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Modeling Emotional Dynamics: Currency Versus Field

Center for Complex Adaptive Agent Systems Simulation, Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Building 900, Argonne, IL 60439-4832, 630-252-5760, Computation Institute, University of Chicago, sallach{at}anl.gov

Randall Collins has introduced a simplified model of emotional dynamics in which emotional energy, heightened and focused by interaction rituals, serves as a common denominator for social exchange: a generic form of currency, except that it is active in a far broader range of social transactions. While the scope of this theory is attractive, the specifics of the model remain unconvincing.

After a critical assessment of the currency theory of emotion, a field model of emotion is introduced that adds expressiveness by locating emotional valence within its cognitive context, thereby creating an integrated orientation field. The result is a model which claims less in the way of motivational specificity, but is more satisfactory in modeling the dynamic interaction between cognitive and emotional orientations at both individual and social levels.

Key Words: emotional energy • social field • collective orientation • cultural dynamics • discourse community

Rationality and Society, Vol. 20, No. 3, 343-365 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1043463108092532


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