Emotions Definitions

noun

plural noun: emotions

All human behavior can be broken down into four basic emotions, according to research by Glasgow
University. The study has challenged a commonly-held belief that there are six basic emotions
of happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise and disgust.

EMOTIONS VERSUS FEELINGS

This is the first in a three part series on Feelings

Many people use the words “emotions” and “feelings” interchangeably, to mean the same
thing. However, I suggest that you think of emotions and feelings as distinct, but highly related things -
- two sides of the same coin. One side of the coin is an emotion: a physical response to change that is
almost hard-wired and universal. The other side of the coin is your feeling: mental associations and
other reactions to an emotion that are personal, acquired through experience. Despite seeming the
same, emotions actually proceed feelings. Like with coins, what you notice will depend upon where you
are looking.

Because emotions are physical, they can be measured objectively by blood flow, brain activity, facial
expressions and body stance. Because feelings are mental, they cannot be measured
precisely. Emotions are more predictable and easily understood than feelings, which are often
idiosyncratic and confusing. Feelings reflect your personal associations to emotions - the other side of
the coin.

This way of distinguishing between emotions and feelings is based on the work of a prominent
neuroscientist at USC, Antonio D'Amasio, M.D. In this model, feelings are sparked by emotions, ignited
by the thoughts and images that have become paired with a particular emotion. While emotions are
usually fleeting, the feelings they provoke may persist or grow over a lifetime. Because emotions
initiate feelings, and feelings in turn initiate emotions, your individual feelings can prompt a never-
ending cycle of painful (and confusing) emotions.

I know this can be hard to grasp, so let's look at an example. For most of my life, I rarely felt angry. I
thought that was because I am easy going. More recently, I've learned that I do get a little angry, almost
daily. I just don't notice. Instead, I might say something sarcastic or teasing, thinking its funny, not
mean. Or let out a sigh. Or do something passive-aggressive. Now, as I look more closely, I see that I am
often angry. I just used to miss it. I've learned that, for me, the physical experience of anger toward
someone I care about signals danger, prompting feelings of fear. I don't notice the anger, but may
notice the anxiety. Scared my anger will hurt a relationship I value. This all happens without my
noticing a thing. For someone else, a bully perhaps, anger might feel good, empowering rather than
threatening. Bully may have learned that feeling fear is dangerous -- just the opposite of my life. A bully
may overlook their fear, feeling angry in response to physical signals of fear. A wimp may be someone
who overlooks their anger, feeling fear in response to their anger. Thus, the same emotions may cause
very different reactions and feelings in dissimilar people.

Whereas emotions are inborn and common to us all, the meanings they acquire and the feelings they
prompt are very personal. Feelings are shaped by individual temperament and experience; they vary
enormously from person to person and from situation to situation. There are so many ways to feel a
particular emotion.

Learning to recognize and differentiate between your emotions and feelings is critical to becoming an
Emotional Detective. It helps explain why feelings can be so different from one person to
another. Even better, grasping this distinction helps make room in your mind for having a wide variety
of feelings, and puts you on the trail to understanding them.

How to distinguish between emotions and feelings in your own life?

Most people are more comfortable feeling certain emotions, and staying away from others. For
example, you may be more prone to fear than to anger. Or you may be more used to feeling sad than
happy. Take a minute to think about what you are most prone to feeling, and what emotion you might
be missing.

When you don't get your way or when someone hurts you, are you most likely to become sad, anxious,
or angry?
  Think back to a recent situation that was frustrating (someone cut the line, you couldn't make
some technology work, you lost a parking space, etc.) Did you feel angry or sad in response to
the frustration? Or did you feel something else like resignation, self-blame, shame, or even
nothing?

 Think back to a recent situation that was disappointing (a friend let you down, you didn't get
something you'd hoped for, you didn't live up to your own standards). Or did you get sad, mad
or hurt? Did you feel something else like hopeless, guilty, or embarrassed?

 Look back on each of these situations and see if you can find clues that you experienced an
emotion that you didn't feel at the time.

By understanding the difference between emotions and feelings, you can get to the bottom of the real
emotions that underlie your feelings. This will help you break out of the ongoing cycle of emotions and
feelings that confuse and torments you, helping you straighten out your inner world to feel better.

Emotions can play an important role in how we think and behave. The emotions we feel each day can
compel us to take action and influence the decisions we make about our lives, both large and small. In
order to truly understand emotions, it is important to understand the three critical components of an
emotion.

There are three parts to an emotion:

1. A subjective component (how you experience the emotion)

2. A physiological component (how your bodies react to the emotion)

3. An expressive component (how you behave in response to the emotion).

These different elements can play a role in the function and purpose of your emotional responses.

Emotions can be short-lived, such as a flash of annoyance at a co-worker, or long-lasting, such as

Emotions Can Motivate Us to Take Action

When faced with a nerve-wracking exam, you might feel a lot of anxiety about whether you will perform
well and how the test will impact your final grade. Because of these emotional responses, you might be
more likely to study. Since you experienced a particular emotion, you had the motivation to take action
and do something positive to improve your chances of getting a good grade.

We also tend to take certain actions in order to experience positive emotions and minimize the
probability of feeling negative emotions. For example, you might seek out social activities or hobbies
that provide you with a sense of happiness, contentment, and excitement. On the other hand, you
would probably avoid situations that might potentially lead to boredom, sadness, or anxiety.
Emotions Help Us Survive, Thrive, and Avoid Danger

Naturalist Charles Darwin believed that emotions are adaptations that allow both humans and animals
to survive and reproduce. When we are angry, we are likely to confront the source of our irritation.
When we experience fear, we are more likely to flee the threat. When we feel love, we might seek out a
mate and reproduce.

Emotions serve an adaptive role in our lives by motivating us to act quickly and take actions that will
maximize our chances of survival and success.

Emotions Can Help Us Make Decisions

Our emotions have a major influence on the decisions we make, from what we decide to have for
breakfast to which candidates we choose to vote for in political elections.

Researchers have also found that people with certain types of brain damage affecting their ability to
experience emotions also have a decreased ability to make good decisions.

Even in situations where we believe our decisions are guided purely by logic and rationality, emotions
play a key role. Emotional intelligence, or our ability to understand and manage emotions, has been
shown to play an important role in decision-making.

Emotions Allow Other People to Understand Us

When we interact with other people, it is important to give clues to help them understand how we are
feeling. These cues might involve emotional expression through body language, such as various facial
expressions connected with the particular emotions we are experiencing.

In other cases, it might involve directly stating how we feel. When we tell friends or family members
that we are feeling happy, sad, excited, or frightened, we are giving them important information that
they can then use to take action.

Emotions Allow Us to Understand Others

Just as our own emotions provide valuable information to others, the emotional expressions of those
around us give us a wealth of social information. Social communication is an important part of our daily
lives and relationships, and being able to interpret and react to the emotions of others is essential. It
allows us to respond appropriately and build deeper, more meaningful relationships with our friends,
family, and loved ones. It also allows us to communicate effectively in a variety of social situations, from
dealing with an irate customer to managing a hot-headed employee.

Charles Darwin was one of the earliest researchers to scientifically study emotions. He suggested that
emotional displays could also play an important role in safety and survival. If you encountered a hissing
or spitting animal, it would clearly indicate that the creature was angry and defensive, leading to you
back off and avoid possible danger.
Understanding the emotional displays of others gives us clear information about how we might need to
respond in a particular situation.

As you have learned, our emotions serve a wide variety of purposes. Emotions can be fleeting,
persistent, powerful, complex, and even life-changing. They can motivate us to act in particular ways
and give us the tools and resources we need to interact meaningfully in our social worlds

WHAT CAUSES EMOTIONS?

Try to remember the last time you felt scared. Do you remember what you were thinking? Scientists
have discovered that our emotions

Feelings like sadness and anger that people have in response to different thoughts and situations.
Sometimes people can also feel more than one emotion at the same time (like feeling both excited and
scared to ride a roller coaster).

are often caused by our thoughts [1]. This means two people could be in the same situation, but they
might feel different emotions because they have different thoughts (see Figure 1). Maybe you have
noticed this with your own friends and family. For example, imagine two people were both at a
neighbor’s house and this neighbor had a dog. One person might think, “This dog could hurt me!” and
feel scared. This might happen if that person never had a pet dog before. The other person might
instead think, “Oh, what a cute dog!” and feel happy. This might happen if that person grew up having
dogs as pets. This shows how, if two people have had different experiences, they might have different
thoughts and emotions in the same situation.
  Figure 1 - A person can have different thoughts about the same situation.

 Different thoughts can then lead to different kinds of changes in (1) what your body is doing, (2)
what you pay attention to and think about, and (3) how you want to act. When you notice these
changes, you can use them to figure out what emotion you are feeling.

Scientists have found that certain kinds of thoughts often lead to certain emotions. For example, when
someone thinks, “I am in danger,” that person would probably feel fear. Or, when someone thinks, “I
just got what I wanted,” that person would probably feel happy. Or, when someone thinks, “I just lost
something I care about,” that person would probably feel sad. Last, when someone thinks, “My friend
just treated me unfairly,” that person would probably feel angry.

Scientists have discovered that the thoughts that cause emotions usually answer questions like these:

 (1) Is what happened unexpected?

 (2) Is what happened enjoyable?

 (3) Is what happened going to make it easier or harder for me to get what I want?
  (4) Can I control

Having control means that you are able to change something if you do not like it. It also means that you
are able to keep something the same if you do like it.

what happens next?

 (5) Will I be able to cope

To cope with something means to find a way to live with (or adjust to) a change in your life without
feeling too bad for too long.

with what happened?

 (6) Does what happened match with what I think is right and wrong?

 (7) Is what happened my fault or someone else’s?

When something happens, you will feel different emotions depending on how your mind answers these
different questions. For example, if your bike just broke, you’d probably feel sadder if you didn’t think
you could do anything to fix it (meaning you don’t think you have control). Or, if your best friend just
moved away, you’d probably feel less sad about it if you also believed that you’d be able to cope and
make new friends. Or, if you think it is wrong not to share, then you’d probably get angry with someone
when he or she doesn’t share things.

But have you ever felt an emotion and didn’t know why? Sometimes people feel emotions even though
they don’t notice any thoughts related to those emotions. This can be hard to understand. However,
scientists have found that sometimes your brain can trigger an emotion unconsciously. This means that
your brain might notice something in your situation and trigger an emotional reaction, all without you
even noticing it. In fact, scientists have found that our brains do lots of things that we don’t notice.
These are called “unconscious processes

Things that your brain does without you knowing about it.

.” For example, even though you don’t notice it, your brain is controlling many things in your body right
now, such as what your heart and stomach are doing. The next time you are feeling an emotion and
don’t know why, try to pay attention to what’s happening in your current situation and ask yourself the
seven different questions stated earlier. This might help you figure out why you are feeling the way you
do.

WHAT HAPPENS DURING AN EMOTION?

When an emotion is triggered, what actually happens? Scientists have learned that an “emotional
reaction

The changes that automatically happen during an emotion (like changes in what your body is doing,
changes in your thoughts, and changes in how you want to act).
” actually has many different parts [2]. One part of an emotional reaction is that the brain changes
what’s happening in the body. For example, when you are afraid or angry, you might feel your heart
start to pound and your lungs might start breathing faster. Or, when you are sad, you might get tears in
your eyes. Emotions can also cause some muscles in your body to move automatically. For example,
during happiness you might smile, your voice might sound more excited, and you might stand up a bit
taller—and you might not even notice you’re doing these things.

Another part of an emotional reaction is that you start to think differently. For example, scientists have
found that when people are sad they usually think of sad memories, but when people are happy they
usually think of happy memories. As another example, when people are scared they usually start looking
for other dangers in their surroundings, and they are more likely to have thoughts about other scary
things. On the other hand, when people are happy, they usually notice more things that they like as they
go through the day.

The last part of an emotional reaction is that you start to want to behave differently than you usually
behave. For example, if you are angry, you might want to yell or fight with someone. Or, if you are
scared, you might feel a strong desire to run away. Or, if you are sad, you may just want to stay home
alone in your room and not talk to anyone.

HOW DO YOU FIGURE OUT WHAT EMOTION YOU ARE FEELING?

After we have emotional reactions, we usually also want to understand them. Have you ever been
unsure about what emotion you were feeling? Sometimes our feelings can be confusing, and it can take
effort to understand them. One reason for this is that the same type of emotion can sometimes feel
different in different situations. For example, feeling afraid to give a speech in front of your class can
feel different than feeling afraid of a lion. Another reason that feelings can be confusing is that different
types of emotions can sometimes feel similar. For example, both anger and fear can make you shaky and
make your heart beat faster.

So when you notice you are having an emotional reaction, you still have to figure out which emotion it is
[3]. For example, you might notice that your heart is racing, that there is a lion in front of you, and that
you have a strong desire to run away. After you think about different emotions you might be feeling,
you could then decide that “fear” is your best guess. In other words, you might have the thought that
“I’m probably feeling fear right now, because I believe this lion could hurt me.” Although, with a scary
situation like this, you might not even realize you are afraid until after you run away and have a moment
to think about it. Scientists have found that some people find it more difficult than others to figure out
what emotion they are feeling. People who have trouble understanding their emotions also have more
trouble making themselves feel better.

It is important to pay attention to your emotions and to practice figuring out what you are feeling. This
will help you to solve problems and to feel better faster when you are feeling bad. It also helps to ask
yourself what you have learned from times when you’ve felt sad, or scared, or angry, and how you
would handle similar situations if they happened again.
CAN UNDERSTANDING HOW EMOTIONS WORK HELP YOU?

One good reason to understand emotions is that it can help you figure out the best way to respond to
them. To figure out how to respond, it is important to first decide if your emotions match the current
situation. Emotional reactions can be helpful when they happen in the right situations. For example, if
you feel scared of a snake, your emotion of fear will help you stay away from snakes and avoid getting
bitten. Or, if you get angry when someone does something mean to you, your anger can let that person
know not to be mean anymore. Or, if your family and friends notice that you are sad after a friend
moves away, your sadness can help them see that you need their love and support.

However, sometimes these same emotions can be unhelpful if they happen in the wrong situations. For
example, if you get angry with a friend because he hurt you by accident, then this might just make your
friendship worse. Or, if you are so scared of taking a test that you stay home from school, then this
might stop you from getting a good grade in that class. Or, if you are sad for too long after a friend
moves away, then this might make it harder for you to make new friends.

If an emotion is helpful, you can listen to what it is telling you to do. But what should you do if an
emotion is unhelpful? Scientists have found that there are some good skills you can practice, which can
help you deal with unhelpful emotions. One skill—called “reappraisal

One good skill for dealing with unhelpful emotions. To do this, you first notice what thoughts you are
having in a situation. Then you try to find another way to think about the situation that might make you
feel better.

”—involves trying to change your thoughts [4]. For example, if you are scared to go to school to take a
test, then you could try to find another way to think about the test that is less scary. For instance, you
might think, “Well, I passed all of the other tests I have had to take, so this one will probably be ok too.”
Or, if you were angry with a friend because he hurt you by accident, you might try to think, “It was just
bad luck—I know he didn’t mean to hurt me.” If you change your thoughts about a situation, this can
sometimes help change an unhelpful emotion as well.

If you are feeling fear, and it is unhelpful in the current situation, then another useful skill is called
“approaching your fear

A good skill for dealing with unhelpful fear. To do this, you first decide that it is ok to be feeling fear.
Then you decide to still do what you are afraid of, even though the fear is still there. This can help you
learn to be less scared in the future.

” [5]. To understand how this works, first remember that, when people are scared of something, they
usually want to do everything they can to avoid it. For example, you might not want to go to school
because you are scared of giving a class presentation. The problem is that when you avoid situations like
this (situations that are not actually dangerous), then you can never learn not to be scared of them
anymore. Instead, if you force yourself to give many different class presentations, then eventually you’ll
probably stop feeling as scared of them (see Figure 2). Scientists have found that approaching your fears
(this means doing what you are scared of) is one of the best ways to make your fears go away.

 Figure 2 - In the example on the top, you decide to stay home from school because you are
scared to give a class presentation.

 In the future, you are always too scared to give class presentations. In the example on the
bottom, you are also scared to give a class presentation, but you decide to do it anyway. In the
future, you become less scared of giving class presentations. These examples show how
“approaching your fears” can help you learn to be less scared in the future.

If you are feeling angry or sad, other things that can help are exercise and activity. For example, when
people are angry, they usually want to yell or say mean things. But going for a run instead often helps
people calm down and think more clearly, and it also puts them in a more positive mood. As another
example, when people are sad, they often just want to stay home in their rooms alone and think about
their problems. However, this can sometimes just make them feel worse (see Figure 3). When you are
sad, even if you don’t feel like it, it can actually help a lot to go outside and do something active. For
example, you could go spend time with a friend or go for a walk through a park.
  Figure 3 - In the example on the top, you decide to stay home alone because you are sad you
didn’t get invited to a party.

 You keep thinking about why you didn’t get invited to the party, and you still feel sad many
hours later. In the example on the bottom, you are also sad you didn’t get invited to a party, but
you decide to go outside and do something else fun instead. You stop worrying so much about
the party, and you feel much happier a few hours later. These examples show how going outside
and doing something active can help you feel better when you are sad. Even if you don’t feel like
it, you will often feel better faster if you do this. Doing something active can also help if you are
feeling angry and you want to calm down before you accidently yell or do something mean.

One other reason that understanding emotions can be good is it can help you understand other people.
Perhaps you have seen people get angry or sad in a situation, but you couldn’t figure out why they felt
that way. After reading this paper, you know that these people probably think of this situation in a
different way than you do. The reason they think of the situation differently is probably because they
have also had different life experiences than you have had. In general, if you spend a little time trying to
figure out what a person’s thoughts might be, and what past experiences that person has had, this will
probably also help you understand why that person feels the way they do.
SUMMARY

In this paper, you have learned many things about emotions. First, your emotional reactions are usually
caused by your thoughts; however, sometimes your brain can also trigger an emotional reaction
unconsciously (meaning that you may not understand why that emotional reaction is happening).
Second, your emotional reactions involve changes in (1) what your body is doing, (2) what you pay
attention to and think about, and (3) how you want to act. Third, after you have an emotional reaction,
it is important to pay attention to it and to try your best to figure out which emotions you are feeling
and why. Finally, you have learned that it is important to know how emotions work because it can help
you respond to your emotions in healthier ways.

Glossary

Emotions: Feelings like sadness and anger that people have in response to different thoughts and
situations. Sometimes people can also feel more than one emotion at the same time (like feeling both
excited and scared to ride a roller coaster).

Control: Having control means that you are able to change something if you do not like it. It also means
that you are able to keep something the same if you do like it.

Cope: To cope with something means to find a way to live with (or adjust to) a change in your life
without feeling too bad for too long.

Unconscious Processes: Things that your brain does without you knowing about it.

Emotional Reaction: The changes that automatically happen during an emotion (like changes in what
your body is doing, changes in your thoughts, and changes in how you want to act).

Reappraisal: One good skill for dealing with unhelpful emotions. To do this, you first notice what
thoughts you are having in a situation. Then you try to find another way to think about the situation that
might make you feel better.

Approaching Your Fear: A good skill for dealing with unhelpful fear. To do this, you first decide that it is
ok to be feeling fear. Then you decide to still do what you are afraid of, even though the fear is still
there. This can help you learn to be less scared in the future.