How Do People Appraise Any Given Situation? Instead of running away or hiding from the sound, they begin to run toward it because that what their personal experiences dictate. They might experience a heightened awareness of their environment, looking for people in need who might require a helping hand. Instead of feeling fear, they feel motivation. This creates the rapid heart rate, the adrenaline surge, and other physical reactions that are association with the feelings being experienced.įor others, the sound of a gunshot in their personal experience is a stimulus which means other people require help. This creates feelings of fear because there is an imminent to protect one’s life. For some people, the sound of a gunshot is an immediate emergency. Why Do Some People Respond Differently to Stimuli?Īccording to Lazarus, the physiological reactions that an external stimulus can cause is based on the personal meaning that the individual has to it. You might automatically duck down to the ground to avoid a potential bullet. You might feel more energetic because of a release of adrenaline. If you hear a gunshot, for example, the cognitive meditational theory of emotion says that there could be several physiological responses that are initiated. Should there be a perception of emotion or arousal, then the cognitive appraisal of that situation creates a physical reaction that is based on the automatic perception. These assessments are often done within the subconscious, helping each person understand what a specific situation means to them. His theory focuses on the role of what he called “appraisal.”Īppraisal is defined in this theory as the tendency of the human mind to create an automatic assessment of any given situation. Richard Lazarus attempts to explain how cognition, stress, and emotion are interrelated to one another through the cognitive mediational theory of emotion.