List of Feelings and Emotions You know what it’s like to have an intuition – an internal compass – to point out what’s best for you? Or maybe you are wondering what is the condition for building close relationships while maintaining good boundaries for you? The key to these skills is simpler than you think – it is in you, and specifically in your emotions.
How are feelings different from emotions?
Neuroscientists have extensively studied the evolutionary development of the human brain. In humans, the ability to feel emotions evolved millions of years before the ability to YourLatinMates.com think. Human emotions arise in the limbic system, which is hidden deep beneath the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain where thought arises. Thus, our feelings are a more fundamental part of who we are than our thoughts. They are a physiological element of our body, such as nails or knees. Our emotions cannot be erased and we cannot deny them.
Many people use the terms “feelings” and “emotions” as synonyms, but they are not interchangeable. While they share similar elements, there is a clear difference between feelings and emotions. How are feelings different from emotions? It’s just… time passes. Emotions come first, followed by feelings. Then, chemical substances released under the influence of emotions begin to act in our body.
What are emotions?
An emotion is an immediate physiological response to a perceived stimulus. Under the influence of the stimulus, chemicals are released throughout our body and it takes about six seconds. Emotions constantly regulate our body, adapting to emerging threats and opportunities. They provide raw data about the world around us that is necessary for our functioning.
What are feelings?
Feelings, on the other hand, include sensations not only physical but also mental. They appear when we begin to give meaning to emotions and make us pay attention and react to perceived threats or opportunities.
Feelings versus emotions – similarities and differences
The important difference to remember between feelings and emotions is that feelings are experienced consciously, while emotions sometimes stay in the subconscious realm. Many people do not understand their emotions for years or use support (coaching, therapy) to understand them.
What are the types of emotions?
Do you know how many emotions a person can experience? About 34,000 (this is how much the American psychologist Dr. Robert Plutchik distinguished over YourLatinMates the years of analyzes). It is impossible to understand or even notice all 34,000 different emotions, but we can learn to recognize basic emotions.
Basic emotions
In the 1970s, psychologist Paul Ekman identified six basic emotions that, he suggested, are commonly experienced in all human cultures, and are also recognized and interpreted in the same way independently of cultures.
List of basic emotions according to Paul Ekman:
- Happiness – a pleasant emotional state that evokes a feeling of joy, contentment and satisfaction.
- Sadness – An emotional state characterized by feelings of disappointment, regret, or hopelessness.
- Disgust – A strong emotion that causes you to feel disgusted.
- Fear – A primal emotion that is important to survival and triggers a fight or flight response.
- Surprise – A brief emotional state, positive or negative, that follows something unexpected.
- Anger – An emotional state that leads to feelings of hostility and frustration.
Paul Ekman’s theory is not unique. The Glasgow Institute of Neuropsychology distinguishes only four basic emotions: happiness, sadness, fear and anger. He later expanded his list of basic emotions to include pride, shame, embarrassment, and excitement.
Complex emotions
Unlike basic emotions, complex emotions vary across cultures. They are made up of two or more primary emotions, such as fear, anger, and disgust, which in turn make up the complex emotion of hate.
Interpreting complex emotions depending on culture / mentality was confirmed by research conducted by APS scholarship holder Jeanne Tsai at Stanford University, which showed that although most people in the world want to “feel more positive than negative”, it turns out that emotions that cause positive experiences change between cultures. For example, the positive emotions that “Europeans and Americans tended to prefer were excitement and elation,” while Asian populations preferred “peace and relaxation” (Source: Psychology Today).
Sample list of complex emotions :
- love = joy + trust,
- guilt = joy + fear,
- delight = joy + surprise,
- pride = anger + joy,
- anxiety = waiting + fear,
- remorse = sadness + disgust,
- despair = fear + sadness,
- shame = fear + disgust / disgust,
- curiosity = surprise + trust,
- indignation = surprise + anger,
- hope = expectation + trust,
- optimism = hope + joy.
The above are just a few examples, the list of complex emotions is constantly being supplemented by researchers of the topic.
Feelings list
To complete the list of basic and complex emotions, it is worth adding a few words about feelings.
As Dr. Sarah McKay (neurologist) says: “Emotions take place in the theater of the body. Feelings take place in the theater of the mind.
That’s quite an accurate definition – feelings are formed when your brain assigns meaning to an emotional experience you are experiencing because it is List of Feelings and Emotions based on an emotional experience. Feelings can be completely subjective and vary not only – as is the case with complex emotions – by culture but also from person to person. They are conscious and shaped by a person’s temperament and vary from one situation to another.
How can I control my emotions and feelings? – List of Feelings and Emotions
“While some emotions are not welcome, each has a necessary function and something meaningful and precise to say. If we ignore and suppress the emotion, we will not remove its message – we will just shoot the messenger and disrupt an important natural process ”(quote from: Karla McLaren, The Language of Emotions , Sounds True, Boulder 2010).
Emotions or thoughts – what is stronger and more decisive in your life?
Nowadays, we rarely appreciate emotions and rather perceive them as bothersome. Emotions are often, suppress, or ignored. We don’t always view them as an essential part of healing. It is understanding our emotions – and often the emotions of others – that helps us understand the values, vision, and goals that are important to us in life, and is also essential to bonding with others.
This is evidence by studies by neurologist António Damásio. Which show that when emotional centers in the brain are disconnect from rational. Thinking centers (through surgery or brain damage). Patients are unable to make decisions and, in some cases, cannot understand other people .
Sadness, anger – how to deal with it? – List of Feelings and Emotions
We really need negative emotions, which we often push away from each other. For example, anger is the guardian of our limits and can indicate what is unacceptable to us. And sadness provides a move to the next stage and often a deeper understanding of what is really important to us. Properly addressed fear is our intuition, thanks to which we are able to react appropriately in a threatening situation.
Strenuous efforts to remove disturbing / negative thoughts and feelings usually end up with an increase in their feeling, and often avoidance strategies lead to workaholism or moving from one relationship to the next.
Emotional Fitness – The Key to Managing Your Emotions
Emotions are always real – they tell the truth about how we actually feel – but they may not always be right in a given situation. Therefore, the most important thing is to understand, interpret and work on them so that you can find a path between suppression and inappropriate expression.
This skill is call emotional efficiency. I.e. the ability to use your emotions in the process of thinking and analyzing / making decisions and. The ability to use thoughts to manage your emotions (definition according to Susan David).
Emotional fitness isn’t about censoring what’s going on. Inside us or forcing ourselves to think more positively.
Emotional fitness is about noticing your emotions. If they are negative – it is about calming the sensations in the body and then making a more calm decision about reacting.
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Summary – List of Feelings and Emotions
Without emotions, we cannot make decisions, we cannot decipher our vision, we cannot set the right boundaries, we cannot identify our dreams or what is most important to us in love. Emotions were, are and will be the most important part of your everyday functioning, which is why it is so important to practice emotional fitness on a daily basis at various stages:
stopping – noticing – naming – deciding to act – acting.
In that little gap between stopping and taking action is your freedom to decide for yourself and your life.
