Question
Volunteers ride a stationary bicycle vigorously for two minutes and are then introduced to a stranger while their heart rate is still elevated. Compared with volunteers who rested first, they report finding the stranger more appealing and describe themselves as more excited by the meeting. Which theory of emotion best accounts for this pattern?
- a.James-Lange theory, because the bodily response defines the emotion
- b.Cannon-Bard theory, because arousal and emotion occur simultaneously and independently
- c.Schachter-Singer two-factor theory, because unexplained arousal is labeled from the situation
- d.Lazarus cognitive-mediational theory, because appraisal must precede any arousal
- e.Facial feedback hypothesis, because expression intensifies felt emotion
Correct answer
C. Schachter-Singer two-factor theory, because unexplained arousal is labeled from the situation
Full reasoning
- 1Identify what was manipulated: general physiological arousal produced by exercise, with the social situation held constant across groups.
- 2Any theory that ties a specific emotion to a specific bodily pattern, as James-Lange does, cannot explain why nonspecific arousal was experienced as an emotion about a person.
- 3Any theory that severs arousal from experience, as Cannon-Bard does, cannot explain why leftover arousal changed the reported feeling at all.
- 4Two-factor theory predicts exactly this result: arousal that the participant does not attribute to its real cause gets labeled by whatever is salient, and the stranger is the salient feature of the moment.
- 5A stronger design would tell participants that the exercise causes lingering arousal; supplying the correct attribution should remove the effect, which is the manipulation that distinguishes two-factor theory from its rivals.
Why each choice is right or wrong
Choice A
James-Lange requires that a distinct physiological pattern correspond to a distinct emotion. Here one and the same exercise-induced arousal is experienced as excitement about a person, which is exactly what a one-to-one body-to-emotion mapping cannot explain.
Choice B
Cannon-Bard treats arousal and emotional experience as parallel outputs that do not feed into each other. If they were independent, leftover arousal from cycling could not shape how the meeting felt.
Choice C
Correct. Arousal supplies the intensity and the immediate situation supplies the label. Residual arousal from exercise is attributed to the stranger, so the meeting is experienced as more exciting.
Choice D
Appraisal theory puts the interpretation before the bodily response. In this study the arousal is already present before the stranger appears, so the ordering is reversed relative to what this account requires.
Choice E
The facial feedback hypothesis concerns the effect of adopting an expression, such as smiling, on emotional experience. No facial expression was manipulated here; the manipulation was cardiovascular arousal.
Related formula
Emotion theory ordering
James-Lange: stimulus -> specific bodily response -> emotion; Cannon-Bard: stimulus -> arousal and emotion in parallel; Schachter-Singer: stimulus -> arousal + cognitive label -> emotion
Assumptions: Ordering map of the theories summarized in OpenStax Psychology 2e Section 10.4, not a quantitative formula.
Related topic and practice
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Sources
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- Psychology 2e, Section 10.4: Emotion — OpenStax. Accessed 2026-08-15. OpenStax textbook content is CC BY-NC-SA 4.0; attribute and avoid verbatim reuse beyond short cited references.
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