{"id":75264,"date":"2022-08-03T07:41:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T11:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=75264"},"modified":"2022-08-16T15:11:26","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T19:11:26","slug":"how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/","title":{"rendered":"How Emotions Are Made: Lisa Feldman Barrett’s Answer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Looking for an overview of Lisa Feldman Barrett’s book How Emotions Are Made<\/em>? What are Barrett’s key takeaways about emotions in psychology? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her book, How Emotions Are Made<\/em>, Lisa Feldman Barrett challenges the status quo relating to our psychological understanding of emotions. Barrett’s concepts of emotion, while controversial, give new insight into how emotions are made in the brain\u2014and her answers might surprise you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading for an overview of the key concepts in How Emotions Are Made<\/em> by Lisa Feldman Barrett. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Lisa Feldman Barrett’s How Emotions Are Made<\/em><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In How Emotions Are Made<\/em><\/a>, neuroscientist and psychologist Lisa Feldman Barrett challenges many of society\u2019s long-standing beliefs about emotions, calling into question everything from what emotions are, to where they come from and how to control them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lisa Feldman Barrett introduces a new theory of emotion in How Emotions Are Made<\/em>, based on years of research, which posits that emotions are neither hardwired into our brains nor universally felt and recognized; rather, emotions help the brain to predict what will happen next based on what\u2019s happened in the past\u2014and to plan accordingly. Barrett calls this the theory of constructed emotion<\/em>. As she sums it up in her TED talk<\/a>, \u201cEmotions don\u2019t happen to you; they\u2019re made by you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barrett is a University Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Northeastern University. She also holds appointments at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, where she is Chief Science Officer for the Center for Law, Brain & Behavior. In addition, Barrett is a director of the Interdisciplinary Affective Science Laboratory<\/a>, which studies emotions and produced some of the research on which the book is based.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Emotions Are Made<\/em> was published in 2017 and widely covered in the popular press for Lisa Feldman Barrett’s novel theory of emotion. For all its novelty, however, Barrett\u2019s theory of constructed emotion entered a very crowded and contentious field<\/a>: Joseph LeDoux, a neuroscientist whose own theory of emotion agrees in part with Barrett\u2019s, has noted that there are as many theories of emotion as there are emotion theorists. Scientists have a hard time agreeing on the fundamental question of how to define emotion. Barrett\u2019s theory in How Emotions Are Made<\/em> is one response to that question.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barrett’s Concepts of Emotion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

In How Emotions Are Made<\/em>, Lisa Feldman Barrett examines each element that the brain uses to make emotions (past experiences grouped together as \u201cemotion concepts,\u201d internal sensory input, and external sensory input), then puts them all together in a blueprint that explains how emotions are made. Barrett\u2019s work in the field of emotions shows the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Emotions aren\u2019t scientifically measurable; they\u2019re mental concepts. <\/li>
  2. Emotions aren\u2019t universal across cultures.<\/li>
  3. Feelings and emotions are not the same thing.<\/li>
  4. Emotions are not reactions; they\u2019re predictions.<\/li>
  5. Emotions are not innate; they\u2019re constructed.<\/li>
  6. Emotion and illness<\/a> are not as unrelated as they seem.<\/li>
  7. Your emotions do not absolve you of responsibility for your actions<\/a>.  <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
    How Novel Is the Theory of Constructed Emotion?<\/strong>

    As Barrett herself recognizes, her theory of constructed emotion is controversial because it directly challenges the status quo<\/a>. Barrett\u2019s theory is indeed novel as a neuroscientific explanation of how the brain makes emotion out of cultural concepts. But when it comes to the psychological implications of her theory, some aspects of Barrett\u2019s research are consistent with more established beliefs about emotion.  

    For example, psychologist Daniel Goleman\u2019s     Emotional Intelligence<\/em><\/a>, one of the most widely read books about emotion, asserts that there\u2019s an area of the brain<\/a> exclusively dedicated to emotions and that humans have two minds: a thinking one and a feeling one. In this sense, Emotional Intelligence<\/em> expresses a more traditional theory of emotion that is directly at odds with Lisa Feldman Barrett’s theory<\/a> of constructed emotion in How Emotions Are Made<\/em>, which says that the entire brain is involved in the process of making emotions and that rational thoughts do not exist independent of feelings.

    Barrett and Goleman seem to agree, however, that past experiences associated with a particular emotion (which Goleman calls \u201cemotional memories\u201d and Barrett calls \u201cemotion concepts\u201d) largely determine the emotions someone experiences in the present. As a result, childhood experiences play a major role in an adult\u2019s     emotional well-being<\/a>.

    Similarly, in     The Body Keeps the Score<\/em><\/a>, psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk, like Goleman, states that the brain is divided into a reptilian brain, an emotional brain<\/a>, and a rational brain. However, like Barrett, he also acknowledges that physical sensations in your body impact your emotions, and vice versa; in other words, your mind and body are inextricably connected.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Looking for an overview of Lisa Feldman Barrett’s book How Emotions Are Made? What are Barrett’s key takeaways about emotions in psychology? In her book, How Emotions Are Made, Lisa Feldman Barrett challenges the status quo relating to our psychological understanding of emotions. Barrett’s concepts of emotion, while controversial, give new insight into how emotions are made in the brain\u2014and her answers might surprise you. Keep reading for an overview of the key concepts in How Emotions Are Made by Lisa Feldman Barrett.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":75294,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,9],"tags":[714],"class_list":["post-75264","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-books","category-psychology","tag-how-emotions-are-made","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nHow Emotions Are Made: Lisa Feldman Barrett's Answer - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Want an overview of Lisa Feldman Barrett's book How Emotions Are Made? Learn the most important concepts from Barrett's theory of emotions.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Emotions Are Made: Lisa Feldman Barrett's Answer\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Want an overview of Lisa Feldman Barrett's book How Emotions Are Made? Learn the most important concepts from Barrett's theory of emotions.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-03T11:41:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-16T19:11:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/human-brain-psychology-diagram.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1850\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1240\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Emily Kitazawa\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Emily Kitazawa\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Emily Kitazawa\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e094024454c7d3334a149c0cf039bdeb\"},\"headline\":\"How Emotions Are Made: Lisa Feldman Barrett’s Answer\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-03T11:41:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-16T19:11:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/\"},\"wordCount\":795,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/human-brain-psychology-diagram.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"How Emotions Are Made\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Books\",\"Psychology\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/\",\"name\":\"How Emotions Are Made: Lisa Feldman Barrett's Answer - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/human-brain-psychology-diagram.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-03T11:41:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-16T19:11:26+00:00\",\"description\":\"Want an overview of Lisa Feldman Barrett's book How Emotions Are Made? Learn the most important concepts from Barrett's theory of emotions.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/human-brain-psychology-diagram.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/human-brain-psychology-diagram.jpg\",\"width\":1850,\"height\":1240},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Emotions Are Made: Lisa Feldman Barrett’s Answer\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World's Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e094024454c7d3334a149c0cf039bdeb\",\"name\":\"Emily Kitazawa\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f5c60fcdcf3b7cd02c2882334c15a3d02f74a69631c696c3bce47deb21dc9ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f5c60fcdcf3b7cd02c2882334c15a3d02f74a69631c696c3bce47deb21dc9ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Emily Kitazawa\"},\"description\":\"Emily found her love of reading and writing at a young age, learning to enjoy these activities thanks to being taught them by her mom\u2014Goodnight Moon will forever be a favorite. As a young adult, Emily graduated with her English degree, specializing in Creative Writing and TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), from the University of Central Florida. She later earned her master\u2019s degree in Higher Education from Pennsylvania State University. Emily loves reading fiction, especially modern Japanese, historical, crime, and philosophical fiction. Her personal writing is inspired by observations of people and nature.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/emily-kitazawa\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Emotions Are Made: Lisa Feldman Barrett's Answer - Shortform Books","description":"Want an overview of Lisa Feldman Barrett's book How Emotions Are Made? Learn the most important concepts from Barrett's theory of emotions.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Emotions Are Made: Lisa Feldman Barrett's Answer","og_description":"Want an overview of Lisa Feldman Barrett's book How Emotions Are Made? Learn the most important concepts from Barrett's theory of emotions.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2022-08-03T11:41:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-08-16T19:11:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1850,"height":1240,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/human-brain-psychology-diagram.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Emily Kitazawa","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Emily Kitazawa","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/"},"author":{"name":"Emily Kitazawa","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e094024454c7d3334a149c0cf039bdeb"},"headline":"How Emotions Are Made: Lisa Feldman Barrett’s Answer","datePublished":"2022-08-03T11:41:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-16T19:11:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/"},"wordCount":795,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/human-brain-psychology-diagram.jpg","keywords":["How Emotions Are Made"],"articleSection":["Books","Psychology"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/","name":"How Emotions Are Made: Lisa Feldman Barrett's Answer - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/human-brain-psychology-diagram.jpg","datePublished":"2022-08-03T11:41:00+00:00","dateModified":"2022-08-16T19:11:26+00:00","description":"Want an overview of Lisa Feldman Barrett's book How Emotions Are Made? Learn the most important concepts from Barrett's theory of emotions.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/human-brain-psychology-diagram.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/human-brain-psychology-diagram.jpg","width":1850,"height":1240},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-emotions-are-made-lisa-feldman-barrett\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Emotions Are Made: Lisa Feldman Barrett’s Answer"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World's Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e094024454c7d3334a149c0cf039bdeb","name":"Emily Kitazawa","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f5c60fcdcf3b7cd02c2882334c15a3d02f74a69631c696c3bce47deb21dc9ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f5c60fcdcf3b7cd02c2882334c15a3d02f74a69631c696c3bce47deb21dc9ac?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Emily Kitazawa"},"description":"Emily found her love of reading and writing at a young age, learning to enjoy these activities thanks to being taught them by her mom\u2014Goodnight Moon will forever be a favorite. As a young adult, Emily graduated with her English degree, specializing in Creative Writing and TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language), from the University of Central Florida. She later earned her master\u2019s degree in Higher Education from Pennsylvania State University. Emily loves reading fiction, especially modern Japanese, historical, crime, and philosophical fiction. Her personal writing is inspired by observations of people and nature.","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/emily-kitazawa\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/human-brain-psychology-diagram.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75264","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75264"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75264\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75668,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75264\/revisions\/75668"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75264"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75264"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75264"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}