Emotions and their influence on our personal, interpersonal and social experiences

Book excerpt: Research indicates that each emotion is associated with cognitive appraisals that influence our decision-making, our behavior and our relationships. Positive emotions may enhance our point of view and affect our decision to execute what we meant to. Negative emotions are known to not only affect the manner in which we view the world, but our plans, our willingness to interact with others, and our choices, both behaviorally, and cognitively. Emotions are also known to affect us physically. Positive emotions support our immune system, are responsible for our health enhancing behavior, and allow us to be open to our social support network. Negative emotions are known to hamper our immune system and thus make us more prone to illnesses, sometimes life threatening ones, and interfere with successfully coping with them. This book focuses on the role of emotions in everyday life, and particularly, the destructive effects of negative emotions such as anger, anxiety, depression, and the fear of death that humans share. The articles in this book were originally published in the Journal of Psychology: Interdisciplinary and Applied.