The demanding world of emotion: A Gestalt approach to emotion experience

Abstract

World-focused emotion experience (WFEE) is how the world appears or is consciously perceived in one's emotion experience. For example, when happy the world may seem especially beautiful, or when sad the world may seem empty or barren of possibilities. What explains these kinds of experiences? WFEE has been relatively neglected by emotion theory, but is clinically relevant. This article discusses explanations of WFEE from phenomenology and Gestalt psychology. Influenced by Kurt Lewin, I propose an "emotional demand model" of WFEE. Emotional demand is defined as an impelling property of the world which exists because of one's emotional state (of readiness for action). It is a concept with connects striving (in the self) with value (in the world), both of which are important from an evolutionary point of view. This theory explains the neglected distinction between the expressive and demanding qualities of emotional objects and has implications for emotion regulation, autism, and theory of mind.

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