Emotions have been central to the sociological classics and have developed into a field of their own: the sociology of emotions. Understanding emotions as social constructions, products of social life, and factors that influence social processes has engaged many sociologists (Wettergren, 2013; Hochschild, 2003).
Reflexive emotionality: emotions and reflexivity support one another in the pursuit of a good life. Reflexive emotionality is a state of equilibrium in which the entire emotional economy is balanced toward the good life. These are emotions that are in sync with what is best for the pursuit of the good life. An emotion cannot, therefore, be out of balance in and of itself if it exists for the right reasons in relation to the good life. Feelings of happiness (Veenhoven, 2006), resonance (Rosa, 2019), or emotional energy (Collins, 2004) are strong positive emotions; however, they cannot in and of themselves be said to be at a high level of balance unless these positive emotions are accompanied by good balance in the other dimensions of balance. An elitist who exploits others for personal gain may feel happiness and emotional energy. Reflexivity can thus be fragmented, cynical, falsely self, aware, etc., which shields one from thoughts that might, for example, cause shame for having acted unjustly toward others. Conversely, something considered a negative emotion can be virtuous in the pursuit of the good life. Aristotle wrote: “The person who becomes angry at the right time, in the right way, and toward the right person, is praiseworthy.” This means being able to view emotions as moral signals, we are angry, but why? Have we been subjected to an injustice? Emotions can spark an insight into our social situation. This is linked to a deeper understanding of emotional rules, emotional ideologies, and emotional regimes (Hochschild, 2003, Wettergren, 2013) and a curiosity about how emotions should be used; for example, Nietzsche argues that we should utilize all emotions rather than suppress them, our entire “emotional economy.” Nietzsche writes about pain and pleasure, suggesting that pain can give meaning to a good life in which we have lived as artists of life. Hochschild’s theory of emotions and our quest for authenticity is not the goal of emotional reflexivity; rather, the goal, in connection with the dimension of identity, is a balance between genuineness and authenticity that supports the pursuit of the good life (Moehller & D’Ambriosi, 2021).
Reflexive emotionality is the ability to reflect on one’s emotions through practice and cultivation in social contexts directed toward the right things, so that emotions arise for the right reasons at the right time (Holmes, 2010; Aristotle, 1998). Striking a balance involves reflecting on when one should “tune into one’s feelings” or disregard them and exercise emotional restraint (Ecclestone, 2011). Sociologist Brown argues that emotions, as a form of vulnerability and courage, are important (Brown, 2015). Furedi and Ecclestone are two thinkers who argue that there has been an overemphasis on “tuning in to one’s feelings” and that more emotional restraint and, in general, less focus on emotions are needed (Furedi, 2004; Ecclestone, 2011). Emotional reflexivity involves striking a balance in using emotions to move us forward; for example, “rational enchantment” means ensuring that we create emotions within ourselves that motivate us to act, such as secure relationships and social interactions that generate emotional energy, which in turn motivates us to learn more about the world (Collins, 2004).
The other side of reflexive emotionality is that our reflections are always embedded in emotions (Holmes, 2010). As critical cyborgs, we therefore need to understand how our “machinery” functions best when engaging in certain reflections on life and decisions. Whether we do so alone, lying in bed, or among others, this will influence our reflections, which in turn create certain chains of thought and shape our emotional energy and rhythm (Collins, 2004).
In the pursuit of the good life, a state of balance involves more positively charged emotions and fewer negative ones. Vitality, emotional energy, a sense of momentum, direction, and meaning are preferable to resignation, anxiety, and doubt. However, negative emotions may be necessary in this pursuit when one encounters challenges in the quest for the good life. Without a doubt, unchecked pride would lead to hubris. Rosa takes a similar approach in pointing out that alienation can serve as a foundation for later experiencing resonance, where alienation becomes something one overcomes and can derive meaning from through the resonant experience (Rosa, 2019). Emotional reflexivity involves striking a balance with how much reflection one should allow at any given moment, as too much can lead to doubt that may diminish motivation for one’s actions. Doing challenging things requires a high degree of focus, so that if one starts thinking about other things that could affect the moment, it can lead to paralysis. Conversely, the feeling of fatigue itself can lower our reflexivity, so to protect against this, one must maintain balance in other ways, for example, in the physical dimension, through adequate sleep.
A high level of balance is feeling deeply alive and full of vitality while striving toward a meaningful, ethical life. William James wrote about how we often live our lives far below our optimal energy level and are instead “half awake”:
“Everyone is familiar with the phenomenon of feeling more or less alive on different days. Everyone knows on any given day that there are energies slumbering within them that the stimuli of that day do not bring forth, but which they might display if these were greater. Most of us feel as if we habitually live with a sort of cloud weighing on us, below our highest level of clarity in discernment, certainty in reasoning, or firmness in decision, making. Compared with what we ought to be, we are only half awake.” The human individual usually lives far within his limits; he possesses powers of various kinds that he habitually fails to use. He functions below his maximum capacity, and he behaves below his optimum. Of course, there are limits. Trees do not grow into the sky. The plain fact remains that people all over the world possess resources that only very exceptional individuals utilize to their fullest extent.” William James, The Energies of Men
Emotional reflexivity can be described precisely as this state of being awake, where one’s emotional economy fills one with energy, which is further directed toward and used for the good life. A sense of deep meaning, reflected in the realization that what we do is likely meaningful to others in the struggle for civil rights, drives us forward. Feelings of boldness (Collins, 2000), a sense of calm and optimism in taking risks (Furedi, 2019), wonder (Haidt & Keltner, 2003), curiosity, or playfulness are other emotions that can be a central part of a life characterized by a high degree of emotional reflexivity when directed toward the good life.
In his theory of interaction rituals, Randall Collins posits that people do not seek to maximize happiness but rather to maximize emotional energy (Collins, 2004). Collins describes high emotional energy as feeling “refreshed,” resistant to fatigue, active, alert, attention, seeking, focused, filled with self, confidence and engagement, with a sense of rhythm and synchronization, flow, and ease (Collins, 2004). People with high EE experience this very often throughout the day as “,” which is highly motivating and creates even more momentum. This elation propels them forward. Collective elation occurs when you’re in sync with the people around you; you’re in the same emotional state, where feedback from those around you amplifies the feeling. Sports events, parties, music concerts, and religious gatherings are the clearest examples of this. Collins’s idea tells us more about what the good life is. It is a life in which people build EE together, which spreads through various networks and, above all, creates solidarity within the group (Collins, 2004, 49). This should not be taken as a simple task. Part of building emotional energy involves successfully creating emotional attunement with the people one encounters. It should be noted that Collins also points out that emotional energy can be built within one person at the expense of others, as one person becomes the center of an interaction ritual and receives the most attention. If EE comes at the expense of others, it cannot be a fully balanced form, because it prevents others from leading a good life. An example of an “energy star” according to Collins is Napoleon (Collins & McConnell, 2015). A high level of balance within reflexive emotionality is to be an “energy star” while simultaneously being embedded in a hero, worshiping citizenry, not a specialist who shuts out ethical judgments about whether the wars he participates in and leads are right or wrong. Summer, Effler expands on Collins’s theory in a very useful way by linking it to the self, which influences and is influenced by our emotional energy (2004). Emotional energy is also sustained when there is intrapersonal harmony. If there is an intrapersonal conflict, EE will decrease. If this intrapersonal conflict is blocked by an ideology that encourages harming others, the emotional energy is built on a false perception of reality. Emotional energy is not always a zero, sum game; it can be in certain situations but does not have to be. Therefore, channeling emotional energy toward meaningful and ethical goals and life values is something that should be an important part of the sociologically good life.
Imbalances
Below are various imbalances in this dimension.
Over-emotionalized:
Desire-dominated. Consumed by passions (Durkheim, 2002; Sennett, 2002; Mestrovic, 1996), where an excess of various desires consumes a person, while at the same time they are unable to satisfy them. This can be generated by societies where a multitude of things are offered but there is no cultural support for how to relate to them, which, for example, Hoellebeque, following Durkheim, views as the defining feature of modernity.
Over-emotionalization: making emotions the goal of life, achieving peace, becoming happy, becoming “emotionally whole,” experiencing “true love” (Illouz, 2019). It can also manifest as an excessive belief that emotions should be examined deeply and frequently. It is a superstitious belief that emotions can lead to a truth. A belief and practice that emotions should be set free, and that the more emotions, the better. This can be linked to a sense of being “authentic” by allowing one’s emotions to flow freely. Emotional norms that emphasize the importance of expressing emotions, and norms that encourage amplifying one’s emotions otherwise, one is viewed as “emotionally cold,” for example.
Emotions as a means of escape and a defense mechanism (Turner, 2006): projection, escapism, excessive use of humor, rationalization (feeling more detached through reflection)
Impulse, driven, disconnected from emotional restraint. Too strong a link between a specific emotion and action, which proceeds too quickly and is too focused on the present without considering the future. Short, term pleasure, reactive.
Dominated by one specific emotion or several: such as commitment phobia (Illouz, 2020), hubris (Alvesson, 2013, 2019), resentment/status deficit (Hochschild, 2012; Kemper, 2011, 93), shame (the shame, anger spiral; Scheff, 1990), depression, fatigue, humiliation (Smith, 2001), and resignation (Standing, 2011, 37). anxiety, worry (Paulsen, 2020), nostalgia (Bauman, 2022), depressive love (Engdahl, 2016), or melancholy (Gilroy, 2004).
Being dominated by one or more emotions can be described as an unbalanced emotional economy. It is the emotion that dominates the individual, diverting them from the pursuit of the good life. Emotions can vary in intensity, and this can be useful and even inevitable. But when an emotion such as shame dominates you, your capacity for action is lost or your actions are misdirected, which can lead to a host of other imbalances. Shame itself can also be seen as a symptom of other imbalances, for example, embedded heteronomy, where one is experiencing oppression and has waged a war against oneself instead of directing one’s gaze outward toward the agent creating the imbalance. The dominance of emotions such as anxiety, depression, shame, and worry can itself be a result of fragmented reflexivity (Archer, 2007). One can be dominated by emotions that are overly tied to one’s own self and one’s privatized life, something Barbalet refers to as “ego, emotions” (Barbalet, 2019).
Reification of emotions. Emotive (Illouz, 2019), commodified emotions that are manipulable, prefabricated (Mestrovic, 1996), “automated reactions,” the feeling of “being oneself” and “authentic” (Mestrovic, 1996).
Emotional displacement
Wrong emotions for the wrong reasons. Misdirected resentment (Brown, 2015; Hochschild, 2016). This is linked to the imbalance of misdirected hostility, where negative emotions are directed at the wrong person or thing. Even pleasurable experiences can be seen as an emotional displacement if they stem from the wrong reasons, for example, deriving pleasure from harming someone, which is often an emotional component of the “brutalized” imbalance (within the “struggle” dimension).
Emotional dissonance, according to Hochschild (2003), is the conflict that arises when a person’s true feelings do not align with the feelings they are expected to express, particularly in jobs that require emotional labor (such as service professions). This can lead to stress, burnout, and a sense of inauthenticity because one is forced to hide or suppress one’s own feelings. Emotional dissonance is an active process of displacing emotions.
Psychotherapized/Psychologized: In her book Cold Intimacies, Eva Illouz wrote about how “communication” has become central to our understanding of a healthy relationship. Illouz challenges this taken, for, granted understanding of communication and argues that it is specific and shaped in a way that excludes other possibilities of what communication could be (Illouz, 2008, 18). The point is that “communication” is a “technology of self, management that relies heavily on language and the proper management of emotions, but with the goal of engineering inter, and intra, emotional coordination” (Illouz, 2008, 18). Within this framework, several specific traits stand out: being “objective” in one’s assessment, using “empathy,” self, awareness, “active listening,” techniques for acknowledging each other’s emotions, and protecting a “precarious self”, and above all, it serves to cultivate “emotional intelligence.” These are core competencies in the workplace as well as in what is considered a well, functioning relationship where both partners are “emotionally intelligent.” Illouz writes:
The highly educated couple displays what I have called “emotional competence” (dubbed “intelligence” in psychological circles), namely self, awareness, the ability to identify their feelings, talk about them, empathize with each other’s position, and find solutions to a problem. The therapeutic language and this couple’s emotional intelligence are “real” cultural resources, not because they understand the “real” nature of their emotional problems, but because they can, deploy a common cultural structure to make sense of their difficult emotions and put them “to work” by eliciting a narrative of suffering and self, help, which they can in turn both share and capitalize on to further their intimacy.” (Illouz, 2008, 69).
Illouz observes that in modern relationships, there is a lot of talk about “communication,” and people may believe they are good at “communication,” but that this is a very specific form of communication that is neither universal nor necessarily the best. Illouz views this form of “communication” as problematic because it is therapeutic in nature and aims to find solutions to problems through introspection and a closer examination of the relationship, without incorporating a sociological perspective. The understanding one imagines having gained about various emotions and why we experience them then becomes merely a belief that we have understood. Often, we haven’t truly understood their root causes precisely because the social causes of these emotions are underestimated or entirely excluded from the analysis a couple might undertake. Illouz argues that it is problematic for this form of therapeutic communication to be introduced into relationships because, she contends, therapeutic jargon leads to “psychological failures”, as it fosters an overconfidence that one can make oneself and one’s relationship happy by “working on oneself” without taking into account the underlying sociological forces.
Emotional deficit: for example, a lack of solidarity (Collins, 2013)
Desire fatigue (Mestrovic, 1996). Empathy fatigue (Mestrovic, 1996, 56)
Emotional numbness, emotional blockage, or emotional detachment (Asplund, 1987, 173). Asplund points out that the effect of being forced into a role on a regular basis and being treated by others as that role, rather than as a whole person, can lead to a diminishing intensity of emotions. A state of “emotional numbness,” of being numbed or desensitized. This can also be caused by various psychotropic medications.
Over-irony (Illouz, 2020), which makes it difficult to experience strong emotions, such as love.
Anhedonia, the inability to feel positive emotions.
Intellectualization/rationalization (Freud, sociologized by Turner, 2006), where thoughts lack a clear emotional foundation or there is a reluctance to involve emotions.
An excessive degree of emotional restraint, which may involve denying emotions or viewing the experience and exploration of emotions as dangerous or a sign of weakness.
Indifference (Simmel, 1908; Tester, 2000; Mestrovic, 1996) as a reaction to overstimulation, too much to take in, a defense against the world and any traumas one may have experienced.
Lack of love, a lack of love in one’s life for others and for oneself. Love is a powerful emotion, yet it is difficult to talk about. It is a feeling of intense attraction, frustratingly strong, especially when it goes unreciprocated. When we lack love in our lives, our willingness to make an effort diminishes. Love is one of the greatest forces within us that drives us to take action to care for ourselves and others. ABT thus assumes that love is not merely a social construct but a complex emotional state. Love can vary in strength and form. Love is something that people in various social configurations try to evoke, encourage, condition, or enchant. Not all of these attempts are equally successful, so even a strong love can still be entangled in other imbalances. For example, bourgeois love, which is conditioned by bourgeois life and norms, comes with major paradoxes, ambiguities, and dilemmas that one is forced to deal with. A lack of love is a burdensome but sometimes invisible condition. It can become normalized. People can go through large parts of their lives without feeling love for others or being met with love. A lack of love can be reflected upon, unreflected upon, or over, reflected upon. Awareness of this lack shapes its impact on the person experiencing it. Awareness of the lack of love can lead us to seek out places where love exists and to engage in practices that alleviate it. Love is a feeling that transforms many actions if we act upon it. Love embodies a sense of dignity and makes the person an end in themselves. It is, therefore, easy to talk about love, but anyone who believes they are experiencing love yet still wants to make another person a means to their own ends is not experiencing love. Love is an experience of a strong desire to care for and be close to that person, to be the one who provides care in that person’s life. Rather than speaking of true love or false love, it is a matter of love being more or less balanced across the other dimensions.