What Are Emotions and Why Do They Matter?

Emotions have a powerful effect on our lives. To fully understand emotions, you need to learn about their basic characteristics.

Emotions are one of the most important factors that govern our daily lives. We make decisions based on whether we are happy, angry, sad, bored, or frustrated. In other words, we choose activities and hobbies based on the emotions encouraged in our daily life.

According to the definition of Don Hockenbury and Sandra E. Hockenbury, an emotion is a complex psychological state that includes three different components. Subjective experience, physiological response, and behavioral or semantic response make up these three components and are used to describe emotion.

While trying to define what emotions are, researchers have also tried to define and classify different types of emotions. Explanations and opinions have evolved and changed over time.

In 1972, psychologist Paul Ekman talked about six basic emotions and stated that they are valid in all human cultures around the world. Fear, disgust, anger, surprise, happiness and sadness are these six basic emotions.

In 1999, Ekman expanded the list, adding a few key sentiments. Shame, excitement, contempt, pride, shame, satisfaction and joy were added to the basic emotions. However, efforts to identify emotions were not limited to him.

To understand emotions in the best way, it is necessary to focus on its three basic components. Once you've thoroughly explored these three components, known as subjective experience, physiological response, and behavioral or semantic response, you can learn exactly what emotions mean.

You may have felt an upset stomach or a feeling of fear in your heart due to worry. In this case, you are aware that emotions cause strong physiological reactions. It is possible to explain this situation with a few different examples.

Conditions such as sweaty palms or an excessively fast heartbeat are some of the physiological responses you may experience frequently. They are regulated by the sympathetic nervous system, which is located in the autonomic nervous system.

The autonomic nervous system controls involuntary bodily responses such as blood flow and digestion. The sympathetic nervous system is in charge of controlling the body's fight-or-flight reactions. The decision you make when faced with a threat will be an output of this system.

In everyday life, people use the words emotion and mood interchangeably. But psychologists are careful to make a distinction between the two. An emotion is normally quite short-lived but intense. Emotions can also have a definite and identifiable cause.

For example, you may briefly feel angry when you disagree with a friend about politics. On the other hand, a mood is usually lighter but longer lasting than an emotion. In addition, it can be difficult to determine the true cause of mood swings.