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Discuss whether powerful emotions, such as anger and hate are biologically or socially determined. “This is what we know now and we are reasonably certain that we’re right. However, as we gather more information or learn new ways to interpret these phenomena, things could change and so it’s best not to become to attached to our theories.”(Unknown) When in 1884, William James asked his famous question “What is an emotion?”, he implied that …

…an increase in heart rate and decrease in body temperature. All these reactions are biological and according to the research are shared between cultures. Biological determination of emotions does not completely deny social patterns to the emotions, where as social does. Biological theories allow certain social events to take place for a biological emotion to arise however social theorists believe that emotions are made only of social patterns that depend on cultural and historical differences.