Appraisals of emotion-eliciting events: Testing a theory of discrete emotions.
Abstract
A recent theory (Roseman, 1979,1984) attempts to specify the particular appraisals of events that elicit 16 discrete emotions. This study tested hypotheses from the latest version of the theory and compared them with hypotheses derived from appraisal theories proposed by Arnold (1960) and by Scherer (1988), using procedures designed to address some prior methodological problems. Results provided empirical support for numerous hypotheses linking particular appraisals of situational state (motive-inconsistent/motive-consistent), motivational state (punishment/reward), probability (uncertain/certain), power (weak/strong), legitimacy (negative outcome deserved/positive outcome deserved), and agency (circumstances/other person/self) to particular emotions. Where hypotheses were not supported, new appraisal-emotion relationships that revise the theory were proposed.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The most discrete emotions occur in response to appraisals of events happening to persons or experiences they have.
“Roseman et al. (1990) have demonstrated that the most discrete emotions occur in response to appraisals of events happening to persons or experiences they have.”
From How personal nostalgia influences giving to charity (2011) · cites this paper as Roseman et al. (1990)
Cites
An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion
Weiner, B. (1985) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/0033-295x.92.4.548 · Cited by 7,846 · see citing works
Cognitive, social, and physiological determinants of emotional state.
Schachter, S., & Singer, J. (1962) · Psychological Review · doi:10.1037/h0046234 · Cited by 6,223 · see citing works
Evidence of convergent validity on the dimensions of affect
Russell, J. A. (1978) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.36.10.1152 · Cited by 495 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Compassion: an evolutionary analysis and empirical review
Goetz, J. L., Keltner, D., & Simon-Thomas, E. (2010) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/a0018807 · Cited by 2,200 · see citing works
Regulatory Focus and Strategic Inclinations: Promotion and Prevention in Decision-Making
Crowe, E., & Higgins, E. T. (1997) · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes · doi:10.1006/obhd.1996.2675 · Cited by 1,990 · see citing works
Barrett, L. F., Mesquita, B., Ochsner, K. N., & Gross, J. J. (2007) · Annual Review of Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.58.110405.085709 · Cited by 1,425 · see citing works
Phenomenology, behaviors, and goals differentiate discrete emotions.
Roseman, I. J., Wiest, C., & Swartz, T. S. (1994) · Journal of Personality and Social Psychology · doi:10.1037/0022-3514.67.2.206 · Cited by 1,161 · see citing works
Self-citationDiscrete Emotions or Dimensions? The Role of Valence Focus and Arousal Focus
Barrett, L. F. (1998) · Cognition & Emotion · doi:10.1080/026999398379574 · Cited by 645 · see citing works
Romantic love and sexual desire in close relationships
Gonzaga, G. C., Turner, R. A., Keltner, D., Campos, B., & Altemus, M. (2006) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/1528-3542.6.2.163 · Cited by 292 · see citing works
Anxiety, Immigration, and the Search for Information
Gadarian, S. K., & Albertson, B. (2014) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.12034 · Cited by 231 · see citing works
FAtiMA Modular: Towards an Agent Architecture with a Generic Appraisal Framework
Dias, J., Mascarenhas, S., & Paiva, A. (2014) · Lecture Notes in Computer Science · doi:10.1007/978-3-319-12973-0_3 · Cited by 210 · see citing works
How personal nostalgia influences giving to charity
Merchant, A., Ford, J. B., & Rose, G. (2011) · Journal of Business Research · doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2010.06.013 · Cited by 102 · see citing works
Connelly, S., & Ruark, G. (2010) · The Leadership Quarterly · doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2010.07.005 · Cited by 101 · see citing works
Northey, G., Hunter, V., Mulcahy, R., Choong, K., & Mehmet, M. (2022) · International Journal of Bank Marketing · doi:10.1108/ijbm-09-2021-0439 · Cited by 95 · see citing works
Interface design and emotions experienced on B2C Web sites: Empirical testing of a research model
Éthier, J., Hadaya, P., Talbot, J., & Cadieux, J. (2008) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2008.04.004 · Cited by 92 · see citing works
Cognitive Vulnerability to Psychological Disorders: Overview of Theory, Design, And Methods
Riskind, J. H., & Alloy, L. B. (2006) · Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology · doi:10.1521/jscp.2006.25.7.705 · Cited by 77 · see citing works
Kong, D. T. (2016) · Journal of Occupational Health Psychology · doi:10.1037/ocp0000013 · Cited by 37 · see citing works
Romantic jealousy and affairs: Research and implications for couple therapy
Cano, A., & O'leary, K. D. (1997) · Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy · doi:10.1080/00926239708403931 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Not all forms of artificial intelligence are perceived equal: AI functions and work outcomes
Cao, J., Yao, J., Sun, S., Song, Z., & Zhang, F. (2025) · Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity · doi:10.1016/j.joitmc.2025.100521 · Cited by 10 · see citing works
- Authors
- Roseman, I. J., Spindel, M. S., & Jose, P. E.
- Affiliations
- The New School (US)
- Loyola University Chicago (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
- Published
- 1990-11
- Volume
- 59
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 899-915
- ISSN
- 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-1315
- OpenAlex
- W2056678123
- Cited by
- 827
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 35 · 2024: 33 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 40 · 2021: 33 · 2020: 65 · 2019: 36 · 2018: 35 · 2017: 34 · 2016: 31 · 2015: 45 · 2014: 32 · 2013: 35 · 2012: 33
- FWCI
- 10.09
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Psychological Testing and Assessment
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Keywords
- emotion induction, appraisal theory, discrete emotions, reward and punishment, outcome probability, power and legitimacy, agency, emotion appraisal
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
