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In his famous treatise, Darwin (1872) sought not only to understand natural selection of species of organisms but also extending his understanding to how emotions may have evolved in these species. He argued as part of his work that certain emotions like love and fear appeared to be expressed universally in humans populations around the world, even in populations living in very remote parts of the world where interaction with the outside world is little, thus evoking the possibility that emotions may be innate rather than learnt. Darwin also observed that certain emotions appeared to be expressed similarly across certain species of living entities, particularly those closely related, thus suggesting the possibility of a heritable component to emotions in those species. With the rise of experimental brain research in the late nineteen century competing theories of what emotions were began to emerge. In his seminal paper on what an emotion was, James (1884) proposed that an emotion was no more than an experience whereby a set of bodily changes occurred in response to emotive cues in the individual’s environment. That description suggests that if an individual were for example to feel frightened following an event or incident, it is their perception of the incident and the bodily changes flowing from it that characterise the emotion they experience. According to James (1884) therefore, a sequence akin to event, arousal, interpretation and emotion occurs. This leads to different patterns of bodily changes accounting for different emotions the individual experiences. James (1884) suggests therefore that it is the individual’s perception of bodily changes as they occur which characterises the emotion. A similar theory was posited by Lange (1885) leading to the James-Lange theory of emotions. The basic premise underpinning the James-Lange theory was that physiological arousal initiated the experience of emotion rather than the other way round i.e. a feeling first, followed by a physiological (bodily) response (Lange, 1885). That theory has however been variously criticised as being incomplete in its conceptualisation. A major critic

being the Canon-Bard theory which espoused that physiological changes followed emotions, rather than the other way round (Cannon, 1927). Cannon (1927), points to the failure of autonomic activity to distinguish between different emotional states in animal experimental studies where surgical separation of viscera from the brain did not impair emotional behaviour. Similarly, Maranon (1924) reported that physiological arousal alone was not sufficient to cause emotion. This asserted was based on studies demonstrating that only two thirds of participants injected with adrenaline reported physical symptoms. Notwithstanding these polarising positions, some theorists like Lazarus (1982) have argued that the occurrence of emotions is purely cognitive. Lazarus (1982) has proposed that cognitive activity in the form of judgements, evaluations or thoughts are required for emotions to occur. From that perspective emotions require intentionality and this process may either be conscious or unconscious and may or may not require conceptual processing. Similarly, Fredrickson (2001) suggests that emotions are internal multidimensional states experienced by individuals over a period of time which usually follows personal cognitive interpretation (i.e. appraisal) of an antecedent event. Fredrickson’s (2001) also suggests that irrespective of whether the appraisal process is conscious or unconscious, it inevitably results in physiological, physical or cognitive changes. Other theoretical perspectives such as the Affective Events Theory have attempted to explain emotions from a communication-based perspective focusing on causes, structures, and consequences. The theory specifically suggests that emotions are caused and influenced by events, which in turn influences attitudes and behaviours. The same theoretical perspective postulates that the influence of time is crucial, and it is proposed that an individual experiences emotion episodes that encompass a series of emotional states extended over time, and they are usually organized around an underlying theme (Weiss & Cropanzano, 1996).

Hybrid theories on what emotions are have also emerged in the literature. An example is the two-factor theory of Schachter & Singer (1962). In that theory the individual is thought to contribute to their own sense of emotional experience following a combination of their individual perception of an external

stimulus and cognitively self-appraising it i.e. a somatic-cognitive interaction. Another notable example is the Component Process Model of Scherer (1987) which describes emotions more widely as the synchronisation of many different bodily and cognitive systems within an overall process. In that process model it is suggested that low-level cognitive appraisals, particularly the processing of relevance can trigger of bodily reactions, behaviours, actions, and subjective feelings. This model identifies emotions as serving five major functions namely (i) evaluating a stimulus event for their relevance to the individuals wellbeing, (ii) regulation of internal states to prepare an organism for action, (iii) activation

of specific motives and tendencies, (iv) expressing and communicating reactions and intentions, (v) monitoring and focusing on changes in organismic states. In the model, evaluating stimulus events

for relevance as well as appraising them for coping potential is characteristic of the cognitive component, while the regulation of the organismic system, the internal milieu, and energy supply for behavioural activity correspond to the neurophysiological component. The model also states that preparation and direction of specific action tendencies corresponds to the motivational component while the expressive component corresponds to communication of intention and reaction. Finally, reflection and monitoring correspond to a subjective feeling component. The model therefore defines emotions as encompassing “a sequence of interrelated, synchronised changes in the states of all or most of the five organismic sub- systems, in response to the evaluation of an external or internal stimulus event as relevant to major concerns of the organism” (Scherer, 1987, p.7).

Additional useful theories of what emotions are can be gleaned from sociological perspectives. Kemper (1978) for example proposed that emotions are feelings that emerge as a result of interpersonal events during social interactions when an individual assumes positions on two relational levels, namely status and power. He proposed that affirming an individual’s status or power for example generates feelings whose quality is contingent on the pattern of change, for example exalting an individual’s status is likely to generate positive love-related emotions and vice versa. Hochschild (1983) on the other hand views

emotions as an acceptable display of feelings within human interactions which are ideologically and culturally acceptable. In contrast the Affect Control Theory proposes that emotions are transient physical and subjective states that are influenced by social activities intended by the originating source to fit feelings to an occurring situation (Heise, 2007). In effect the Affect Control Theory suggest that emotions are intuitive signals to the individual about their understanding of events in a specific situation, and also signs to be observed by others about the individual's identity in that particular situation. In summary therefore, it is clear from all of these theories that irrespective of the theory adopted, emotions can exert both physical and psychological consequences in the individual such that an individual can attribute consequences either internally or externally with resultant positive or negative behaviours (Gooty, Gavin, & Ashkanasy, 2009). It has been the case historically that organisations have been slow in recognising the role of emotions in the workplace and studies relating to the role of emotions in organisational life have instead focused largely on concepts such as satisfaction and commitment to organisations (Locke, 1976; Reichers, 1985). Consequently, the role of emotions has remained esoteric in many work environments including the healthcare sector.