section_path: Theories/Cognitive theories/Cognitive Appraisal Theory
section_name: Cognitive Appraisal Theory
paragraph_text: Cognitive Appraisal Theory
  
  One of the main proponents of this view was Richard Lazarus who argued that emotions must have some cognitive intentionality. The cognitive activity involved in the interpretation of an emotional context may be conscious or unconscious and may or may not take the form of conceptual processing.
  
  Lazarus' theory is very influential; emotion is a disturbance that occurs in the following order:
  
  For example: Jenny sees a snake.
  
  Lazarus stressed that the quality and intensity of emotions are controlled through cognitive processes. These processes underline coping strategies that form the emotional reaction by altering the relationship between the person and the environment.