James-Lange Theory
In his classic article "What is an Emotion?" James (1984) argued that emotional experience is largely due to the experience of bodily changes. The Danish psychologist Carl Lange also proposed a similar theory at around the same time. These positions came to be known as the James-Lange theory of emotion. This theory and its derivatives state that a changed situation leads to a changed bodily state. According to James the perception of bodily changes as they occur
is the emotion. We feel sad because we cry, angry because we strike, afraid because we tremble, and not that we cry, strike, or tremble because we are sorry; angry, or fearful. In other words the somatic (physiological) experience comes before the emotional (affective) experience. We first physically react to a situation and then we interpret our actions into an emotional response. In this way, emotions serve to explain and organise our own actions to us (see http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emotion).