Lazarus Theory of Emotion: Appraisal Model Explained

What is Lazarus’s theory of emotion?

Richard S. Lazarus’s cognitive appraisal theory explains emotion in terms of how a person evaluates a situation’s significance for their goals and well-being. The same event can have different emotional meanings for different people.

Primary and secondary appraisal

Primary appraisal concerns what is at stake; secondary appraisal concerns coping possibilities and expectations about what can be done. These labels describe aspects of evaluation, not a rigid sequence of two conscious steps. Appraisal and reappraisal can change as a situation develops.

In “Cognition and Motivation in Emotion” (1991), Lazarus discusses both deliberate and automatic forms of appraisal. His account should not be reduced to the claim that people always consciously interpret an event before feeling anything.

Worked example: the same presentation, different emotions

A difficult presentation might be evaluated as a threat or as a manageable challenge, depending on what matters to the speaker and their perceived coping resources. A speaker who sees a chance to explain useful work may respond differently from one who sees a public test they cannot handle.

Appraisal, coping, and emotion regulation

Problem-focused coping addresses the situation; emotion-focused coping addresses the emotional response. Preparing the presentation more thoroughly and managing distress about it are different responses to the same event. Reappraisal means evaluating the situation again as information or circumstances change. None of these labels shows that reinterpretation alone will solve a real obstacle.

The broader account appears in Emotion and Adaptation (1991). A theoretical explanation of emotion does not by itself establish the effectiveness of a particular treatment or regulation technique.