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 |