van Heijst Karlijn, Kret Mariska E, Ploeger Annemie
Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Amsterdam.
Cognitive Psychology Unit, Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Leiden University.
Perspect Psychol Sci. 2025 May;20(3):377-391. doi: 10.1177/17456916231205186. Epub 2023 Nov 2.
The ongoing debate between basic emotion theories (BETs) and the theory of constructed emotion (TCE) hampers progress in the field of emotion research. Providing a new perspective, here we aim to bring the theories closer together by dissecting them according to Tinbergen's four questions to clarify a focus on their evolutionary basis. On the basis of our review of the literature, we conclude that whereas BETs focus on the evolution question of Tinbergen, the TCE is more concerned with the causation of emotion. On the survival value of emotions both theories largely agree: to provide the best reaction in specific situations. Evidence is converging on the evolutionary history of emotions but is still limited for both theories-research within both frameworks focuses heavily on the causation. We conclude that BETs and the TCE explain two different phenomena: emotion and feeling. Therefore, they seem irreconcilable but possibly supplementary for explaining and investigating the evolution of emotion-especially considering their similar answer to the question of survival value. Last, this article further highlights the importance of carefully describing what aspect of emotion is being discussed or studied. Only then can evidence be interpreted to converge toward explaining emotion.
基本情绪理论（BETs）与建构情绪理论（TCE）之间持续不断的争论阻碍了情绪研究领域的进展。在此，我们提供一个新视角，旨在通过依据廷伯根的四个问题剖析这些理论，使它们更紧密地结合在一起，以明确对其进化基础的关注重点。基于我们对文献的综述，我们得出结论：基本情绪理论关注廷伯根的进化问题，而建构情绪理论更关注情绪的成因。在情绪的生存价值方面，两种理论在很大程度上达成共识：即在特定情境中提供最佳反应。关于情绪进化史的证据正在逐渐汇聚，但这两种理论的相关证据仍然有限——两个框架内的研究都严重侧重于成因。我们得出结论，基本情绪理论和建构情绪理论解释的是两种不同的现象：情绪和感受。因此，它们似乎不可调和，但在解释和研究情绪进化方面可能具有互补性——尤其是考虑到它们对生存价值问题的相似回答。最后，本文进一步强调了仔细描述所讨论或研究的情绪方面的重要性。只有这样，才能对证据进行解释，以趋向于对情绪的解释。
