings. Appraisal theories see appraisal as the component that, typically, drives the changes in the other components. Appraisal is a process in which stimuli are evaluated on a number of appraisal variables such as goal relevance, goal congruence, expectancy, coping potential, and agency. The output of this process consists in one or several representations of appraisal values. These values determine the values of the other components. Appraisal can have various underlying mechanisms (rule-based, associative, sensory-motor) and can operate on or result in representations of various formats (propositional, perceptual). Appraisal theories come in different flavors: Some argue that the appraisal values need to be integrated into a pattern or theme before they can determine the values of the other components. Others argue that each of the appraisal values independently influences part of the values of the other components. In the latter case, the emotion, constituted by the components, is an emergent phenomenon.status: publishe