Emotion

The Nature of Emotion

“Emotion is a complex set of interactions among subjective and objective factors, mediated by neural/hormonal systems, which can: (a) give rise to affective experiences such as feelings of arousal, pleasure/displeasure; (b) generate cognitive processes such as emotionally relevant perceptual effects, appraisals, labeling processes; (c) activate widespread physiological adjustments to the arousing conditions; and (d) lead to behavior that is often, but not always, expressive, goal directed, and adaptive” (Kleinginna and Kleinginna 1981 p. 355).

We feel a certain way in every situation we find ourselves in. Our hope is to have as many good or pleasurable feelings and as few bad or painful feelings as possible. But where are these feelings coming from?

Most of our feelings or emotional responses are based on how well our needs are presently satisfied or were in the past. Below is a grid of emotions. The far left column represents the root of our emotions as satisfied or unsatisfied needs. If satisfied, we experience some form of pleasure. If unsatisfied, we experience some form of pain.

The important thing to gather from this is that any negative emotion just means that some need has not been met or that a memory of an unmet need has been triggered. Pain is our cue that something is out of balance and must to be accommodated to regain that balance.

Emotional Response Matrix to Satisfiers and Needs	Level 1 Response	Level 2 Response	Level 3 Response	Level 4 Response
Satisfied	pleasure	love	affection	adoration, affection, love, fondness, liking, attraction, caring, tenderness, compassion, sentimentality
			lust	arousal, desire, lust, passion, infatuation
			longing	longing
		joy	cheerfulness	amusement, bliss, cheerfulness, gaiety, glee, jolliness, joviality, joy, delight, enjoyment, gladness, happiness, jubilation, elation, satisfaction, ecstasy, euphoria
			zest	enthusiasm, zeal, zest, excitement, thrill, exhilaration
			contentment	contentment
			pride	pride, triumph
			optimism	eagerness, hope, optimism
			enthrallment	enthrallment, rapture
			relief	relief
		surprise	surprise	amazement, surprise, astonishment
Unsatisfied	pain	anger	irritation	aggravation, irritation, agitation, annoyance, grouchiness, grumpiness
			exasperation	exasperation, frustration
			rage	anger, rage, outrage, fury, wrath, hostility, ferocity, bitterness, hate, loathing, scorn, spite, vengefulness, dislike, resentment
			disgust	disgust, revulsion, contempt
			envy	envy, jealousy
			torment	torment
			suffering	agony, suffering, hurt, anguish
		sadness	sadness	depression, despair, hopelessness, gloom, glumness, sadness, unhappiness, grief, sorrow, woe, misery, melancholy
			disappointment	dismay, disappointment, displeasure
			shame	guilt, shame, regret, remorse
			neglect	alienation, isolation, neglect, loneliness, rejection, homesickness, defeat, dejection, insecurity, embarrassment, humiliation, insult
			sympathy	pity, sympathy
		fear	horror	alarm, shock, fear, fright, horror, terror, panic, hysteria, mortification
			nervousness	i nsecurity, anxiety, nervousness, tenseness, uneasiness, apprehension, worry, distress, dread

Needs and Satisfiers largely define emotion, so let’s find out more.