Animal emotions
Animal emotions refer to the feelings and emotional responses that various animal species may experience, akin to those observed in humans. Researchers face challenges in identifying and measuring these emotions due to the lack of verbal communication in animals, often relying on behavioral observations to infer emotional states. The distinction between primary emotions, which are instinctual and essential for survival, and secondary emotions, which may include more complex feelings like love and grief, is a significant point of debate among scientists. Historically, the view that animals lack human-like emotions has been prevalent, influenced by behaviorism and cultural perspectives that prioritize human experiences. However, contemporary research, including studies on the brain's limbic system and neurotransmitters, suggests that many animals do experience a range of emotions. For instance, behaviors indicative of grief have been documented in species such as elephants and dolphins. While some scientists acknowledge the existence of core emotions similar to humans, the interpretation of more intricate emotions remains contentious, particularly regarding self-awareness and the capacity for empathy. Overall, ongoing research continues to explore the emotional lives of animals, revealing complexities that challenge traditional views.
Animal emotions
In attempting to prove the existence and extent of emotions in animals, researchers have struggled with the question of how to identify and measure feelings in various species. For many scientists, it is nonsense to speak of animal emotions without the capacity to objectively define and measure them. Such scientists have an aversion to the nonscientific tendency to ascribe humanlike characteristics to animals. Anthropomorphism is the term used to describe this tendency.
Defining and Communicating Emotions
Defining emotions can be difficult, even in humans. Psychologists view emotions as organized psychological and physiological reactions to change in one’s relationship with the world. An emotion is a positive or negative transitory experience that is felt with some intensity. Emotional reactions are partly subjective experiences and partly objectively measurable patterns of behavior and physiological arousal. The subjective experiences can include how a person appraises a situation and what actions result from that appraisal. For example, when a student receives a passing grade on an extremely difficult exam, she may experience joy after appraising the situation as a success. Even with this appraisal, however, humans cannot decide to experience joy or some other emotion. The subjective aspects of emotions are triggered by the thinking self and are felt as happening to the self. Objective aspects of emotions include learned and innate physiological responses and expressive displays. The expressive displays include smiles, frowns, and squinting of the eyes. The innate physiological responses are biological adjustments needed to perform the actions generated by the emotional experience. For example, if anger develops in a person, the heart rate increases to supply additional oxygen to the muscles.
Since animals do not have the capacity for speech, any inner states cannot be expressed directly to a scientific observer. Consequently, field observations of behavior are often used to infer emotions in animals. There are problems, however, in assessing emotions through behavioral manifestations. It becomes difficult or impossible to attribute an emotion to an act with many possible motivations. If a dog chews on the shoes of an owner who is out on a date, does this indicate jealousy, anger, boredom, or merely a poorly trained pet?
Historically, animals have been seen from a mechanistic perspective as being without the capacity for humanlike emotions. Behaviorism dictated that instincts and patterns of reinforcement in the environment provided the motivation for the behavior of animals. For centuries, Christian religions also promoted the idea that animals lacked humanlike emotions. The role of animals was to serve the needs of humans. The concept of “speciesism” suggested that only humans were capable of emotions because of their special place in creation. Charles Darwin was one of the first scientists to study animal emotions and to utilize field observations to ascribe emotions to animals. In his book, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872), Darwin stressed the communicative aspects of emotion. Positive inner states were expressed through a signal for sociability, while aggressiveness indicated a desire for isolation. He believed that species developed special social signals to indicate how they would react to a social encounter. Yet the behavioristic view of animals continued to dominate the debate about animal emotions. Over a hundred years later, Jane Goodall, in her book The Chimpanzees of Gombe: Patterns of Behavior (1986), was criticized by the scientific community for suggesting that chimpanzees had personalities and experienced excitement and joy.
Primary and Secondary Emotions
In the twenty-first century, even the most critical scientists accept the fact that many animals experience a core group of emotions that are similar to those found in humans. Making the distinction between primary and secondary emotions, some agreement exists about the basic emotions of fear and aggression. The primary emotions, such as fear, involve instinctual tendencies that are essential to survival. Fear permits escape from dangerous situations or predators. The fight-or-flight response is an instinctual pattern of behavior found in response to danger. The primary emotions, which are instinctual or hardwired into many species, can be demonstrated quite easily. When a specific stimulus is presented to an animal, a predictable response takes place. For example, if the shadow of a hawk is projected on the ground among a group of chickens, the birds will respond with “fear” and attempt to get under cover.
It is the realm of secondary emotions that creates the most controversy between those with opposing views about the extent of animal emotions. Expressions of love, grief, or jealousy may be commonplace among humans, but it is debatable whether they can be inferred in animals. Grief is commonly reported during field observations of various animals. The behaviors of elephants, chimpanzees, sea lions, and geese suggesting grief in response to the loss of a mate or offspring have been well documented. The dolphin who carries a dead baby around for several days is inferred to be experiencing both grief and love. Love has been attributed to animals such as swans, geese, and penguins because of lifelong bonds that are established with a mate. Critics of these interpretations point out that animals may behave as if they are grieving or in love, yet there is no way of knowing whether this is an accurate reflection of their inner states. A central issue about the capacity of animals to experience a wide range of secondary emotions involves the ability to show self-consciousness. If an animal can be aware of its own inner states, it would then have the capacity to infer the mental states of others. With self-awareness comes the capacity for sympathy and empathy.
The Biology of Emotions
Scientists examining the biology of emotions have discovered some similarities between the brains of humans and animals that help to explain the basic primary emotions. Emotions seem to arise from the parts of the brain that are located below the cortex and are part of the limbic system. These regions of the brain have remained intact across many species throughout evolution. So far, the amygdala has been identified as the central site of emotion. This almond-shaped structure is at the center of the brain. Neuroscientists have found that rats will show a pattern of fear when a particular section of the amygdala is stimulated. If the amygdala is damaged, a rat will not show normal behavioral responses to danger, such as freezing or running away. The rat with a damaged amygdala also will not demonstrate the accompanying physiological reactions to danger, such as increased heart rate or blood pressure. Research with humans has highlighted the amygdala’s critical role in the learning of emotional associations and the recognition of emotional expressions in other individuals. Magnetic resonance imaging studies have shown that the amygdala shows activation to fearful stimuli. In humans, the brain is also involved in the control of emotional facial expressions. Smiles that occur spontaneously as a result of genuine happiness are involuntary. The extrapyramidal motor system, which depends on subcortical areas, governs involuntary smiles and fear reactions.
The chemistry of the brain also plays an important part in animal and human emotions. The neurotransmitter dopamine is released in copious amounts during periods of pleasure and excitement. Researchers have found that rats experience an increase in dopamine when engaging in activities that appear to suggest play. Research has also shown that if dopamine production is blocked in rats through the administration of a dopamine-blocking agent, the rat’s play activity disappears. The effects of the hormone oxytocin have been studied in small mammals and appear to be related to sexual activity and bonding behaviors. In humans, oxytocin is released in mothers who are nursing their infants and is considered to aid in the mother-child bond. Researchers have investigated the role of oxytocin in bonding among voles. If a female vole is injected with oxytocin, the animal will quickly select a mate. When a female vole is given a drug to block oxytocin, however, mate selection never takes place.
Many scientists contend that it is illogical to believe that emotions appear suddenly in humans. If evolution takes place through the process of natural selection, the emotions found in humans would be present in early evolutionary ancestors. The similarities in brain anatomy and chemistry between animals and humans would then support the idea that some basic emotions exist in various species. Darwin believed that some facial expressions in humans are universal. These expressions are genetically determined and evolved as the most effective at telling others something about how a person is feeling. Research on infants shows the innate capacity to grimace in pain or to smile in pleasure. For the most basic emotions, people in all cultures show similar facial responses to similar emotional situations. For example, anger is linked with a facial expression recognized by almost all cultures. Perhaps it is this line of reasoning from the evolutionary context that provides the strongest support for the existence of a wide range of emotional reactions in animals.
Research into the behavioral and biological aspects of animals’ ability to feel emotions continues in the twenty-first century though much study still occurred through field observations. Scientists, however, became more certain that their studies concluded animals often show complex emotions such as protest, empathy, and kindness.
Principal Terms
Amygdala: subcortical brain structure related to emotional expression
Anthropomorphism: attributing human characteristics to animal behavior
Dopamine: neurotransmitter involved in movement and reward systems
Field Observations: observing behavior in naturalistic settings
Limbic System: brain structures related to the regulation of emotions
Oxytocin: hormone involved with pleasure during bonding
Primary Emotions: emotions related to innate motivations
Secondary Emotions: emotions with a strong social component
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