Nico Henri Frijda (1 May 1927 – 11 April 2015) was a Dutch psychologist and professor of the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

Life

Frijda was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. He studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between ...

at the Gemeenteuniversiteit Amsterdam, where he received his PhD in 1956 on the thesis title ''Understanding Facial Expressions''. In 1965 he was appointed

full professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

. Frijda retired in 1992 to become

emeritus professor ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

. In 2007 he received a laurea honoris causa in psychology from University of Padova.

Work

Frijda devoted his career to human

emotion Emotions are mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is currently no scientific ...

s. In his early career he focused on facial expressions, which was an acceptable approach in the then dominant behaviourist tradition in which emotions were considered

epiphenomena An epiphenomenon (plural: epiphenomena) is a secondary phenomenon that occurs alongside or in parallel to a primary phenomenon. The word has two senses: one that connotes known causation and one that connotes absence of causation or reservation ...

. Frijda developed a multifocal theory of emotions with the concept of "action tendency" as focal issues. Emotions are, in this view, tendencies to engage in behaviour influenced by the needs of the person. This theory was outlined in detail in ''

The Emotions ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' (1986), his ''

magnum opus A masterpiece, ''magnum opus'' (), or ''chef-d’œuvre'' (; ; ) in modern use is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, ...

'' which was first published in English and two years later in a Dutch translation. He died on April 11, 2015.

Works

* ''De betekenis van de gelaatsexpressie'' (1956) * ''Gelaat en karakter'' (1958) * ''Post uit Friesland'' (1984) * ''The Emotions'' (1986) (hardcover); (paperback) * ''De wetten van het gevoel'' (1987) rede ter gelegenheid van de zevende Duijkerlezing * ''De emoties; een overzicht van onderzoek en theorie'' (1988) * ''De psychologie heeft zin'' (1993) * ''The Laws of Emotions'' (2006) (Nederlandse vertaling: januari 2008)

References

1927 births 2015 deaths Dutch psychologists Scientists from Amsterdam University of Amsterdam alumni Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam {{Netherlands-scientist-stub