Nico Frijda

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

He studied psychology at the Gemeenteuniversiteit Amsterdam, where he received his PhD in 1956 on the thesis title Understanding Facial Expressions with Géza Révész as advisor.

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.

This theory was outlined in detail in The Emotions (1986), his magnum opus which was first published in English and two years later in a Dutch translation.