The concept of innate affect

• Welcome to the BOL Forum on Shame and Affect Theory by John Grohol, 2/10/96
  • Shame, guilt. by coronet@ksu.ksu.edu, 8/8/96
    
    

Your suggestion makes perfect sense as a cognitive concept. Nevertheless, there is so much data suggesting that each of the nine programmed mechanisms Tomkins called "innate affects" is part of quite another body system that we've moved away from purely cognitive explanations of human emotion. There is no question that awareness of the factors you cite enters into the adult experience of shame and guilt. But your explanation does not address the vasodilatation associated with the blush and a host of other physiological factors. Would you do me the favor of checking out the first section of my book "Shame and Pride" to see what we've described as the "affect system"? If we're going to debate the relation between innate mechanisms and learning we've got to have a common language. Thanks.

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