Embodied Theory of Emotion

GLOSSARY

A theoretical perspective proposing that emotional experience emerges through interactions between cognitive processes and bodily states. Emotions involve partial simulations or reactivations of sensory, motor, and interoceptive systems, meaning that perceiving or experiencing emotions includes the re-enactment of physiological and bodily states. From this perspective, bodily sensations are not merely by-products of emotion but integral components of emotional experience itself. See also embodied cognition.

Icon of a teal stick figure with a red heart on its chest, encircled by a gold and red sunburst, symbolizing health and
Icon of a teal stick figure with a red heart on its chest, encircled by a gold and red sunburst, symbolizing health and

Reference:


Niedenthal, P. M. (2007). Embodying emotion. Science, 316(5827), 1002-1005. https://www.doi.org/10.1126/science.1136930