Emotion: A Classification of Current Literature

Abstract

337 abstracts listed in a computer search of the Psychological Abstracts for January 1979 to February 1983 as instances of the descriptor “emotion” were analyzed in terms of source, type, length, and content of the document abstracted. Relatively large numbers of abstracts of dissertations (22%) and foreign-language documents (11%) were noted. Content was analyzed in 11 categories based on the history of the area (Psychoanalysis, Physiology, Cognition, Learning, Development, Structure, Pathology, Comparative, Communication, Personality, and Attribution). The category of Pathology contained the largest number of documents (25%) and the Comparative category, the smallest (2%). Samples of the literature in each category are presented, and problems inherent in any unique definition of “emotion” are discussed.