Appraisal Considered as a Process of Multilevel Sequential Checking

Abstract This chapter describes the sequential check theory of emotion differentiation as part of a dynamic model of emotion (the component process model of emotion). The theory attempts to explain the differentiation of emotional states as the results of a sequence of specified stimulus evaluation (appraisal) checks and makes predictions concerning the ensuing response patterning in several organismic subsystems. Given that this book reviews the appraisal theory approach in general, together with chapters by major contributors to this tradition, this chapter will focus exclusively on sequential check theory. Comparative reviews have been published elsewhere (Scherer, 1988b; 1999a; see also Roseman & Smith; Schorr [a]; this volume). Preliminary versions of parts of this model have appeared in conference proceedings, book chapters, and empirical papers (Scherer, 1981b, 1982a, 1984a, 1984c, 1986b, 1988a, 1992c, 1993b, 1997a, 1999a, 1999b, 2000b). The most complete description of the model (Scherer, 1987a), while widely distributed, has never been formally published.1 In the course of the development of the theory, details of the predictions as well as some aspects of the terminology have evolved. In this chapter, a systematic description of the most recent version of the theory, including detailed predictions and a review of the available evidence, is presented.2