09/01/2013

Emotional Competency - Recognize these emotions

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Learn to recognize these emotions in yourself and others

Know how you feel
Each emotion serves as a primal beacon, guiding us along the difficult path of survival and procreation. Many researchers have worked to define emotions and have created their own lists of what they consider to be an emotion. Several of those lists are presented here. Use these lists and short descriptions to recognize the emotions you are feeling; then use the detailed description of each emotion to guide you toward the most constructive response. A subjective mood map locates each emotion according to the energy level and good-bad feelings often associated with it.

Seven Basic Emotions

Paul Ekman has dedicated his career to researching emotions, focusing primarily on these seven basic emotions. Fear Danger lurks Sadness Impending loss Anger An Urgent Plea for Justice and Action Joy Impending gain Surprise Unexpected event Disgust Contamination, toxic contact Contempt Substandard behavior or being The following facial expressions are characteristic of these seven basic emotions throughout the world:

Surprise

Disgust

Contempt

Fear

Joy

Sadness

Anger

The Passion and Reason 15

The book Passion and Reason provides clear definitions and descriptions of 15 separate emotions. These are: Anger Conspecific threat, trespass, loss attributed to an agent, unjust insult, thwarted goals, plea for justice Envy Desiring other's stature objects Jealousy Threat to sexual access. Fright Concern for a future specific unpleasant event. Anxiety Concern for an unidentified unpleasant event. Guilt You have a standard and I did not meet it. Shame I have a standard and I did not meet it Relief Anticipated undesirable outcome has not occurred Hope Anticipation of future desirable event or outcome

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Emotional Competency - Recognize these emotions

Hope Anticipation of future desirable event or outcome Sadness A specific undesirable outcome has occurred Depression lost hope Happiness A desirable event or outcome has occurred Pride I approve of my actions, I have met a standard (mine = smug, yours = authentic) Love Attraction and caring Gratitude Appreciating another's kindness Compassion Feeling the pain of another Aesthetic Experience Awe, wonder, and slight fear of nature and its creations.

The Rationalized 22
The book The Cognitive Structure of Emotions describes these 22 distinct emotions in an organized structure: Appraisal of an event: Joy (contented, cheerful, delighted, ecstatic, elated, euphoric, feeling good, glad, happy, joyful, jubilant, pleasantly surprised, pleased) Pleased by the appraisal of an event Distress (depressed, distressed, displeased, dissatisfied, distraught, feeling bad, feeling uncomfortable, grief, homesick, lonely, lovesick, miserable, regret, sad, shock, uneasy, unhappy, upset) displeased by the appraisal of an event Fortune of others: Happy-for (delighted-for, happy-for, pleased-for) Pleased about an event desirable for another Sorry-for (compassion, pity, sad-for, sorry-for, sympathy) Displeased about an event undesirable for another Resentment (envy, jealousy, resentment) Displeased about an event desirable for another Gloating (gloating, Schadenfreude) Pleased about an event undesirable for another Appraisal of an agent's action: Pride (pride) Approving of ones own action Shame (embarrassment, feeling guilty, mortified, self-blame, self-condemnation, self-reproach, shame, (psychologically) uncomfortable, uneasy) Disapproving of ones own action Admiration (admiration, appreciation, awe, esteem, respect) Approving of anothers action Reproach (appalled, contempt, despise, distain, indignation, reproach) Disapproving of anothers action Appraisal of an Object: Love (adore, affection, attracted-to, like, love) Liking an appealing object Hate (aversion, detest, disgust, dislike, hate, loathe, repelled-by, revulsion) Disliking an unappealing object Appraisal of a possible future (prospective) event: Hope (anticipation, excitement, expectancy, hope, hopeful, looking forward to) Pleased about a prospective desirable event Fear (apprehensive, anxious, cowering, dread, fear, fright, nervous, petrified, scared, terrified, timid, worried) Displeased about a prospective undesirable event Satisfaction (gratification, hopes-realized, satisfaction) Pleased about an confirmed desirable event Relief (relief) Pleased about a disconfirmed undesirable event Fears-confirmed (fears-confirmed, worst fears realized) Displeased about a confirmed undesirable event Disappointment (dashed-hopes, despair, disappointment, frustration, heartbroken) Displeased about a disconfirmed desirable event Compound Emotions: Gratification (gratification, pleased-with-oneself, self-satisfaction, smug) Pride + joy Gratitude (appreciation, feeling indebted, thankful) Admiration + joy Anger (anger, annoyance, exasperation, fury, incensed, indignation, irritation, livid, offended,

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Emotional Competency - Recognize these emotions

Anger (anger, annoyance, exasperation, fury, incensed, indignation, irritation, livid, offended, outrage, rage) Reproach + distress Remorse (penitent, remorse, self-anger) Shame + distress

The Goleman Categories

In appendix A of his book Emotional Intelligence Daniel Goleman proposes these basic families of emotions: Fear: (Safety) anxiety, apprehension, nervousness, concern, consternation, misgiving, wariness, qualm, edginess, dread, fright, terror and in the extreme cases phobia and panic. Anger: (Justice) fury, outrage, resentment, wrath, exasperation, indignation, vexation, acrimony, animosity, annoyance, irritability, hostility, and perhaps these are manifest in the extreme as hatred and violence. Sadness: (Loss) grief, sorrow, cheerlessness, gloom, melancholy, self-pity, loneliness, dejection, despair, and depression in the extreme case. Enjoyment: (Gain) happiness, joy, relief, contentment, bliss, delight, amusement, pride, sensual pleasure, thrill, rapture, gratification, satisfaction, euphoria, whimsy, ecstasy, and at the far edge, mania. Love: (Attraction) acceptance, friendliness, trust, kindness, affinity, devotion, adoration, infatuation, and agape. Disgust: (Repulsion) contempt, distain, scorn, abhorrence, aversion, distaste, and revulsion Surprise: (Attention) shock, astonishment, amazement, and wonder Shame: (Self-control) guilt, embarrassment, chagrin, remorse, humiliation, regret, mortification, and contrition.

And Also:
Flow The absence of emotion or self-consciousness. Ambivalence Multiple, simultaneous, conflicting emotions. It is likely that the variation and discrepancies among these lists result from a reification fallacy. The abstraction that we loosely call emotion is not real, it is not well-defined, and it most likely describes a composite of disparate real phenomenon that are not yet well understood.

Non-Emotions
In his 1991 book, Emotion and Adaptation , Richard Lazarus lists several mental states that may be emotion related, but are not themselves actual emotions. The list includes the complex states of: grief and depression; the ambiguous positive states of: expansiveness, awe, confidence, challenge, determination, satisfaction, and being pleased; the ambiguous negative states of: threat, frustration, disappointment, helplessness, meaningless, and awe; the mental confusion states of bewilderment and confusion; the arousal states of: excitement, upset, distress, nervousness, tension, and agitation; and finally the preemotions of: interest, curiosity, amazement, anticipation, alertness, and surprise. Note he included awe and depression in the list of emotions described in his later book, Passion and Reason. Also, Paul Ekman includes surprise in his list of basic emotions. Other mental states, such as bored, alert, drowsy, and trance are also not emotions.

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