Social Emotions

The publication of my new book on courage has put me in mind of the social aspects of our emotions.  These are profound and help explain many of our current political difficulties.

Nonetheless, most people imagine that our feelings are purely private.  They are regarded as psychological phenomenon to which no one but those experiencing them has access.  As such, their range of influence is thought to be limited.

Yet this is not true.  Let me illustrate.  When I taught introductory sociology to non-majors at Kennesaw State, I employed a demonstration of the power of social norms.  Thus, I began by asking a student seated in the middle of the room to turn his or her chair around to face the back.

Everyone saw me do this.  They all knew that it was a pedagogical device.  Even so, the students around him or her became nervous.  In a classroom, everyone is supposed to look toward the front—so this didn’t feel right.

The target student, however, generally became the most uncomfortable.  This unease was so great that the impulse to comply with the norm was nearly irresistible.  Some of these poor students veritably twitched in their seats.

In one case, a student literally cried and then pleaded with me to relent.  Later, after the class ended, she came up to me and asked why I hated her—which, of course, I did not.  The pain she had experienced was so excruciating that she could only imagine I had intended to inflict this anguish.

The point is that our emotions are communicated and can have an enormous impact.  Far from being strictly personal, they constitute a crucial element in maintaining social order.  It is as if networks of emotions bind us together and enable us to coordinate our activities.

One of the best examples of this is morality.  The rules we employ to keep people from hurting one another are emotionally enforced.  If someone violates an important standard, we get angry.  The object of our ire is then intimidated into complying with what is expected.

Why is this important in our current circumstances?  It is because we seem to be in the midst of a national panic.  So many things have gone wrong in our economy, social relationships and international affairs that we are on the verge of countrywide hysteria.

Panic is an interesting emotion.  It is fear that has been raised to the nth degree.  It is fear that has gone primitive and is no longer under rational control.  When we panic, we become like infants who don’t know how to protect ourselves.  We rush around blindly, banging into the furniture and causing additional harm.

We see the effects of this panic at Trump and Sanders rallies.  Thousands of people come together to be assured by a compelling leader that they will be saved.  En masse, they feel the power of their shared desires and thereby reinforce their exultation at being rescued.

Meanwhile, outside these events, the panic of the counter-demonstrators turns to rage and people commit atrocities they would never even contemplate had they not felt emotionally isolated.  The intensity of their anger is thus multiplied when backed up by a furious mob.

People in a panic do not think straight.  When watching television, or going to the polls, their critical faculties can be turned off by feeling part of a passionate movement.

How else do we explain the madness that has pervaded this electoral cycle?  Who believes that Donald Trump, or Hillary Clinton, or Bernie Sanders would make an excellent president?  Even so, we have been collectively swept up in a rush to head off a cliff.

Our emotions are powerful.  They are even more so when joined together in a social crusade.  This makes them difficult to resist.  But, unless we come to our senses, a tragedy may lie in store.  If we don’t cogently calculate what is in our interests, we may get what no one wants.

Melvyn L. Fein, Ph.D.

Professor of Sociology

Kennesaw State University