James-Lange Theory of Emotion

A theory of emotions developed by William James and Carl Lange. The theory suggests that an emotional stimulus produces motor reactions of fleeing, and the sensory feedback of which generates emotional feelings. The James-Lange theory stands in contrast with the ‘common sense’ view of emotions, which is that affective stimuli generate feelings, which in turn produces bodily changes. A theory of emotions developed by William James and Carl Lange that claims that emotions are a set of bodily changes that occur in response to emotive stimuli. Different patterns of bodily changes code different emotions. For instance, if one meets a bear in the woods, it is not the case that we feel frightened and run; rather, running away follows directly from our perception of the bear, and our experience of the bodily changes involved in running is the emotion of fear.

Reference:
Friedman, B. H. (2010). Feelings and the body: the Jamesian perspective on autonomic specificity of emotion. Biological Psychology, 84(3), 383-393. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2009.10.006.

Dalgleish, T. (2004). The emotional brain. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 5(7), 583-589. doi: 10.1038/nrn1432.