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Toward an Integrative Perspective on Distinct Positive Emotions for Political Action: Analyzing, Comparing, Evaluating, and Synthesizing Three Theoretical Perspectives
Author(s) -
Zomeren Martijn
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
political psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.419
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-9221
pISSN - 0162-895X
DOI - 10.1111/pops.12795
Subject(s) - perspective (graphical) , pride , anger , action (physics) , psychology , social psychology , appraisal theory , politics , function (biology) , field (mathematics) , cognitive psychology , epistemology , political science , philosophy , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , evolutionary biology , computer science , pure mathematics , law , biology
Which emotions explain why people engage in political action (e.g., voting, protesting)? To answer this question, theory and research in psychology and political science predominantly focused on distinct negative emotions such as anger. The current article conceptually explores the motivational potential of distinct positive emotions by developing an integrative perspective that specifies which positive emotions can be differentiated (i.e., their form ), which function these emotions have, and which implications these have for explaining political action. To this end, I analyze, compare, evaluate, and synthesize three approaches to positive emotions (affective intelligence theory, appraisal theories of emotion, and broaden‐and‐build theory). This perspective generates new hypotheses for the field to test, including the role played by distinct positive emotions such as joy, inspiration, interest, hope, and pride in motivating political action. I discuss how this perspective may help restore a balance in research on emotions and political action by focusing on the motivational potential of distinct positive emotions.