Types of Emotions

This post explains how anger is a secondary emotion. By understanding the roots of anger – that is, the primary emotions fueling it – people can more effectively address its underlying causes. This is an important first step in addressing anger management problems.

Still, in my own clinical experience, anger is almost never a primary emotion in that even when anger seems like an instantaneous, knee-jerk reaction to provocation, there's always some other feeling that gave rise to it. And this particular feeling is precisely what the anger has contrived to camouflage or control.

Findings on contempt are less clear, though there is at least some preliminary evidence that this emotion and its expression are universally recognized. In the 1990s Ekman proposed an expanded list of emotions, this time including contempt.

Disgust. Disgust is the emotion that expresses a reaction to things that are considered dirty, revolting, contagious, contaminated, and inedible. It is divided into two categories: physical disgust and moral disgust. Disgust is associated with a distinct facial expression and a drop in heart rate.

Start studying emotions. Learn vocabulary, ... Disgust. feeling something is wrong or nasty. Surprise.

So it is no wonder that certain dangers evoke that emotion, since fear helps protect you and is therefore adaptive, functional, and necessary. However, ...

We are no longer using up our energy and focus trying to push away the feelings that we don’t want and are afraid to feel. In addition, when we actually feel a feeling, we discover that no matter how strong or hard the feeling is, it has a natural life span and can only remain with intensity for a short time, far shorter than we have been led to believe.

Happiness has also been said to relate to life satisfaction, appreciation of life, moments of pleasure, but overall it has to do with the positive experience of emotions. The key to these definitions is that positive emotions do not indicate the absence of negative emotions.

“Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being characterized by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happiness) And of course, if you ask someone if they are happy they will probably reflect on how they feel.

Often sadness is mistakenly confused with depression (link is external). Unlike depression, sadness is a natural part of life and is usually connected with certain experiences of pain or loss or even a meaningful moment of connection or joy that makes us value our lives.

Sadness can be an adaptive emotion with real benefits. We tend to pass on the message that sadness is bad and should be avoided. Yet, research has shown that sadness can be an adaptive emotion with real benefits. Sadness can make us feel more vital and centered within ourselves. So, why is it that we are so afraid to feel sad?

Surprise (emotion) Surprise ( pronunciation (help·info)) is a brief mental and physiological state, a startle response experienced by animals and humans as the result of an unexpected event. Surprise can have any valence; that is, it can be neutral/moderate, pleasant, unpleasant, positive, or negative.

Robert Plutchik's theory says that the eight basic emotions are: Fear → feeling of being afraid; Anger → feeling angry. A stronger word for anger is rage; Sadness → feeling sad.