This paper presents the cognitive extension of the Functional Model of Emotion (FME), introduced in a companion paper (Costello, 2026). Where Part I established that emotion is direction, feeling is physiological energy, and motivation is their product, Part II develops the principle of Emotional Primacy, the claim that emotion is the organizing force of the entire motivational sequence and extends the model into the cognitive domain. The paper introduces the motivational mismatch: the human motivational system was calibrated for immediate, survival-relevant urgencies and has not kept pace with the demands of modern environments, with procrastination and low motivation reframed as the predictable output of a correctly functioning ancestral system. A system of cognitive templates maps characteristic thought forms onto each primary emotion: worries drive Fear, wants drive Desire, purity cognitions drive Disgust, rule violation appraisals drive Anger, and recognition of unmet desire drives Sadness. A critical distinction is drawn between conscious and unconscious thought, with the latter delivering conclusions that arrive pre-loaded with emotional certainty, a mechanism termed truth-value modulation. The rule system is analyzed as a cognitive structure built entirely from wants and worries. The Anger-Satisfaction-Resentment model explains chronic resentment as a pathway failure produced when rule internalization does not occur. The righteous versus self-righteous anger distinction identifies the validity of the underlying rule as the clinical lever. Worst-case scenario thinking is reframed as an evolved cognitive strategy. Cognitive distortions are reframed as energy-saving simplifications grounded in the CNS energy constraint. The Sadness-Depression Continuity Model frames depression as a chronic unresolved Sadness pathway, with severity proportionate to the motivational centrality of the lost object. Hopelessness and helplessness are reframed as pathway failure cognitions arising across all emotional pathways, not features specific to depression. Satisfaction and Relief are distinguished as functionally separate terminal reinforcing states, with unresolved Fear pathways generating the allostatic load underlying chronic anxiety. Cognitive dissonance is reframed as the mechanism of rule internalization, explaining how socialization through punishment produces genuine belief change. Clinical implications are developed throughout.
Scott Costello (Mon,) studied this question.