The James Lange Theory

The James Lange Theory is a theory of emotion theorized by William James and Carl Lange. The theory suggests that the emotion occur as a result of how the body interprets the physical reactions. Based on the example above, it shows that once you run, your body would react by having the heart beat faster which then leads to the emotion of tiredness. And once you feel tired, you would choose to stop running or slow down. However, the theory also received criticism. One major criticism involves that the theory was loosely based on controlled experiments that were conducted by neither James or Lange. They theory was also not widely accepted or agreed by different people, thus new different opposing theories have emerged including the Cannon Bard Theory where the physical and body reactions are caused by emotions, so it is the opposite of the James Lange Theory.