Which theory of emotion deals with the idea "Emotional experience depends upon…

Physiological theories of emotion differ mainly on the causal order between bodily/behavioural response and the felt (conscious) emotion. A theory that makes emotional experience depend upon emotional behaviour claims the bodily/behavioural reaction happens first, and the felt emotion follows from perceiving that reaction -- not the other way round.

The James-Lange theory (proposed independently by William James and Carl Lange) states exactly this sequence: a stimulus first triggers a physiological/behavioural response (a racing heart, trembling, running away), and the conscious feeling of emotion arises afterward, from the brain perceiving that bodily response -- "we feel afraid because we tremble," not "we tremble because we feel afraid." This is precisely the idea that emotional experience depends upon emotional behaviour, so James-Lange Theory is the answer.

The other three options describe a different relationship between arousal, behaviour, and feeling, so none of them fit the stated dependency:

• Hypothalamic theory (of the Cannon-Bard family): holds that the hypothalamus triggers the physiological arousal and the felt emotion at the same time and independently of each other -- the behaviour does not cause the feeling, so it does not match the 'experience depends on behaviour' claim.

• Activation theory: is about the general level of physiological/behavioural arousal and how it relates to performance, not about whether felt emotion is produced by first having a behavioural response.

• Motivational theory: treats emotions as drives that push behaviour forward -- emotion leads to behaviour, which is the reverse of the dependency the question describes.

The theory that fits the given idea is the James-Lange Theory.