What Are Emotions?

Emotion is feeling or instinct which comes as a product of one’s mood, circumstances or bonding. Emotions help a person to express himself better. Emotions influence the way we socialize and live with others. They define our character and perspective on life. They make us optimistic or pessimistic. They influence our daily choices, lifestyles, and people we interact with. Emotions make a person humane. They make us real and vulnerable.

Emotions can be of many types depending upon how we define them. Psychologists also tried to list down these emotions based on the feelings we experience in our daily lives. These can be categorized into six basic emotions:

Happiness

Of all the emotions, this is the most pleasant one. One feels motivated to do something. People feel this emotion when they are extremely joyful, satisfied or positive about everything. Happy people are always smiling and bright.

Sadness

So this is the exact opposite of the emotion happiness. One experiencing this emotion feels depressed and disappointed, grieved and full of negative emotions. He feels hopelessness and becomes disinterested in everything. It is a negative emotion which not only makes you depressed but long periods of sadness or sorrow can also make you go into depression. Sadness can be seen in many people. They become quiet, lethargic and isolate themselves from others. They start having negative thoughts and worry all the time.

Fear

This is a very strong and powerful emotion that we feel when we face the danger of some kind. It is important for our survival. We feel this emotion in case of threats or when we feel attacked. It activates your fight and flight muscles which helps you to fight this emotion.

Disgust

This emotion usually results from strong disliking towards someone or something. It might result from things you bear a strong hatred towards. They show physical reactions and certain facial expressions to express this emotion.

Anger

Anger can be a result of feelings like frustration, agitation, hostility, and antagonism. It comes out when a person feels agitated or irritated by something. It is mostly considered as a negative emotion and more anger can be quite dangerous and harmful for that person. It is mostly expressed through aggressive behavior, facial expressions, body language and psychological responses towards something or someone that induces this emotion inside him.

Surprise

This emotion is usually characterized by a strong adrenaline rush due to sudden happiness or sadness. This can be both happy or sad. This emotion also triggers our fight and flight response. A surprise usually comes as a result of any unusual event or activity which brings uncontrolled positive or negative feelings inside a person.