The Types of emotions Basic Present in the human being are fear, anger, disgust, sadness, surprise and joy.
Emotions are relatively brief conscious experiences characterized by intense mental activity and a high degree of pleasure or displeasure. Emotion is often intertwined with mood, temperament, personality, mood, and motivation.
One possible definition is"a complex psychological state involving three distinct components: a subjective experience, a physiological response, and a behavioral or expressive response."
According to Scherer's model there are five crucial elements of emotion. Emotional experience requires that all these processes be coordinated and synchronized over a short period of time, driven by evaluation processes.
- Cognitive evaluation: evaluation of events and objects.
- Body symptoms: physiological component of emotional experience.
- Trends of action: motivational component for the preparation and direction of motor responses.
- Expression: facial and vocal expression almost always accompanies the emotional state to communicate the reaction and the intention of the actions.
- Feelings: the subjective experience of the emotional state once it has occurred.
Currently, the Emotional Psychology Has shown that emotions are a fundamental part of the individual's well-being. In addition, the positive thing is that each time more techniques are perfected to handle the emotions, so that they fulfill their objective to be adaptive and we know how to get the most out of it.
However, he has always wanted to solve the question: how many kinds of emotions are there and what are they? This article will deal with an approximation to this question.
What are the emotions?
According to Wenger, Jones and Jones (1962):
"Almost everyone thinks they know what an emotion is until they try to define it. At that time practically nobody is able to express it with words"
The authors have agreed to consider emotion as an affective type of experience that is brief but intense and results in changes in several components of the organism that are interconnected. They occur to events that are important to the person and function as an adaptive response.
This response has a temporal development characterized by a beginning, culmination and completion. In this way, it is associated with a change in the activity of the Autonomic nervous system .
It seems that emotions constitute an impulse to act and can be observed and measured (facial expression, gestures, body activation...)
What are they for? Their origin is to perpetuate the species and regulate the balance of the organism. It is part of the mechanisms of survival and well-being of the individual, since they facilitate their relationship with others, points out the danger, makes it easier to ask for help from others, etc.
Finally, note that you have to know Distinguish between emotions and feelings .
What are the types of emotions?
The types of emotions are usually defined in universal terms (with very little variation between cultures) and are totally associated with physiological phenomena of the organism. There are three main ways to classify emotions:
Dimensional classification
It is based on the idea that there is an emotional space that possesses a number of dimensions, usually bipolar (two dimensions), where all the affective experiences that exist can be organized.
In this way, the different emotions are placed round two orthogonal axes. At the center of the axes would be placed the neutral experiences (Russell, 1980).
Two basic bipolar dimensions would be"affective valence"and"intensity." The first refers to pleasure versus displeasure and the second to arousal or arousal, the extremes being high activation versus low activation.
There is thus a critical point in which, depending on whether it is above or below, the affective experience is classified in one pole or another.
For example, the thrill of being scared can be classified as high-arousal and displeasure. While being relaxed fits the poles, low activation and pleasure. On the other hand, the surprise would be high activation, but neutral affective valence.
The advantages of this form of classification of the types of emotions is that you can see the interconnections that can have the different affective experiences, although it does not analyze specifically each of those experiences.
Here the attention is not fixed in making a List of emotions , But in explaining how they are organized and associated among them.
It has been a criticized theory for not describing more emotional labels of which there is much empirical evidence. Moreover, it is not known whether they truly reflect the Brain functions Programmed biologically.
Category categorization
Traditionally it has wanted to organize the emotions in different categories. However, the research continues and what is expected is that, as knowledge increases, the classifications will change.
In addition, it is necessary to take into account that the barriers between each category can be porous, permeable and not absolutely strict (Damasio, 2003).
Thus, emotional space is considered a set of emotional units or categories that are well defined and concrete, each having distinctive features.
That is, each type of emotion is different in terms of levels of motor and behavioral expression, as well as in the adaptive functions they possess (biological functions, social communication, problem solving that threaten survival, etc.). It focuses on the organization Internal to each category or emotion, rather than how they associate with each other.
Typical types of categorical emotions were proposed by Ekman And Friesen (1975), and are known as"The Big Six". They are:
1- Fear
It is one of the most studied emotions and that more interest has generated in the investigators and theorists in Psychology. It is an emotion that arises before a real and present danger.
It is activated when our mental or physical well-being is threatened (thinking that it will receive harm or is in danger). This activation is intended to provide the body with energy to flee, or To face the dreaded somehow.
It is sometimes difficult to define which stimuli trigger fear, because this can vary greatly. Thus, any stimulus can generate fear, everything depends on the individual. An example of this is the multiple and varied Phobias .
2- Ira
Affective state of frustration, indignation, anger, fury, anger... that arises from feeling offended by other people or when they hurt others that are important to us. The anger reaction is more intense the more gratuitous and unjustified the damage, provoking temporary feelings of hatred and revenge.
The most typical triggers is to feel that we have been betrayed or cheated, or that we do not get a desired goal that we saw very close. However, it can arise by almost any stimulus.
Its functions are social, self-protection, and self-regulation . exist Techniques to control anger and aggression .
3- Asco
It is experienced as a tension that has the objective of avoiding, fleeing or rejecting a certain object or stimulus that produces disgust. As for the physiological part, it produces a response similar to nausea.
It comes from avoiding the intake of food in poor conditions or unhealthy situations, as a survival mechanism as this could endanger the health of the individual.
4- Sadness
It is a negative emotion, where the individual carries out a process of valuation on something that has happened to him. Specifically, it is usually triggered by the loss or failure (real or conceived as probable) of something important to the person.
This loss can be permanent or temporary, and can also be experienced if another person important to us feels bad.
Something that stands out in the sadness is that can be reflected in the present through the memories of the past and the anticipation of a future.
Sadness serves in social relations as Demand for care Or help to be supported.
5- Surprise
It is a neutral emotion, neither positive nor negative. It occurs when we have already predicted what is going to happen and yet something different happens in a totally unexpected way. It is also defined by the occurrence of unforeseen stimuli.
The organism is embarrassed to have failed in its mission to predict the outside world and tries to explain to itself what has happened. After analyzing the unexpected information, you must determine if the unforeseen is an opportunity or a threat.
The typical body expression is paralysis, raising the eyebrows and opening the mouth.
6- Joy
It is a positive, innate valence emotion that arises at very early ages and seems to be useful in strengthening the bond between the parents and the child. Thus, the odds of survival increase.
Later, Ekman and Cordaro (2011) modified it for: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, contempt, surprise and disgust.
Within each, they can be of positive, negative, or neutral valence.
These authors also hope to demonstrate evidence of the existence of the following positive valence emotions: sensory pleasures (visual, auditory, tactile...), attraction, relief, excitement (intense response to novelty and challenge), confusion Respond to something incomprehensible, with strangeness), ecstasy,"naches"(feeling of being a parent, caretaker or teacher and presence the success or advancement of their offspring) and fierce (emotion that arises when facing a difficult challenge).
They also add many more emotions as proposals for further investigation, such as:"Schadenfreude", a German term that describes the emotion that arises when an enemy is known to lose or suffer. Or"rejoicing"that occurs when unexpected acts of human goodness are experienced.
As we can see, classifying emotions is a much more complex process than it seems.
Basic / Complex Classification
There is another way to classify our emotions, traditionally seeing as basic or simple emotions and complex or secondary emotions.
- Primary or basic emotions (simple)
They are discrete emotions, which cause patterns of responses unique to each emotional state in the face of specific situations or stimuli. The characteristics that are found in this type of emotions are (Dalai Lama & Ekman, 2008):
- Typical facial expression, distinctive and universal.
- A physiology or activation of the organism that is also distinctive.
- Automatic process of cognitive evaluation of that emotion.
- There are events or stimuli that generate emotion that are universal.
- They occur in different species of primates.
- It starts very quickly.
- Its duration is brief.
- It happens spontaneously.
- It has thoughts, memories and images that are distinctive of each one.
- They are subjectively experienced by the person.
- They have a refractory period during which tends to filter data of the environment that support that emotion. That explains why when we are in an emotional episode of sadness we pay more attention to negative events, being congruent with our state.
- Emotion, however, can be triggered by people, situations, animals... it has no restrictions.
- Emotion can be triggered and act in a constructive or adaptive or destructive way. For example, there are situations in which anger can be adaptive (pushing away another individual to avoid further aggression) or maladaptive ("exploiting"or releasing someone's frustration when that person has nothing to do with).
According to Damasio, the primary emotions can be classified in: innate, preprogramadas, involuntary and simple. They are accompanied by the activation of the limbic system , Mainly the Anterior cingulate cortex and the amygdala .
- Secondary emotions
They are mixtures composed of different primary emotions, and would consist of emotions like love, trust, affinity, contempt, humiliation, remorse, guilt, etc.
According to Damasio, as the individual lives and develops the emotions, they become more complex, appearing states of appreciation of one's own emotions, feelings, memories, connections between categories of objects and situations or primary emotions.
In this case, the structures of the limbic system are not enough to support this complexity, and the Prefrontal cortex Y Somatosensory .
- Other Classifications
Later, in his book"In search of Spinoza", Damasio further refined this classification:
- Background Emotions: Are essential, but not readily visible in our behavior. It is that uneasiness, nervousness, energy, tranquility... that we can slightly grasp in a person. You can see if you look carefully at body movements, facial expressions, limbs, intonation, prosody of voice, etc.
These emotions are due to various regulatory processes in our body such as metabolic adjustments or external situations to be adapted. Discouragement or enthusiasm, given briefly in the person, would be examples of background emotions.
- Social Emotions: Are more complex and involve shame, guilt, contempt, pride, envy, jealousy, gratitude, admiration, indignation, sympathy, and so on. Currently researchers are trying to get closer to studying the brain mechanisms that govern this type of emotions.
How do emotions relate to each other?
According to Damasio, emotions are linked thanks to the principle of nesting: it refers to the simplest emotions are combined with various factors to give rise to more complex emotions, such as social.
In this way, social emotions include a set of regulatory reactions (background emotions) and components of the primary emotions in different combinations.
References
- Carpi, A., Guerrero, C. and Palmero, F. (2008). Basic emotions. In F. Palmero, E.G. Fernández-Abascal, F. Martínez, F. and M. Chóliz (Coords.), Psychology of motivation and emotion. (Pp. 233-274) Madrid: McGraw-Hill.
- Dalai Lama & Ekman, P. (2008). Emotional awareness: Overcoming the obstacles to psychological balance and compassion. N.Y.: Times Books
- Damasio, A. (2005). In search of Spinoza: Neurobiology of emotion and feelings. Pp.: 46-49. Barcelona: Editorial Critic.
- Ekman, P., & Cordaro, D. (2011). What is meant by calling basic emotions. Emotion Review, 3, 364-370.
- Russell, J.A. (1980). A circumplex model of affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39 (6), 1161-1178.
- Surprise. (S.f.). Retrieved on August 18, 2016, from Changingminds.
- Wenger, M.A., Jones, F.N. And Jones, M.H. (1962). Emotional behavior. In D.K. Candland (Ed.): Emotion: Bodily change. Princeton, N.J.: van Nostrand