What are 'emotions'? Drawing together the threads of current research on the nature and funactions of emotional expression, of physiological reactions, and of emotional experience, this book offers a balanced survey of facts and theory. Nico Frijda discusses the motivational and neurophysiological preconditions for emotions, and the ways in which emotions are regulated by the individual. Considering the kinds of events that elicit emotions, he argues that emotions arise because events are appraised by people as favorable or harmful to their own interests. he takes an information-processing perspective: Emotions are viewed as outcomes of the process of assessing the world in terms of one's own concerns, which, in turn, modify action readiness. This analysis leads him to address such fundamental issues as the place of emotion in motivation generally and the discrepancy between the functions of the emotions and their often irrational and disruptive character. An important contribution to recent debates, The Emotions does not presuppose extensive prior knowledge. Few people would question nowadays that emotions influence beliefs but until recently little scientific research has been done on exactly how this effect takes place. This important new book, with contributions from some of the leading figures in the study of emotion, explores the relationship between emotions and beliefs from a number of different psychological perspectives. Combining theory with research, it seeks to develop coherent theoretical principles for understanding how emotions influence the content and strength of an individual's beliefs and their resistance or openness to modification.