Hagioptasia Research vs. The Theory of Constructed Emotion
Lisa Feldman Barrett’s Theory of Constructed Emotion claims that emotions are not hardwired or universal, but rather they are constructed by individuals based on cultural concepts and their interpretations of physiological sensations. But despite worldwide popularity with academics and the general public alike, I have never found Barrett’s theory to be a realistic account of the workings of our everyday emotional experiences.
As a young man, I was intrigued to discover that my mind seemed to be trying to trick me into believing things that I knew were not true. I realised that my thoughts and feelings about certain people were often overlaid with an illusory gloss, making them seem far more wonderful and glorious than they actually were.
I can remember one of my dreams, which made this effect particularly apparent. I dreamt that I was taken to a supremely fashionable nightclub by a good friend who had recently become a celebrated fashion photographer – I was just an art school dropout, working as a delivery driver at the time. When I awoke, I was buzzing with excitement. I could still recall the atmosphere, the people, and the decor of the nightclub in vivid detail. It all felt so wonderful that I was left with a confusing mix of excitement, longing, and insecurity. But when I examined what I had seen and heard in the dream, nothing stood out as extraordinary or justified these feelings in any way.
Other similar experiences, and the observation that other people were similarly affected by the same psychological influences, led me on a lengthy investigation of this phenomenon, resulting in my theory of hagioptasia.
Although a new concept, hagioptasia has been shown to exist as a natural tendency to imagine a preternatural quality of ‘specialness’ in certain places, people, or things (Johnson & Laidler, 2020). Familiar to most people from childhood onwards, this spontaneous psychological mechanism evokes deep feelings of wonderment and longing. The illusory nature of hagioptasia, with its intangible and profound qualities, has yet only one discernible evolutionary function; to arouse emotional states as a means of manipulating the behaviours of our ancestors.
Our research has shown that those who experience hagioptasia also suffer from ‘sehnsucht’; a (previously) mysterious emotion that is described as an “inconsolable, wistful yearning for something unknown — that one cannot explain.” Most people experience sehnsucht, even though they have never heard of the term, or the concept of hagioptasia. In fact, there is a high degree of commonality in how people respond to hagioptasic notions.
Nostalgia is another universal human emotion that is also aroused by the influence of hagioptasia. Over time, particular fading memories of everyday events or places can acquire a romantic sheen, transforming them into something far more wonderful and seemingly more meaningful; stirring our thoughts, feelings, and shaping our attitudes. While hagioptasic experiences, such as sehnsucht, appear to be unrelated to any obvious evolutionary functions, and seem to be more the consequence of our conscious awareness of the effects of this instinctive drive, nostalgia has been shown to improve mood and strengthen social bonds (Sedikides and Wildschut, 2018).
Where we clearly see hagioptasia performing as an evolutionary function is in the human preoccupation with social status. Human beings share an evolutionary heritage with other social mammals, and we can see some of our universal behaviours reflected in theirs, especially when it comes to systems of social status, hierarchy, and competition. Hagioptasia plays a key role in facilitating these systems in humans. It compels us to revere high-status individuals (celebrities, musicians, sports stars, aristocrats, warriors, etc.) and to value often arbitrary signifiers of status, such as fashionable clothing or hairstyles.
While sensing this ‘specialness’ in our superiors generates feelings of reverence, admiration and deference, the perception of hagioptasia in our contemporaries regularly elicits the bitterness, hostility, and insecurities of competitive envy. Essentially, the illusions of hagioptasia arouse our passions for social status ( hagioptasia is commonly referred to as ‘glamour’ in this context).
Throughout human history, people have perceived the mysterious qualities of hagioptasia, but have misinterpreted them as deep and meaningful insights, a ‘glimpse of the divine’, spirituality, or sophisticated aesthetic sensibilities. We have also used our ingenuity to indulge and exploit hagioptasia in religion, music, art, fashion, glamour, and to ensure compliance with concepts of social class.
While much further research is needed, hagioptasia theory is already providing valuable new insights into our emotions and challenging the theory of constructed emotion’s overemphasis on the role of socialisation. Hagioptasia’s role in facilitating natural behaviours shows that we experience adaptive psychological drives as ’emotion’. Of course, concepts and socialisation are highly significant in influencing our emotional states, but the way people respond emotionally to concepts will usually be in accordance with our evolved human nature.
Hagioptasia theory challenges the Theory of Constructed Emotion (TCE) in several ways:
- By providing evidence of a natural psychological mechanism that universally and directly triggers emotions.
- By showing consistent emotional responses (such as with sehnsucht, nostalgia and our passions for social status) across cultures, which challenges TCE’s emphasis on cultural influence.
- By providing further examples of emotions that remain stable over time – despite a lifetime of socialisation – challenging the TCE’s premise that emotions are constantly constructed anew.
- By offering compelling evidence for emotions having evolved as adaptive responses, contradicting TCE’s claim that they are primarily socially constructed.
Written by Daniel Laidler @_MagicWizard
References
Barrett, Lisa Feldman. How emotions are made: The secret life of the brain. Pan Macmillan, 2017
Johnson, J. A., & Laidler, D. (2020). Measuring hagioptasia: A case study in theory-testing through Internet-based personality scale development. Personality and Individual Differences, 159, 109919
Sedikides, Constantine, and Tim Wildschut. “Finding meaning in nostalgia.” Review of General Psychology 22.1 (2018): 48-61.
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