| Theory | Explanation of Emotions | Example |
|---|
| James-Lange | Emotions arise from our awareness of our specific bodily responses to emotion-arousing stimuli. | We observe our heart racing after a threat and then feel afraid. |
| Cannon-Bard | Emotion-arousing stimuli trigger our bodily responses and simultaneous subjective experience. | Our heart races at the same time that we feel afraid. |
| Schachter-Singer | Our experience of emotion depends on two factors: general arousal and a conscious cognitive label. | We may interpret our arousal as fear or excitement, depending on the context. |
| Zajonc; LeDoux | Some embodied responses happen instantly, without conscious appraisal. | We automatically feel startled by a sound in the forest before labeling it as a threat. |
| Lazarus | Cognitive appraisal (“Is it dangerous or not?”)—sometimes without our awareness—defines emotion. | The sound is “just the wind.” |