A Constructivist Approach to Emotions and Practical Implications

The classical view of emotions posits that there are a few “basic emotions” that have specific fingerprints (neural circuitry, facial expressions, etc) and that they are either triggered directly by stimuli in the environment or by automatic appraisals of the stimuli. However, there is a growing body of research in support of the constructivist theory of emotion. This theory suggests that emotions traditionally labeled as anger, fear, happiness, disgust, and sadness are based on basic psychological processes (perceptual, attentional, and mnemonic systems) that combine in various ways to produce emotional and affective states, while these psychological “ingredients” may not themselves be specific to emotion. The purpose of this paper is to review the constructivist theory and some practical implications for child-rearing, education, autism interventions, and psychotherapy.