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, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

Life

Frijda was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. He studied

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

at the Gemeenteuniversiteit Amsterdam, where he received his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1956 on the thesis title ''Understanding Facial Expressions'' with Géza Révész as advisor. 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/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

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

Work

Frijda devoted his career to human

emotion Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...

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. 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 Emotions are an American soul/ R&B vocal group from Chicago. The group started out in gospel music but transitioned into R&B and disco music. The Emotions were named by VH1 as one of the 18 most influential girl groups of all time. Hist ...

'' (1986), his ''

magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) 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, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

'' 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