You’re going to hear a talk about emotions. You will hear the talk twice.

The first
time, just listen. Then I’ll ask you to tell me generally what the speaker is
talking about. Are you ready?

It’s about a theory of basic emotions which suggests we all evolved the same types
of emotions. The speaker describes the six basic emotions and how they manifest, as
identified by psychologist Paul Ekman.

Now listen to the talk again. This time make some notes as you listen, if you want
to. Then I’ll ask you to tell me how the speaker describes the theory of basic
emotions. Are you ready? Now tell me how the speaker describes the theory of basic
emotions. You have one minute to talk.

Suggested points

1. No scientific agreement on definition of emotions

2. Darwin first suggested emotions evolved
3. Others said they were culturally learned
4. Ekman found similarities in emotions in many cultures, suggesting universality
5. Basic emotion – joy – smiling, relaxed posture, upbeat speech
6. Basic emotion – sadness – crying, withdrawal, quietness
7. Basic emotion – fear – evolutionary advantage – wide eyes, rapid breathing
8. Basic emotion – disgust – varies more across cultures – wrinkling nose, turning
away
9. Basic emotion – anger – frowning, aggressive stance, yelling
10. Basic emotion – surprise – brief response, raised eyebrows, gasping
11. Other emotions are combination or variation of these
12. Other emotions later added to list of basic emotions

script
How are you? A simple question to which the answer is normally “fine”. But it can
go a lot deeper.

There’s no clear scientific agreement on what emotions are, beyond vague ideas
about psychological states that are caused by internal and external stimuli.

Attempts to explain emotions began in earnest with the father of biology, Darwin.
He suggested that every human had evolved the ability to experience the same basic
emotions as a survival tool.

Others argued that emotions and their manifestation through facial expressions etc
were learned through cultural transmission, and thus not universal.

The psychologist Paul Ekman picked up the baton from Darwin in the 1970s and
proposed six basic human emotions that we all experience in a similar way. He
studied many cultures and found great similarities in how these emotions were
expressed, suggesting they are perhaps universal.

In prime position was joy, conveyed through smiling, a relaxed posture and an
upbeat speech pattern; features that were homogenous in every corner of the world
Ekman visited.

On the opposite end of the spectrum came sadness, which involves crying, withdrawal
from others and quietness. Again, Ekman found these to be near-universal traits.

Unsurprisingly from an evolutionary point of view, fear is also considered a basic

emotion, given its role in escaping predators and general danger throughout
history. Wide eyes and rapid breathing give it away.
Disgust is a slightly more complicated emotion, but the broad strokes are similar,
as taboos against incest and death exist in many societies. However, cultural
factors matter, as what we consider disgusting can vary greatly depending on our
beliefs. Faced with disgust, we often wrinkle our noses and turn away.

One emotion that we’d all certainly recognise as universal is anger. Frowning,
taking an aggressive stance, and yelling are the tell-tale signs that are found the
world over.

The last of Ekman’s six basic emotions may come as a bit of a surprise, because
that’s it: surprise. A brief emotional response to an unexpected event can be
manifested in raising one’s eyebrows and gasping.

Ekman suggests that the many other emotions we experience – contempt,

embarrassment, pride, relief, love and so on – are combinations and variations in
intensity of these six basic emotions.

He later added more emotions to this list of six after further research highlighted
more similarities in how we all react to the world around us.