Feelings in psychology. What is this, the definition of higher, intellectual, moral

Concept and stages of formation

Feelings are often confused with emotions.
These phenomena of the human psyche are interrelated, but are not interchangeable. Feelings are a special form of a person’s relationship to the world around him, which arises as a response to compliance or non-compliance with current needs. They are distinguished by their stability and strength of manifestation. With their help, an individual expresses his attitude towards people, phenomena, objects, and denotes beliefs and character traits. A sensory reaction occurs in response to an event occurring in an individual's life. Correct formation of reactions is necessary for the development of a harmonious, healthy personality. This is an individual process that begins in early childhood. The formation is influenced by the family environment and local culture. In Spain it is customary to express feelings violently, but in Japan this is a sign of poor upbringing.

Feelings are usually divided into lower and higher. The lower ones include physiological manifestations: hunger, fatigue. The highest include manifestations associated with the spiritual world: admiration, empathy, emotional attachment. The presence of higher feelings distinguishes humans from animals.

Sensory experiences have an object reference. An individual cannot experience them for a situation or phenomenon, only for a specific character or object. Feelings may not have external manifestations: while living them inside, the individual remains calm outwardly. They are often nonverbal—unspoken.

Fleeting manifestations occur when interaction with an object has been brief. To form a stable connection, you need long-term contact. This is exactly how falling in love develops: if a person is deprived of the opportunity to see the object of adoration, falling in love quickly passes. If he can look at least at a portrait every day, then love will only be nourished and strengthened.

Self-awareness

This concept is interpreted differently in psychology. There are also different approaches to this issue. For example, the scientist V. Bekhterev says that self-awareness precedes consciousness, but S. Rubinstein claims that it is only a stage in the development of consciousness. Doctor I. Sechenov said that self-awareness develops simultaneously with consciousness.

A person’s self-awareness does not arise immediately, as it develops gradually; it is influenced by many social factors that arise throughout life. Self-awareness includes four components: awareness of one's self, the ability to distinguish one's personality from others, the manifestation of self-esteem and the ability to notice one's mental properties.

Age stages of development

The development of feelings in early childhood is an important, complex process. It happens in stages:

1. Newborn baby. Once born, a child masters the basic forms of manifestations necessary for survival: hunger, pleasure, pain, fear. The emotional state depends on physical sensations. A newborn does not know how to distinguish between feelings. His main interest and need is physical contact with his mother. The baby reacts to her mood and copies it.
2. From 0 to 6 months. The baby understands what sensations he experiences when in contact with adults. His perception is fragmentary: he sees the world in parts. By six months, he learns to distinguish between family and strangers; anxiety and wariness appear in his arsenal. While exploring the world, he tries to touch everything he sees. If this fails, the baby experiences anger and discomfort.
3. 6–12 months Six-month-old babies know how to be surprised and show interest. In addition to physical needs, the child has mental ones. Interests gradually form: the child divides toys into favorites and unloved ones. At the age of 8 months, fear of separation from the mother appears, the child experiences anxiety and becomes restless.
4. 1–1.5 years. Own desires appear, the need to realize them. The child learns to make independent decisions, but often faces prohibitions from adults. An obstacle causes anger and a desire to get what is yours. At this age, it is important to learn to separate desires and actions. The main achievement of 1.5 years is that the child develops an idea of ​​himself, the baby identifies himself with his name.
5. 1.5–2 years The child is no longer helpless. He moves confidently, can pick up a toy himself, and has more freedom and needs. He strives to prove independence, the right to his own opinion. At this age, he already shares feelings, but cannot name them.
6. 2–2.5 years Two-year-old children see themselves as the center of the world; they have no understanding of danger. Also, the feeling of compassion and pity has not yet been formed: if the child does not like another baby, he may hit him or bite him, expressing hostility.
7. 2.5–3 years. With successful development, by the age of three the child will have formed a holistic idea of ​​himself. There is pride in one’s independence and shame in case of failure. Interest in other children awakens, the desire to take their place in the team.

The development of feelings continues until the end of adolescence. The first years of life form the foundation that will help a child differentiate feelings from emotions.

Adaptation of a child in a team

Basic properties of personality consciousness

Activity

One of the main properties of consciousness can be considered activity. Every action that a person performs has a motive and purpose. No one acts thoughtlessly, obeying only a chaotic combination of circumstances. If the goal is desired, then the person is often ready to make even incredible efforts to achieve it. Consciousness controls human behavior and tries to calculate everything in such a way that it is most beneficial to the person himself. Our ability to predict a situation and see our own prospects is a merit of consciousness. Such a property as activity allows consciousness to remain in a working state constantly. Under what circumstances is a person ready to take active steps? In the case when he understands the need for the actions taken.

Dynamism

Dynamism is understood as such an orientation towards an object or phenomenon of the surrounding reality, in which consciousness reveals the ability for continuous development

The property of dynamism is that a person’s attention is always changing. We are able to concentrate for the most part only on what is truly meaningful and interesting to us.

Turning to some object evokes various emotions; we connect our feelings to what we hear and see around us, what we observe. This property of consciousness as dynamism is always aimed at immersing in the essence of the phenomenon or object in question.

Constant reflection

It must be said that the ability to analyze one’s own actions and actions is an integral and significant characteristic of consciousness. A property called “reflection” helps at the right moment to turn to the source of your “I”, your inner essence and talk with it as frankly as possible. In such internal dialogues, a person often discovers that he lived and acted incorrectly, and was inattentive to his loved ones. Constant reflection is a property of consciousness that allows for effective self-observation at different periods of life. A person almost always compares his present self with the way he was before. Such a property of consciousness as reflection makes it easy to do this. Consciousness itself is capable of expanding and expanding a person’s understanding of the world.

Values ​​and motives

Another property of consciousness is its focus on internal sources of significance. We are talking about values ​​for the sake of which specific actions are taken. Human consciousness is of a motivational and value-based nature. A person sometimes has to make incredible efforts on himself in order to be able to negotiate with his inner conscience. Values ​​and motives set in motion his mental activity.

Thus, the properties of consciousness always reflect the essence of a particular personality, its internal nature and capabilities. Each person is completely individual and each has their own preferences.

Qualitative characteristics

Feelings have characteristics that distinguish them from other emotional manifestations:

1. Valence - division into positive, negative and ambivalent (dual). The occurrence of ambivalent manifestations speaks of rich life experience and lack of categoricalness. Ambivalence is characteristic of people with a high level of intelligence.
2. Intensity is the power of manifestation. By intensity, one can determine the main and secondary feelings, assess a person’s ability to self-control, and the development of willpower.
3. Content is the meaning for a person of an object in relation to which he shows feelings.
4. Sthenicity is an urge to action, a desire to express a feeling. If a person tries to restrain manifestations, this is called asthenicity.

The intensity of the manifestation of feelings determines the behavior of the individual and the attitude of other people towards him. Emotions are always sincere, and the demonstration of feelings can be planned in advance.

What are feelings in psychology

Social psychologist Daniel Gilbert conducted research on the influence of feelings on events along with other researchers. The results showed that when participants predicted a positive feeling for an event, the more likely they were to want to experience that very event. The predicted feelings were either short-lived or did not correlate with what the participant expected.

People in society predict that something will give them a certain desired outcome or feeling. Indulging in what one might think might make them happy or excited may only cause temporary unrest. Events and experiences are usually experienced only to satisfy one’s senses. How do a person's feelings differ from his emotions? Because emotions are just a form of expressing feelings. Simply put, emotions are outside, feelings are inside, and the first acts only as a way to express the second.

Functions and meaning

The task of the senses is to receive and classify information about objects. They also have separate functions:

• reflective - helps to assess the level of danger and usefulness of objects in order to respond to the threat in time;
• stimulating - encourages you to take active actions, make plans for the future, look for ways to solve complex problems, motivation;
• reinforcing - helps to assess the significance of an event for an individual, to remember important things;
• switching - tells you which category to classify objects, actions into, and set priorities;
• adaptive - forms a ready-made base of manifestations that a person has already experienced;
• communicative - affects relationships with others, the need for communication, helps to establish emotional contacts.

Only a positive social environment can ensure normal functioning of functions. If a function malfunctions, a person’s emotional intelligence does not develop. A low level of emotional intelligence is characteristic of children who were raised in a disadvantaged environment.

An extreme degree of manifestation of pedagogical neglect in Mowgli children who grew up away from people. They do not distinguish between the manifestations of other people and do not know how to express feelings. Their psychological development is at the level of a baby monkey.

Completion

Be attentive to yourself! Emotions affect not just our sense of self, but also mental processes such as perception, memory, and thinking. Yes, they can easily activate any of them, or, on the contrary, slow down. Stimulates imagination and the ability to find creative solutions. With their help, we can safely say that we are alive, and this is the most important thing. They enrich us and allow us to fully live every day, appreciate it, and remember it.

And that’s all for today, dear readers! Be attentive to your own experiences, as well as those you meet along the way. Have fun and happiness! Finally, I recommend taking a test to find out how sensitive and aware you are. You will find it here.

The material was prepared by psychologist, Gestalt therapist, Alina Zhuravina.

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Classification by types and scope of manifestation

Feelings are varied and sometimes a person cannot explain what he is experiencing. To simplify the assessment process, you should use the classification of types of feelings in psychology:

1. Subject - refer to the basic spheres of human reality. They show reactions to various actions of others: irritation, delight, surprise, anger.
2. Intellectual - desire for new experiences: curiosity, anticipation, doubt.
3. Aesthetic - a reaction to beautiful, ugly objects: experiences of admiration, disgust, pleasure, dissatisfaction.
4. Praxic - associated with the choice of activity. They determine the attitude towards responsibilities: determination, thirst for knowledge, satisfaction.
5. Moral - responsible for the interaction of people, personal assessment of what is permissible and unacceptable: patriotism, love, cruelty, selfishness.

Complex feelings cannot be classified into one category; they are always a combination of 2-3 different experiences. For example, love can encourage one to gain knowledge, change activities, and unlock potential. Resentment can cause irritation, despair, and apathy.

Philosophy of feelings

The perception of the physical world does not necessarily result in a universal response among recipients, but varies depending on their propensity to cope with the situation, which is related to their past experiences and any number of other factors. Feelings are also states of consciousness, such as those caused by emotions, natural urges, or desires.

People buy products in the hope that the product will make them feel a certain way, happy, excited, or beautiful. Or they are purchasing a useful product for a purpose, such as supporting a charity or altruistic economic cause. Some people purchase beauty products in hopes of achieving a state of happiness or a sense of self-improvement, or as an act of expressing their aesthetic preferences. Past events are used in our lives to form patterns in our minds and based on these past experiences, we expect our lives to follow a certain pattern. However, storytelling, commemoration and memory reservation (reluctance to openly impose memories), research and analysis of one’s memories, as well as many other activities can help overcome difficult feelings without “scripting”, without ambivalence, that the feeling can only be “processed” by a mediator, that not always true. In simple terms: “you don’t have to throw out your feelings to the mediator, hoping for relief, because you can always engage in introspection.”

Effect on mood

In psychology, mood is an emotional state at a specific moment in time. Mood is rarely accompanied by a strong emotional reaction, but affects all activities. It creates a background that determines the speed and efficiency of work. Normally, the mood is stable. In individuals with a strong nervous system, it changes less frequently; in sensitive people, the change occurs frequently.

The mood has a pointless character. Even if a person understands what specifically caused dissatisfaction, the bad mood spreads to activities and relationships. Mood affects feelings. In a bad mood, people experience irritation and injustice towards themselves. In a good situation, they are ready for selfless actions, a favorable attitude towards an unpleasant person.

Danger

Feelings can lead to harm. When a person is dealing with an overwhelming amount of stress and problems in their life, it can lead to self-harm. When a person is in a good state, he never wants that state to end; on the contrary, when someone is in a bad state, they want that feeling to go away. Self-harm or pain is sometimes the answer for many people because they want something to distract them from the real problem. These people cut themselves, stab themselves, and starve themselves in an attempt to feel something other than what they are currently feeling because they believe the pain is not as bad as their actual problem. Distraction is not the only reason many people choose to self-harm. Some people self-harm to punish themselves for feeling certain ways.

A “gut feeling” is a visceral emotional reaction to something. It can be negative, such as a feeling of anxiety, or positive, such as a feeling of trust. It is usually seen as not being modulated by conscious thought, and sometimes as a feature of intuition rather than rationality. Other people's feelings are often picked up by us, and they are not always positive.

This strictly vernacular term can also be used as shorthand for an individual's "common sense" perception of what is considered the "right thing", such as helping an injured passerby, avoiding dark alleys, and acting on one's gut feelings about a given situation. It can also refer to simple, commonly known phrases that are true no matter when said, such as “Water is wet” or “Fire is hot,” or ideas that an individual intuitively perceives to be true (such as “rightness”).

Similarities and differences with emotions

Emotions and feelings in psychology have an inseparable connection: they form the emotional background. Often the individual does not see the difference between them. But they differ in duration, depth, and degree of manifestation.

Feeling is a person’s deep, stable attitude towards an event or phenomenon. It is often hidden, it can be consciously suppressed, masked. Containing emotions is more difficult. They appear as a short burst, a fleeting reaction. Emotions manifest themselves unconsciously. Feelings are conscious manifestations aimed at a specific goal. Emotions can be experienced without external stimulus. For example, an individual experiences strong emotional excitement when listening to music or watching a movie. He empathizes with fictional characters.

When experiencing emotions, a person gives a subjective assessment of what is happening. It depends on the characteristics of his nervous system: phlegmatic people are low-emotional, and choleric people find it difficult to restrain themselves. Sanguine people easily experience strong emotions, but they cause inconvenience to melancholic people. It is impossible to change the characteristics of the nervous system, but you can learn to control emotions. To do this, an individual must distinguish between emotions and feelings and not be afraid of the negative spectrum of emotions.

Structure of consciousness

The features of consciousness include conceptuality and categoricality, self-awareness, communication with the public, and reflection of relationships. Consciousness in psychology is divided into two layers. The first is the existential, which implies the experience of actions and the most sensual images. The second is reflective, it involves understanding reality, the significance and meaning of what is happening. A similar structure of consciousness in psychology shows the complexity of solving various problems.

For example, at the existential level there is a choice to resolve the most difficult life situations; consciousness in this case helps to visualize the desired image at this moment and use the motor system, which depends on the situations of the surrounding world. At the reflexive level of consciousness, concepts, ideas, life and scientific knowledge are correlated with their meaning. If difficulties suddenly arise in understanding the meanings, then there is a misunderstanding.

Who's in charge here?

How to control your emotions? How to be angry with the right person to the degree that is necessary, and exactly at the moment when it is needed, in order to achieve what is necessary? Aristotle managed to pose the problem, and we will search for its solution.

How to cope with emotions and make them your friends, assistants in every task? Managing emotions will be easy if you adhere to the following rules.

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Pay attention to how we feel. A high level of self-awareness is necessary for people to learn to understand themselves and the people around them

How to manage emotions if you don’t even know them? Try to keep track of what moods, feelings, experiences occupy and fill you.

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In addition, this includes awareness of how our emotional sphere affects the people around us, those with whom we interact. The ability to monitor, understand, and always be aware of how we feel is the basis of high emotional intelligence.

Pay attention to how others feel Empathy

Our reactions have a lot to do with what others do. What really matters is how they feel because that's what we can work with. We can change the environment to make the other person more accepting of us. Or we can tell him something so that he begins to trust more, his actions will change and our feelings too.

3. Thought or passion? Cope with your inner feelings at least for the duration of your reasoning. Reflection should always come before action. And actions must be in harmony with thoughts.

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4. Aspirations and goals. Motives are what allow us to remain cool even in the most stressful environments because balancing our purpose with the turmoil of the situation allows us to remain resilient and calm.

A goal is like a beacon that illuminates the path; it protects against meaningless worries. In addition, you cannot be afraid of changes, since many accidents turn into opportunities; it is opportunities that need to be looked for in every moment of life, which is what people with high emotional intelligence do.

Practice expressing your feelings appropriately

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6. Analytics. In many cases, we incorrectly identify the source of negativity, so we pour it out in the wrong places, feel things we shouldn’t, and act in ways we shouldn’t.

Identifying the source of negative or positive experiences is very important

What causes negativity should be eliminated from life or softened if possible. The amount of positive things should increase in life. If you don’t know how to identify these things, then you can yell at children for scattering toys simply because irritation has arisen due to long-standing constant friction with a partner. Wouldn’t it be better to talk to your boss about moving to another team?