EMOTIONS

There are many different types of emotions that

have an influence on how we live and interact with
others. At times, it may seem like we are ruled by
these emotions. The choices we make, the actions
we take, and the perceptions we have are all
influenced by the emotions we are experiencing at
any given moment.
Psychologists have also tried to identify the
different types of emotions that people experience.
A few different theories have emerged to
categorize and explain the emotions that people
feel.
What Is an Emotion Wheel?
Basic Emotions
During the 1970s, psychologist Paul Eckman
identified six basic emotions that he suggested
were universally experienced in all human
cultures. The emotions he identified were
happiness, sadness, disgust, fear, surprise, and
anger. He later expanded his list of basic emotions
to include such things as pride, shame,
embarrassment, and excitement.
Combining Emotions
Psychologist Robert Plutchik put forth a "wheel of
emotions" that worked something like the colour
wheel. Emotions can be combined to form
different feelings, much like colours can be mixed
to create other shades.
According to this theory, the more basic emotions
act something like building blocks. More complex,
sometimes mixed emotions are blending of these
more basic ones. For example, basic emotions
such as joy and trust can be combined to create
love.
Happiness
Of all the different types of emotions, happiness
tends to be the one that people strive for the most.
Happiness is often defined as a pleasant emotional
state that is characterized by feelings of
contentment, joy, gratification, satisfaction, and
well-being.
Research on happiness has increased significantly
since the 1960s within a number of disciplines,
including the branch of psychology known
as positive psychology. This type of emotion is
sometimes expressed through:
  Facial expressions: such as smiling
 Body language: such as a relaxed stance
 Tone of voice: an upbeat, pleasant way of
speaking
While happiness is considered one of the basic
human emotions, the things we think will create
happiness tend to be heavily influenced by culture.
For example, buying a home or having a high-
paying job will result in happiness.
The realities of what contributes to happiness are
often much more complex and more highly
individualized. People have long believed
that happiness and health were connected, and
research has supported the idea that happiness can
play a role in both physical and mental health.
Happiness has been linked to a variety of
outcomes including increased longevity.
Conversely, unhappiness has been linked to a
variety of poor health outcomes.
Stress, anxiety, depression, and loneliness, for
example, have been linked to things such as
lowered immunity, increased inflammation, and
decreased life expectancy.
Sadness
Sadness is another type of emotion often defined
as a transient emotional state characterized by
feelings of disappointment, grief, hopelessness,
disinterest, and dampened mood.
Like other emotions, sadness is something that all
people experience from time to time. In some
cases, people can experience prolonged and severe
periods of sadness that can turn into depression.
Sadness can be expressed in several ways
including:
 Crying
 Dampened mood
 Lethargy
 Quietness
 Withdrawal from others
The type and severity of sadness can vary
depending upon the root cause, and how people
cope with such feelings can also differ.
Sadness can often lead people to engage in coping
mechanisms such as avoiding other people, self-
medicating, and ruminating on negative thoughts.
Work on the things which can help you to
overcome your sadness. Don’t let things to
exacerbate feelings of sadness and prolong the
duration of the emotion.
Fear
Fear is a powerful emotion that can also play an
important role in survival. When you face some
sort of danger and experience fear, you go through
what is known as the fight or flight response.
Your muscles become tense, your heart rate and
respiration increase, and your mind becomes more
alert, priming your body to either run from the
danger or stand and fight.
This response helps ensure that you are prepared to
effectively deal with threats in your environment.
Expressions of this type of emotion can include:
 Facial expressions: such as widening the eyes
and pulling back the chin
 Body language: attempts to hide or flea from
the threat
 Physiological reactions: such as rapid
breathing and heartbeat
Of course, not everyone experiences fear in the
same way. Some people may be more sensitive to
fear and certain situations, or objects may be more
likely to trigger this emotion.
Fear is the emotional response to an immediate
threat. We can also develop a similar reaction to
anticipated threats or even our thoughts about
potential dangers, and this is what we generally
think of as anxiety. Social anxiety, for example,
involves an anticipated fear of social situations.
Some people, on the other hand, seek out fear-
provoking situations. Extreme sports and other
thrills can be fear-inducing, but some people seem
to thrive and even enjoy such feelings.
Repeated exposure to a fear object or situation can
lead to familiarity and acclimation, which can
reduce feelings of fear and anxiety.
This is the idea behind exposure therapy, in which
people are gradually exposed to the things that
frighten them in a controlled and safe manner.
Eventually, feelings of fear begin to decrease.
Disgust
Disgust is another of the original six basic
emotions described by Eckman. Disgust can be
displayed in several ways including:
 Body language: turning away from the object
of disgust
 Physical reactions: such as vomiting or
retching
  Facial expressions: such as wrinkling the
nose and curling the upper lip
This sense of revulsion can originate from several
things, including an unpleasant taste, sight, or
smell. Researchers believe that this emotion
evolved as a reaction to foods that might be
harmful or fatal. When people smell or taste foods
that have gone bad, for example, disgust is a
typical reaction.
Poor hygiene, infection, blood, rot, and death can
also trigger a disgust response. This may be the
body's way of avoiding things that may carry
transmittable diseases.
People can also experience moral disgust when
they observe others engaging in behaviours that
they find distasteful, immoral, or evil.
Anger
Anger can be a particularly powerful emotion
characterized by feelings of hostility, agitation,
frustration, and antagonism towards others. Like
fear, anger can play a part in your body's fight or
flight response.
When a threat generates feelings of anger, you
may be inclined to fend off the danger and protect
yourself. Anger is often displayed through:
 Facial expressions: such as frowning or
glaring
 Body language: such as taking a strong stance
or turning away
 Tone of voice: such as speaking gruffly or
yelling
 Physiological responses: such as sweating or
turning red
 Aggressive behaviours: such as hitting,
kicking, or throwing objects
While anger is often thought of as a negative
emotion, it can sometimes be a good thing. It can
be constructive in helping clarify your needs in a
relationship, and it can also motivate you to act
and find solutions to things that are bothering you.
Anger can become a problem, however, when it is
excessive or expressed in ways that are unhealthy,
dangerous, or harmful to others. Uncontrolled
anger can quickly turn to aggression, abuse, or
violence.
This type of emotion can have both mental and
physical consequences. Unchecked anger can
make it difficult to make rational decisions and can
even have an impact on your physical health.8
Anger has been linked to coronary heart diseases
and diabetes. It has also been linked to behaviours
that pose health risks such as aggressive driving,
alcohol consumption, and smoking.

Surprise
Surprise is another one of the six basic types of
human emotions originally described by Eckman.
Surprise is usually quite brief and is characterized
by a physiological startle response following
something unexpected.
This type of emotion can be positive, negative, or
neutral. An unpleasant surprise, for example,
might involve someone jumping out from behind a
tree and scaring you as you walk to your car at
night.
An example of a pleasant surprise would be
arriving home to find that your closest friends have
gathered to celebrate your birthday. Surprise is
often characterized by:
 Facial expressions: such as raising the brows,
widening the eyes, and opening the mouth
  Physical responses: such as jumping back
 Verbal reactions: such as yelling, screaming,
or gasping
Surprise is another type of emotion that can trigger
the fight or flight response. When startled, people
may experience a burst of adrenaline that helps
prepare the body to either fight or flee.
Surprise can have important effects on human
behaviour. For example, research has shown that
people tend to disproportionately notice surprising
events.
Therefore surprising and unusual events in the
news tend to stand out in memory more than
others. Research has also found that people tend to
be more swayed by surprising arguments and learn
more from surprising information.
Other Types of Emotions
Eckman's theory suggests that these core emotions
are universal throughout cultures all over the
world.
Primary emotions such as love, joy, surprise,
anger, and sadness can then be further broken
down into secondary emotions. Love, for example,
consists of secondary emotions, such as affection
and longing.
These secondary emotions might then be broken
down still further into what are known as tertiary
emotions. The secondary emotion of affection
includes tertiary emotions, such as liking, caring,
compassion, and tenderness.
Emotions play a critical role in how we live our
lives, from influencing how we engage with others
in our day to day lives to affecting the decisions
we make. By understanding some of the different
types of emotions, you can gain a deeper
understanding of how these emotions are
expressed and the impact they have on your
behaviour.