Bruce Hutchison, Ph.D. Retired Clinical – Counselling Psychologist Author of Emotions Don’t Think: Emotional Contagion in a Time of Turmoil I am writing this in a quest to lower the heated rhetoric between the group of people who are in opposition against vaccinations designed to protect us from covid-19 and the group of people who […]
THE VACCINATION DEBATE Read More »
When contagious emotions flow, it is appearance, not the full realities, that count. The appearance, in images and sounds, presents the movement and the pictures from which emotions flow, and which emotional contagion stems from. When it comes to the news, it is the same. It is the images, the color and the sounds in
Emotional Contagion Flows From Appearances, Not Realities Read More »
Emotions are contagious and can be caught and absorbed by others. This is emotional contagion. It applies not only to openly expressed emotion, but also to implicit emotions, when emotions are experienced within us and not expressed to others openly. They can still be spread to others, subtly or indirectly in voice tone, gestures, and
Emotional and Social Contagion During Times of ‘Hot Topics’ Read More »
Cancel culture has dominated the culture in the Western world for quite a while now. This means that people are cancelling shows, appointments, and firing people easily, quickly, without much thought, based on a report. It is coming into the culture to just dismiss people. An example is the firing of Major-General Dany Fortin in
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Fear runs rampant at these times due to the fear of covid-19 and, for those who want the vaccine, the fear that the vaccine will not be the right one or will wear off. This fear is natural, except that it is irrational. It is natural because we are feeling the after-effects of the epidemic,
Fear is rampant as emotional contagion dominates discourse Read More »
It is best not to get overly emotional about various topics in the news and then make decisions or take positions based just on your immediate emotions. Emotions don’t think. But on the other hand it is natural to become very emotional about some topics in the news. For example, most of us naturally become
Emotional Thinking About Current Controversies Read More »
Implicit emotions can become contagious, meaning they can be easily spread and absorbed by others, who are infected by the emotion they have absorbed in turn, often without realizing it. Some of these people may then tend to spread it further, spreading contagious emotions. They are expressed implicitly but in ways which can be felt
IMPLICIT EMOTION CAN BE CONTAGIOUS Read More »
The media reports an upsurge of attacks on Asian-Americans recently. There were eight Asian people killed in Georgia in the U.S. in March. A report in mid-Feb. in USA Today[1] says that they arrested a suspect in connection with a brutal attack of a 91-year-old man in Chinatown that was caught on camera. In less
Guns, with their triggers, which are easy to pull, thereby unloading a lethal bullet, seem to be a way that a few people discharge their strong pent-up emotions very quickly. I have, thankfully, never heard a gun being shot. It must be horrible to hear it, see it, and feel that fear of the gunshot,
Guns, shootings and shooters Read More »
WaPo says that there is a growing strain of newbie Washington lawmakers in early 2021 who view legislating as a less important task than communications, largely ignoring the more traditional local media outlets where policy might be stated and debated. One lawmaker, first elected in November, recently told lawmakers that he “built my staff around
CURRENT POLITICAL THEATRICS FEED OFF EMOTIONAL CONTAGION Read More »