High levels of emotion are characteristic of many laboratory training groups. The causes of group emotionality can be understood within the framework of recent psychological research on emotion and Schachter's theory of emotion. Schachter and others have demonstrated that emotion springs from two sources: physiological arousal and cognitive labeling (the latter influenced by the situation). This paper argues that training groups characteristically produce the high arousal necessary for experiencing intense emotion, and further, provide conditions under which arousal will be labeled as emotion and directed at either group members or activities. The implications of this process for both beneficial and harmful learning are explored. Intragroup examination of emotionality on a cognitive level is urged.
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