Randolph M. Nesse (1992) Mood as a Communication Medium. Psycoloquy: 3(02) Mood (3)
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PSYCOLOQUY (ISSN 1055-0143) is sponsored by the American Psychological Association (APA).
Psycoloquy 3(02): Mood as a Communication Medium
MOOD AS A COMMUNICATION MEDIUM
Reply to Dow on Mood
Randolph M. Nesse
Department of Psychiatry
C 440 Med-Inn Bldg.
The University of Michigan
Ann Arbor MI 48109-0840
nesse@um.cc.umich.edu
Abstract
Dow's distinction between internal and external
functionsof mood parallels the traditional separation between the
communicative and motivational functions of mood. I am not
adopting the external approach but provide evolutionary
explanations of the several functions of mood. Both internal and
external aspects of mood need proximate as well as evolutionary
explanations.
Keywords
Mood, evolution, natural selection, fitness, emotion,
adaptation, function, depression, psychology, psychiatry.
1. James Dow's useful distinction between internal and external
functions of mood parallels the traditional separation between the
communicative and motivational functions of mood. ("Subjective" aspects
of mood are sometimes treated as a third category to reflect additional
functions that arise for internal states that are consciously
experienced). I am not trying to adopt the external approach, however,
but to provide evolutionary (as distinct from proximate) explanations
of the several functions of mood, internal and external, as coordinated
components of specialized states shaped to cope with situations of high
and low propitiousness. Both internal and external aspects of mood need
proximate as well as evolutionary explanations. One of the main virtues
of my hypothesis is that it offers one variable (propitiousness) that
can account for both internal and external functions of mood.
2. In the second half of his commentary, Dow writes that "Emotions belong
to the level at which somatic systems are communicating with the
consciousness of the organism." While this edges towards the awkward
distinction between physiology and consciousness, it captures
eloquently the idea that emotional states reflect a wide variety of
internal and external cues and function, in part, to regulate the
actions of the organism as a whole. It remains difficult to elucidate
this function of mood, but I believe the task will be easier if we stop
looking directly for the functions of mood and instead try to
understand the situations that shaped the capacity for high and low
mood.
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