7 basic emotions that underlie all feelings

As long as humanity has existed, it has been concerned with the question of emotions - what kind of phenomenon they are, why they arise and why they are so difficult to control, what meaning is contained in them and how many of them exist. Many fiction books are devoted to emotions, feelings and experiences of the soul, or touch on this topic in one way or another, and no less number of academic articles and studies have been written about them. At the moment, there are about a hundred scientific definitions of emotions, dozens of classifications and a number of theories regarding this vital phenomenon.

In this article we want to consider the adaptation model of emotions, which was developed by the American psychologist Robert Plutchik. Plutchik devoted many decades to research into the nature of emotions, as well as their evolutionary prerequisites and mechanisms, features and causes of defensive mental reactions, as well as psychodiagnostic details of human types. The fruit of all these scientific researches was the adaptation (or psychoevolutionary) model of emotions and the so-called Wheel of Emotions, which we will consider.

Let's understand the evolutionary background of our emotions better and get acquainted with Plutchik's model in detail.

Basic emotions: classification, description, meaning in psychology and human life

Life without emotions, what is it like? Boring and monotonous, or would life not exist in principle? Initially, emotions appeared as a tool for the development and preservation of the human species: they force one to avoid danger, warn of the appearance of an enemy, signal needs and regulate behavior. Thanks to them, a person constantly strives for excellence, receives motivation and a charge of vigor, and takes care of himself and those around him. Emotions fill life with meaning, encourage procreation and care for offspring. It is a tool for communicating with the external and internal worlds.

Description and meaning of emotions

Joy.
Helps to get closer and interact with other people, forms psychological attachment.
Strengthens the feeling of belonging and unity with the world. The answer to pleasure, the justification of hopes and desires. Maintains a positive attitude and inspires. Sadness.
Reaction to loss and the resulting inner emptiness.
Performs a protective function, stimulating the release of negativity and internal tension, which, in turn, prevents falling into long-term depression. Fear.
Occurs in situations of danger.
The personality ceases to adequately assess reality, and therefore cannot concentrate on the very possibility of avoiding the threat. It forces a person to increase the distance between him and unsafe factors. The greater the distance, the less manifestations of fear. This is a powerful incentive and assistant, as it makes it possible to prevail over danger. Disgust (disgust).
Rejection reaction.
It can manifest itself in relation to objects, smells, tastes, other people and oneself. Subconsciously, the person will strive to keep his distance, which is a positive side, as it prevents situations that could have negative consequences. Astonishment.
Helps to better navigate the environment, increases attention, builds relationships and mutual understanding.
Opens up opportunities to see something new in familiar things or surroundings. But if a person is alarmed, it turns into fear. Anger.
Performs important functions: signals the appearance of an enemy or threat, stimulates the fight for needs.
Energizes and prepares the body to defend itself: focuses attention, reduces anxiety and empathy to make it easier to attack if necessary. Anger (rage).
Pushes for change in an unsatisfactory situation.
It is constructive only if it is aimed at changes, otherwise it acts as a destroyer. This is a pure emotion. It is a signaling system for changing interactions with certain individuals. Pushes to destroy the old and build something new. Contempt.
Negative assessment of events or people.
Those who feel contempt feel superior. But if it is directed at oneself, it can provoke prolonged depression and suicide. The most destructive emotional state for relationships and the person himself. Particularly brutal murders are provoked by him. The positive aspects are: the individual’s desire to become better, as a way of assessing an unworthy act. Shame (humiliation).
Makes a person feel like a failure, helpless and incompetent.
On the other hand, it develops self-control and encourages the acquisition of new skills and development. Grief (suffering).
A negative state associated with the loss of something (someone) very valuable or a complete inability to satisfy extremely important needs.
Often results in depression. Of the basic emotions, the most important are those that ensure survival and stimulate development.

Stimulating development

1. Interest.
   One of the most motivating. Very easily comparable to the two discussed earlier. In one case, it encourages you to find out what to do so as not to get negative consequences that cause fear. And in another, a person is looking for a way to obtain pleasure and bliss. It pushes a person to act, consider and find new ways to achieve the desired result. It helps to achieve not only internal satisfaction, but also to receive material rewards.
2. Shame. A very complex internal experience, not accessible to everyone. Based on a sensitive perception of the impressions delivered to another person by one’s actions. If an individual realizes that his action caused pain and suffering (perhaps just disappointment), then he begins to feel a sense of shame. In the future, the individual tries not to repeat such mistakes. Such analysis and conclusions lead to internal improvement and development.

The emotional state depends not only on the psychological component, but also on the chemical reactions occurring in the body under the influence of external factors. For example, critical situations lead to the following reactions: the release of adrenaline, increased breathing, increased blood pressure, that is, all internal forces are mobilized. Joy promotes the release of happiness hormones, creating a feeling of lightness and elation, euphoria. Sadness stimulates the production of stress hormones and so on

Physical pain or serious illness can cause terror, anger, suffering or shame.

Therefore, it is extremely important to understand that a stable psyche is not only a good mood, but also physiological health.

— Psychotypes of people

— What is Maslow’s pyramid of needs?

— What is psychological protection?

February 18, 2020

Igor Kislyuk

Before joining coaching, Igor worked as a business coach. Trained managers in negotiations using FBI techniques. Coaching became a new way for him to interact with clients and an additional specialization. What discoveries did he make for himself?

Point B

• Status of a professional ICF certified coach, 10 clients in personal practice, 100,000 rubles of additional income

What brought me to 5 Prism was the desire to become a professional coach. During the week of international coaching, I saw Yuri’s demo session, saw the client’s eyes before and after the session. I realized that I wanted to learn the same way. As a coach, I am used to building directive communication, conveying knowledge to a person and leading him along the path of development. And coaching has a completely different approach; it’s a new experience for me.

Moods

Mood is a fairly long-lasting emotional process of low intensity, forming an emotional background for ongoing mental processes. The emotional tone can be flat, low, high, alarming, etc.

What is it: concept

An emotional state is a mental state that arises in the process of life and determines the direction of an individual’s behavior.

Many aspects of life depend on this condition, including health, performance, and sociability.

At the same time, there is influence on it from the outside. For example, this could include the area where an individual lives or the atmosphere in the workplace.

The direct influence of music on the human condition has also been revealed. For example, depressive compositions lead to despondency for no apparent reason, while active melodies evoke positive feelings.

Psycho-emotional states are understood as a special form, which is characterized by the predominance of an emotional response to any event, action or situation (see photo).

Events

Humility is a sober vision of oneself. Humility can be divided into three categories (for ease of perception), but in essence it is one quality in three different manifestations

Read also: Where do transgender people come from?

Humility towards God is a vision of one’s sins, hope only in God’s mercy, but not in one’s own merits, love for Him, combined with uncomplainingly enduring life’s hardships and difficulties

Humility towards other people - the absence of anger and irritation even towards those who, it would seem, fully deserve it

Humility towards oneself - a person who has humility towards himself does not look at the shortcomings of others, but perfectly sees his own. Moreover, in any conflict, if he is really to blame, he blames only himself, and in response to any fair accusation or even insult caused by his action (inaction) addressed to himself, such a person is ready to say a sincere “I’m sorry.”

Response scale

The emotional response scale is a technique in the form of a questionnaire that is used to measure human empathy, that is, the ability to empathize and have an emotional response.

The questionnaire presents 25 judgments, among which there are both direct and reverse.

In order to pass it, you need to assess your level of agreement: always agree, rather agree (or often agree), rather disagree with the statement (or agree, but rarely) and never agree.

Thanks to this scale, it becomes possible to see the individual’s attitude to various situations of interaction with other people.

At the end, the total amount of points received is calculated and compared with the following gradation of levels:

• less than 11 points - extremely low level of empathy;
• from 12 to 36 points - low level of empathy;
• from 37 to 62 points - normal level of empathy;
• from 63 to 81 points - high level of empathy;
• from 82 to 90 points - an extremely high level of empathy.

The ability to empathize is a valuable quality for an individual, but too much empathy is not always useful. The most favorable level is considered to be the normal level (37-62 points), when a person shows empathy, but does not forget about his own interests.

An extremely high level of empathy is characterized by too much complaisance - such people are often used for their own purposes. In turn, individuals with an extremely low level find it difficult to build relationships with others; they have difficulty making contact.

There is a wide variety of emotions in our lives. They perform various functions and are of great importance to humans. In this regard, this topic is quite interesting and is actively studied by researchers to this day.

Definition and types of emotions:

Our interesting VKontakte group:

List of all emotions (most common)

Among all known human emotions, the most powerful are the emotions from the list below:

1. Anger. Has anyone ever told you not to do what you want? How are you feeling? Is your blood starting to boil, is your temperature rising? This is usually how anger is described. Your body reacts to something that is not happening your way, and this is an attempt to correct the situation;
2. Sadness. If you miss a deadline, get a bad grade, or don't complete work, you'll probably feel upset. Sadness happens when we are unhappy with ourselves, our accomplishments, or the behavior of someone else around us. Sadness can be a healthy experience because it indicates that we are passionate about something. It can be a great catalyst for achieving change;
3. Joy is a feeling of delight, happiness, and perhaps even euphoria, often experienced as a sudden surge due to something good;
4. Hope is a feeling of optimism and anticipation of a positive future;
5. Pride is a feeling of self-approval and pleasure in an achievement or skill.

To prevent your emotional state from harming you and your environment, you need to learn to control your feelings and emotions. Despite the fact that emotions arise on their own, it is quite possible to curb them. In any current situation, you need to look at the circumstances soberly in order to prevent bad consequences.

Meaning of the concept

In the scientific community, there are many different views on the nature of emotional processes. No single generally accepted theory has yet been developed. In this regard, there is also no universal definition of the emotional process, just as there is no generally accepted term for their designation. Psychologists often use the terms “affect” and “emotion” in this broad sense, but these names are also used to refer to narrower concepts. The term "emotional process" is also not generally accepted, but at least it does not contain ambiguity.

Despite the fact that all definitions of emotional processes try to describe the same thing, different authors identify different characteristics of this phenomenon as the main ones. For example, one of the founders of the activity approach in psychology, A. N. Leontiev, defines emotional processes as follows:

In this definition, the emphasis is on the evaluative, indicative nature of emotional processes, as well as on their dual nature: mental and physiological.

The American specialist in the field of emotions C. E. Izard gives a different definition:

Here the emphasis is shifted to an equally important, motivating aspect of emotional processes, and additional attention is drawn to the fact that the emotional process is represented in consciousness by experience. It can also be noted that in the activity approach, perception, thinking and actions are integral elements of activity. Thus, emotional processes in psychology are understood as processes that have both mental and physiological components, which stand out from other psychophysiological processes in that they reflect for the subject the meaning of something, and in a manner corresponding to this meaning that regulates his behavior, thinking and even perception

In consciousness, emotional processes are represented in the form of various experiences. For example, fear. In addition to the obvious mental component, it also has a pronounced physiological component (increased adrenaline secretion, sweating, slowdown of digestive processes). Fear reflects the real or imaginary danger of something for the subject, and also prepares the body for activities aimed at avoiding danger (sensations become heightened, blood flow to the muscles increases). At the same time, for example, stress, which is also a psychophysiological process, appears under any influence, regardless of its significance for the subject, and therefore does not relate to emotional processes.

Thus, emotional processes in psychology are understood as processes that have both mental and physiological components, stand out from other psychophysiological processes in that they reflect the meaning of something for the subject, and regulate his behavior, thinking and even perception in a manner appropriate to this meaning. . In consciousness, emotional processes are represented in the form of various experiences. For example, fear

.
In addition to the obvious mental component, it also has a pronounced physiological component (increased adrenaline secretion, sweating, slowdown of digestive processes). Fear reflects the real or imaginary danger
of something for the subject, and also prepares the body for activities aimed at
avoiding
danger (sensations become heightened, blood flow to the muscles increases).
At the same time, for example, stress
, which is also a psychophysiological process, appears under any influence, regardless of its significance for the subject, and therefore does not relate to emotional processes [
source not specified 385 days
].

Fundamental Emotions

All human emotions can be distinguished by the quality of experience. This aspect of human emotional life is most clearly presented in the theory of differential emotions by the American psychologist K. Izard. He identified ten qualitatively different “fundamental” emotions: interest-excitement, joy, surprise, grief-suffering, anger-rage, disgust-disgust, contempt-disdain, fear-horror, shame-shyness, guilt-remorse. K. Izard classifies the first three emotions as positive, the remaining seven as negative. Each of the fundamental emotions underlies a whole spectrum of conditions that vary in degree of expression. For example, within the framework of such a unimodal emotion as joy, one can distinguish joy-satisfaction, joy-delight, joy-jubilation, joy-ecstasy and others. From the combination of fundamental emotions, all other, more complex, complex emotional states arise. For example, anxiety can combine fear, anger, guilt and interest.

1. Interest is a positive emotional state that promotes the development of skills and knowledge. Interest-excitement is a feeling of capture, curiosity.

2. Joy is a positive emotion associated with the opportunity to sufficiently fully satisfy an actual need, the probability of which was previously small or uncertain. Joy is accompanied by self-satisfaction and satisfaction with the world around us. Obstacles to self-realization are also obstacles to the emergence of joy.

3. Surprise - an emotional reaction to sudden circumstances that does not have a clearly defined positive or negative sign. Surprise inhibits all previous emotions, directing attention to a new object and can turn into interest.

4. Suffering (grief) is the most common negative emotional state associated with receiving reliable (or seeming) information about the impossibility of satisfying the most important needs, the achievement of which previously seemed more or less likely. Suffering has the character of an asthenic emotion and more often occurs in the form of emotional stress. The most severe form of suffering is grief associated with irretrievable loss.

5. Anger is a strong negative emotional state, often occurring in the form of affect; arises in response to an obstacle in achieving passionately desired goals. Anger has the character of a sthenic emotion.

6. Disgust is a negative emotional state caused by objects (objects, people, circumstances), contact with which (physical or communicative) comes into sharp conflict with the aesthetic, moral or ideological principles and attitudes of the subject. Disgust, when combined with anger, can motivate aggressive behavior in interpersonal relationships. Disgust, like anger, can be directed toward oneself, lowering self-esteem and causing self-judgment.

7. Contempt is a negative emotional state that arises in interpersonal relationships and is generated by a mismatch in the life positions, views and behavior of the subject with those of the object of feeling. The latter are presented to the subject as base, not corresponding to accepted moral standards and ethical criteria. A person is hostile to someone he despises.

8. Fear is a negative emotional state that appears when the subject receives information about possible damage to his life well-being, about a real or imaginary danger. In contrast to suffering caused by direct blocking of the most important needs, a person, experiencing the emotion of fear, has only a probabilistic forecast of possible trouble and acts on the basis of this forecast (often insufficiently reliable or exaggerated). The emotion of fear can be both sthenic and asthenic in nature and occur either in the form of stressful conditions, or in the form of a stable mood of depression and anxiety, or in the form of affect (horror).

9. Shame is a negative emotional state, expressed in the awareness of the inconsistency of one’s own thoughts, actions and appearance not only with the expectations of others, but also with one’s own ideas about appropriate behavior and appearance.

10. Guilt is a negative emotional state, expressed in the awareness of the unseemlyness of one’s own actions, thoughts or feelings and expressed in regret and repentance.

Types of higher feelings

Depending on the nature of a person’s relationship to various objects of social reality, the following main types of higher feelings are identified:

— Moral (moral) feelings — a person’s experience of his relationship to other people, to society, to the rules and norms of society. They arise when comparing the phenomena of reality with social norms after their adoption.

— Intellectual feelings – feelings associated with cognitive activity and regulating the intellectual activity of the individual.

— Aesthetic feelings are a peculiar coloring of sensations that characterize our attitude to the individual qualities of an object.

- Practical feelings - feelings associated with the practical activities of a person.

Table 4 shows examples of higher feelings.

Table 4

Examples of higher feelings

Morality is the doctrine of virtues that allow a person to become happy; this is the proper attitude and behavior in society; the sphere of what is proper, based on the positions of good and evil. Morality is the sphere of existence, how a person specifically implements moral norms, this is the specific behavior of specific people. The moral culture of an individual is an indicator of how deeply and organically humanistic norms, principles, and moral values ​​are embodied in his real actions. Moral norms develop and change in the process of historical development of society, depending on its traditions, customs, religion, prevailing politics, etc.

A mother's love for her child is the highest feeling, not depending on her mood or what grade she received. The mother may get angry with the child, be dissatisfied with his behavior, punish, but all this does not affect her feeling, which remains strong and relatively stable.

What moral (moral) feelings are inherent in a person largely depends on the conditions of his life in society, relationships with other people, and upbringing. These factors determine the place of spiritual needs and value-semantic attitudes in the structure of personality orientation. For example, a feeling of love for the Motherland develops when the concept “Motherland” is filled with personal meaning

To do this, it is important to know the history of your country, its sights, cultural monuments, get acquainted with outstanding works of art, and take an active part in social and cultural life

Moral feelings are effective. They act as motivating forces for many heroic deeds and actions.

It is important that compliance with the requirements and rules of public morality becomes a vital necessity for a person. Violation of these requirements and rules should cause moral dissatisfaction, feelings of resentment, shame, and anger

Styles of love according to Lee (Andreeva, Family Psychology):

“Eros” is love at first sight, an intense relationship.

- “Ludus” - love is a game.

- “Storge” - love - affection or friendship, with slow development and long-term obligations.

— “Pragma” — love of convenience, compatibility with a partner and the presence of obligations on his part.

- “Agape” - altruistic love.

- “Mania” - possessive love, dependence on a partner and lack of self-confidence.

Benefits and harms of emotional state

Sometimes an emotional state can lead to a real disaster. This happens because there is always a need for a balance between negative and positive emotions. If you are too happy, almost to the point of euphoria, you will not be able to concentrate on work or school and will subsequently produce poor results.

This fact is called compensation. We also get harm from negative feelings; we can be sad for so long that we become depressed. We can also benefit from our emotional state. Thanks to some facts that please us, we feel more confident and courageous.

Lie to Me

At the beginning of 2009, the first season of the television series Lie to Me was released in the United States (in Russia it is known as “Lie to Me,” translated by Channel One or “The Theory of Lies,” translated by Novafilm studio. - Approx. per.). It was subsequently shown in more than fifty other countries. The main character of the series is a psychologist, Dr. Cal Lightman, who heads his own company that helps police and intelligence agencies investigate crimes. The firm specializes in a very unusual kind of service: it exposes liars by analyzing the “microexpressions” of their true intentions and feelings. Despite all the efforts of professional deceivers to mislead their interlocutor, these microexpressions appear in their body language and, above all, on their faces.

The company's employees, contrary to the agreement concluded among themselves, now and then use their own methods in everyday life. For example, Lightman himself promises his teenage daughter Emily not to use any “secret scientific methods” in relation to her boyfriend Dan, with whom she has a date in the evening. But when Dan rings the doorbell, Lightman—a walking lie detector—greets him with a question: “Are you going to try to have sex with my daughter tonight?” - and then studies Dan's reaction in his usual way.

Lightman was based on Paul Ekman (1934), who has been a psychologist at the University of California at San Francisco since the late 1950s and is also the CEO of the Paul Ekman Group, LLC. In 2009, Akman was named one of the 100 most influential people on the planet by TIME Magazine. He is a key figure in the fields of anthropological, sociological and linguistic study of emotion. Ackman served as a consultant on the script for Lie to Me, and the agreement detailed the extent to which Cal Lightman could resemble him, from biographical details such as his mother's suicide to the physical resemblance between Ackman and actor Tim Roth. .

The consulting didn't end with the series' release: in a special accompanying blog, Paul Ekman "explains the science behind each episode." But the main issue here was the transfer of intellectual property rights, because the entire concept of the series is based on Ekman's work in the field of studying emotions. So what is his contribution to this research?