"...The first theory was that emotion directly causes behavior and that, moreover, direct causation of behavior is a principal function of emotion. We have believed this in the past and we think many researchers continue to believe it. There are many signs of the widespread belief in this theory, including the fact that so many JPSP authors almost routinely report analyses for mediation of behavior by currently felt emotion.
We presented conceptual and empirical reasons to reject that theory. Considered carefully, it has serious gaps, including the inability of the relatively few emotions to directly cause the many different behaviors that people show. The majority of findings reported in the field’s premier journal fail to show that emotion is the (mediating) direct cause of behavior. And even when emotion does seem to cause behavior, replication with approprite control conditions often shows that the behavioral effects depend on strategic attempts to regulate emotion.
Instead, we think the available evidence suggests that emotion operates as a feedback system. After behavior has occurred, emotion drives appraisal and reflection, often including counterfactual replays, which can promote learning. Moreover, people learn to anticipate what actions will lead to what emotions, and they adjust their behaviors accordingly. Behavior pursues emotion.
The feedback theory does in a way provide a positive answer to our titular question of whether emotion causes behavior. Emotion does have a causal influence on behavior, just not in the direct and immediate manner widely assumed. Rather, emotion stimulates learning from behavior, and this learning can have beneficial effects on behavior in the undefined future. The effect of emotion on behavior is thus indirect. Nonetheless, it can be powerfully beneficial..."
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