How can the heart express itself?
How can someone else understand you?
Will he understand what you live for?
A spoken thought is a lie.
F. I. Tyutchev (1803-1873), Russian poet
When characterizing a person, we often pay attention to his emotionality, emotional sensitivity. After all, the same events leave some people indifferent, others will be slightly excited, and others will cause strong feelings (think about what individual characteristics this is connected with?).
Our life is impossible without experiences, since everything that a person encounters evokes in him one or another attitude, one or another feeling. The world of our feelings is rich and varied. One phenomenon pleases us, another awakens disgust; We love some people, hate others, and show indifference to others. Something can frighten us, and something can upset us; We are proud of some actions, and we want to quickly forget about some, because we are ashamed of them. A person’s professional activity is also impossible without experiences and has a certain emotional coloring. While working, a person expresses his attitude towards work and its conditions in the form of feelings and emotions.
Feelings and emotions are often used as synonyms, but in essence these concepts are different from each other. An important difference between feelings and emotions is that feelings have relative stability and constancy, and emotions arise for a specific situation. Emotions are the immediate, temporary experience of some feeling, for example the feeling of love for sports. Positive emotions will in this case be represented by the state of admiration and pleasure that fans experience while watching high-quality, interesting game athletes. The same feeling (feeling of love for sports) can be experienced in the form of negative emotions - indignation, indignation at bad game or unfair refereeing.
In an exact translation into Russian, “emotion” is mental excitement, mental movement. Emotions- these are phenomena that are expressed in a person’s experience of his relationship to the surrounding reality and to himself, and emotions are characterized by subjectivity. In science there are various classification of emotions. The most common is the power of influence on human activity.
Stenic- strong, tonic; activate activity, encourage actions and statements (joy, anger)
Asthenic- Passive, inhibit activity, cause stiffness, interfere with achieving goals (fear, melancholy)
Emotions Depending on stability, duration and strength, they are distinguished by type.
1. Mood- this is a long-term emotional state associated with weakly expressed positive or negative emotions, coloring all other experiences, thoughts and actions of a person. Mood leaves an imprint on a person’s behavior, influences activities and their results. It is known that those who have a predominant cheerful and calm mood work well and fruitfully. A bad mood, on the contrary, prevents a person from communicating; he looks at the world gloomily, everything makes him angry and irritated: the weather, the neighbor who carelessly pushed him, and cheerful laughter (remember what helps a person overcome Bad mood?). Therefore, it is very important, especially in interpersonal communication, that a person learns to manage his mood. Sometimes, to improve your mood, it is enough to switch to an activity that causes inspiration, which is pleasant and interesting. Strong influence Watching your favorite TV show, listening to music or reading also affects your mood interesting book. Don’t forget about a smile, because the background of a cheerful, positive mood makes it easier to experience temporary difficulties and disappointments.
2. Affect- this is a strong, short-term emotional state, reminiscent of a storm, a squall. The affect arises suddenly, sharply, and at this moment the person seems to lose self-control and completely surrenders to the experience. M.Yu. Lermontov (1814-1841) wrote in the poem “Mtsyri”:
Then I fell to the ground;
And he sobbed in a frenzy;
And he gnawed at the damp breast of the earth, And tears, tears flowed into it like a flaming river...
In a state of passion, a person “loses his head” and commits actions without analysis or consideration of the situation, for example, he can throw away something that comes to hand, break it, or slam the table. Affects reduce a person’s organization and thereby negatively affect his activities. However, it would be a mistake to think that affects are completely uncontrollable, because if you wish, you can learn to “extinguish” an affective outburst and not lose power over yourself. To do this, it is enough to throw yourself into work, study, a hobby, or switch to some other activity. In the very simple version To avoid an emotional breakdown, count to ten before reacting.
3. Passion- this is a bright, strong emotional state aimed at satisfying needs and captivating a person for a long time. In the same poem “Mtsyri” it is said this way:
I knew only one power of thought, One fiery passion: She, like worms, lived in me, Gnawed my soul and burned it.
Passion consumes a person, captures his thoughts, and everything else not related to the subject of passion seems secondary, unimportant, overlooked and forgotten. For example, scientists who were passionate about their work did not attach importance to their appearance, forgot about sleep and food.
Important characteristic passion is its connection with the volitional sphere, since, having great strength and energy, it motivates a person to activity. At the same time, it is very important where the passion is directed. In direction it can be negative and positive. Passion for music, sports, science is positive. If passion deserves moral condemnation (passion for gambling, drugs, drinking alcohol), then this is a negative passion. Under the influence of negative passion, a person is morally reborn.
As you know, it is common for a person to experience an emotional state from the satisfaction of his needs. Human feelings are based on both material and more complex needs - spiritual, which cause a special form of experience - higher feelings. The following stand out: types of feelings:
1.Moral(moral) feelings are based on a person’s moral assessment of his own and others’ actions and actions in accordance with learned moral norms and rules (goodness, justice, duty).
2. Intelligent feelings accompany the process of cognition and creativity. Surprise and curiosity, curiosity and the joy of discovery, doubts - all this is evidence of the interconnection of intellectual and emotional moments. A striking textbook example from the life of Archimedes, who jumped out of the bathroom into the street shouting “eureka!”, illustrates the emotional “coloring” of creative and research activities.
3. Aesthetic feelings represent a person’s emotional attitude to the beautiful in nature, art, and in people’s lives. They enrich the personality and give it individual identity.
Moral, intellectual and aesthetic feelings are experienced by a person in activity and communication.
We learn that a person is experiencing a particular emotional state by the expression of his facial expressions (movement of facial muscles) and pantomime (movement of body muscles). A person’s emotional state is most clearly reflected on his face (see section 2.6), since the facial muscles are very mobile and can convey a wide variety of feelings depending on the person’s internal state. For example, fear is expressed in dilated pupils, trembling, pallor; Horror is characterized by wide eyes, pale skin, and a trembling voice. In a state of boredom, a person seems tired, he has nothing to do, while his eyes do not sparkle, he often yawns. Joy manifests itself in the sparkle of the eyes, in the redness of the face. After all, it is joy that we most often associate with success, with fulfilled hopes. The expression of the mouth is also closely related to our feelings; if the corners of the lips are lowered down, the lips are compressed - this is a sure sign of resentment.
Expressiveness of movements also plays an important communicative role, helps communication between people and provides emotional contact between them. As a rule, a person’s emotional reactions and his condition are accompanied by certain physiological reactions: blood pressure, pulse and respiration rates change, and the activity of the heart also changes; the work of the lacrimal and sweat glands increases, etc.
Since ancient times, humanity has established a connection between the fear of revealing a lie and certain physiological processes in the body. For example, in Ancient China a criminal suspect was forced to chew dry rice flour during interrogation; if a person could not swallow it, then he was found guilty. This reaction is due to the fact that with false readings, a person’s salivation decreases, which complicates the swallowing process.
A characteristic feature The physiological manifestation of sadness is its paralyzing effect on the muscles of voluntary movement. In this case, the person feels tired and slows down. The eyes appear big. A person constantly feels a feeling of chills and cold due to the fact that muscles relax, blood vessels contract and tissues become bleeding. A sad person can be recognized by his appearance: he walks slowly, his arms dangle, his voice is weak and soundless. In general, grief ages a person and worsens his appearance.
A person’s joy is accompanied by increased blood flow to the skin, he blushes, and becomes “warmer.” A rejoicing man gesticulates, laughs, sings, is in good mood. Joy makes you look younger and makes you more beautiful and cheerful.
Scientists believe that emotions are a special mechanism for compensating for the lack of information, information necessary for a person to organize his behavior and achieve his goal. Negative emotions arise in conditions of information deficiency, for example, the emotion of fear develops when there is a lack of information necessary for protection. Positive emotions arise when the available information is sufficient.
However, a life completely devoid of negative emotions is impossible. There is an opinion that negative emotions in certain combination with positive ones should not be harmful, but beneficial to the body. Experiments on animals confirmed this opinion.
Forms of expression of emotions depend on accepted rules of decency. For example, it is not customary for us to laugh loudly in public places and attract everyone’s attention by showing our emotions. In some parts of Africa, laughter is not a sign of amusement, but of amazement and confusion.
The manifestation of emotions is also associated with a person’s temperament, upbringing and habits. Sometimes the emotions familiar to a person leave a peculiar imprint on the expression of his face. It’s not for nothing that they talk about worried, surprised, and cheerful faces.
Self-test questions
1. What are “emotions”? What is the important difference between emotions and feelings?
2. What types of emotions do you know?
3. What types of feelings do you know?
4. Does a person’s emotional reaction always correspond to the impact? Explain the reasons for possible compliance or inconsistency, illustrate your answer with examples.
5. How do emotions manifest themselves externally?
6. What importance do emotions play in a person’s life?
7. Show with examples the connection between emotional reactions and their physiological manifestation.
"Emotions make a person human. They make us who we are." (Robert Kiyosaki)
Feelings and emotions are very close concepts and are often used as synonyms. You can say “a feeling of joy”, or you can say “the emotion of joy” - and they will understand it either way.
“I’m in a bad mood”, “you’re disappointing me”, “I’m so worried”... - when a person utters these phrases, it usually means that we're talking about about feelings, although, to be precise, we are talking about emotions here.
So what is the difference between these concepts?
Emotions are situational and short-term: “I’m furious,” “you delight me,” “I’m sad” - this is usually how people react to a specific situation. Feelings are more stable and long-lasting and say more about the person himself than about the characteristics of his reaction to a specific situation.
For example, a guy is angry because the girl he likes doesn't respond to his phone calls. In this situation, anger is an emotion, and the fact that he likes a girl is a feeling.
That is, the difference between feelings and emotions lies in their speed and duration.
If the facial expression quickly changed and quickly returned to its original state, this is an emotion. If the face began to change its expression slowly and remained in the new expression for a relatively long time, this is a feeling. But the difference between “fast” and “slow” is very relative. Consequently, quite often there are no clear boundaries between feeling and emotion.
We can say that emotions are quick, short-lived elements of feelings, and feelings are the stable, longer-lasting basis of flaring emotions.
Emotions lie on the surface, feelings are in depth, they are more intimate. Emotions are reflected on the face, unless a person specifically hides them. Emotions sometimes feel like an explosion. Feelings are something deeper, not always obvious, even to the person himself. It happens that a person, not understanding how he really feels, talks about his emotions, thereby misleading those who are trying to understand him. However, often the meaning of a particular human emotion can only be understood in the context of the feeling that it expresses.
Emotions and feelings are inherent in every person. But have you ever wondered what it even is and what are the differences between these concepts? They are often used as synonyms, although not all psychologists, psychiatrists and other representatives of science agree with this point of view. Of course, the issue of emotions and feelings in psychology is very multifaceted and it is simply impossible to cover it in one article (especially since specialists are not always unanimous in everything that concerns this area). In this article we will look at what are emotions person and what are feelings, how are they different And what are the emotions.
Emotions: a matter of definition
We encounter different approaches to emotions already at the definition stage. Depending on the theories, views and ideas being analyzed, psychologists, psychiatrists and other specialists sometimes give very different answers to the question of what emotion means. In the context of this article, the most suitable ones seem to be, for example, following definitions:
- emotions are a special class of mental phenomena, manifested in the form of a direct, biased experience by the subject of the life meaning of these phenomena, objects and situations to satisfy his needs (Big Psychological Encyclopedia);
- emotions are states associated with assessing the significance for an individual of the factors acting on him and expressed primarily in the form of direct experiences of satisfaction or dissatisfaction of current needs. They are one of the main regulators of activity (Psychological Dictionary);
- emotions are a mental reflection in the form of direct biased experience of the relationship of phenomena and situations to needs (G. Verbina. Psychology of emotions).
All these definitions have in common perception of the essence of emotions as a reaction to external events and phenomena. Needs in this context are considered as broadly as possible: these are the needs for literally words, as well as desires, plans, ideas about something, etc. Events/phenomena are also widely understood: they can happen now, we can only imagine them or experience them in some other way. Accordingly, all features of emotions, their external (facial expressions, gestures, etc.) and internal (our relationships, experiences) manifestations become a consequence of such a reaction.
Regardless of the interpretation of what emotions are, experts agree that the word itself goes back to the Latin verb emovere- excite, shock, excite.
How are emotions different from feelings?
So where are the feelings and where are the emotions? According to some theories, the main difference between emotions and feelings is related to the definition mentioned above. So, we call emotions a response to an event or situation. For example, a banknote found on the road 
1,000 rubles causes joy, lost – sadness. As a rule, emotions pass quite quickly if the reaction to an event/phenomenon somehow fades away. You found 1,000 rubles - and are happy. Then you get distracted and the joy goes away.
A feeling is a stable, emotionally charged attitude towards any object/subject, which is not a reaction to specific situations or events. For example, love for a spouse, hatred for a traitor, etc. - they are constant over time, although they are also capable of changing (how can one not remember that from love to hate there is only one step).
Another difference between feelings and emotions is in their nature. Feelings usually concern the social sphere(relations with other people), whereas for emotions this is not necessary. Besides, feelings are attached to some subject/object, but for emotions this, again, is not necessary. It is impossible to love or hate in the abstract - only someone specific.
Note that different specialists different attitude to feelings. Some consider them as higher emotions (we will discuss this issue further), while others distinguish them as a separate type of emotional/ mental states. And here it should be noted that in the scientific community there are different definitions of emotional and mental states. Therefore, we propose to accept that feelings are qualitatively different from fleeting emotions, but we will address the question of what emotional/mental states are in the following materials.
In relation to the same object/subject we can experience simultaneously multidirectional feelings and emotions. For example, you may love your spouse very much, but be angry with him for not keeping his promise. And the next moment - rejoice at the gift he gave as an apology. We often do not know about the true feelings of another person towards us and sometimes we draw conclusions about them based on the emotions that he shows towards us (which may not coincide with feelings). It is useful to remember this: both when you want to understand how another person feels about you, and when you are trying to imagine how he perceives your feelings towards him.
What are the different emotions? Several basic classifications
All experts agree that emotions can be classified and broken down into different groups depending on their particular qualities and characteristics. Although, the question of how exactly to divide emotions into groups, of course, is solved in different ways. We propose to dwell on those main features and classifications that most fully correspond to the above definitions. Here we can distinguish the following types of emotions:
1. Positive and negative
Of course, first of all there are emotions positive(joy, love, admiration, delight, gratitude) and negative(anger, rage, disgust, disappointment, sadness). Another name for the same division of emotions by sign, by modality - positive And negative. Also distinguished neutral emotions (interest, curiosity).
2. Thenic and asthenic
Emotions and feelings are not only expressed differently (both externally and internally), but also have different effects. 
on our body, affecting metabolism, blood circulation, hormone release and other physiological processes. Emotions can slow down or speed up reactions, raise/lower energy levels, and positively/negatively influence perception, alertness, and much more. According to the nature of this influence, emotions are divided into sthenic(they are also active) And asthenic(they are also passive).
Stenic emotions activate life processes (give us energy, efficiency, etc.); asthenic ones, on the contrary, depress. Thus, joy allows you to forget about fatigue, gives a feeling of lightness, good health, etc. In turn, due to sadness, we can become discouraged, our energy level drops, and fatigue sets in.
3. Simple and complex
Emotions happen simple And complex(other names for the same classification: basic/elementary And composite). Figuratively speaking, complex emotions consist of simple/basic/elementary ones. In turn, simple/basic/elementary emotions cannot be divided into smaller components.
Let us remember that this is only one version of such a classification. Thus, some experts, for example, separate the concepts of basic and elementary emotions. For them, elementary are those that cannot be divided into smaller ones, and basic are those that are characteristic of every person, regardless of his age, the culture to which he belongs, etc.
Lists of the simplest emotions, of course, also vary. For example, Descartes distinguishes desire, love, hatred, joy, sadness and surprise. K. Izard in his book “The Psychology of Emotions” lists 11 basic, or fundamental, emotions: guilt, anger, interest, disgust, sadness, contempt, joy, embarrassment, fear, shame and surprise. And there is such a list: anger, sadness, joy, fear, shame. Or this: disgust, sadness, joy, fear, pleasure.
As you can see, most experts identify joy as simple emotion, at the same time, admiration or tenderness are components. Sadness is also usually seen as a basic emotion, while resentment or irritation is complex. It is interesting that in most lists there are more negative elementary emotions than positive ones.
4. Higher and lower
Another type of emotion - inferior And higher. The lower ones are emotions aimed at satisfying the simplest needs and instincts (the joy of food or rest). While the highest ones concern intellectual, social, moral, aesthetic and other complex issues(in the broadest sense of the word, for example, admiration for a beautiful picture or pride in a child who won the school Olympiad). At the same time, there is a point of view that the highest emotions are feelings, but not everyone agrees with this approach.
We often justify our actions with unexpectedly surging feelings, and sometimes we blame emotions for everything, using these concepts as synonyms. So maybe it’s true that there is no difference between feelings and emotions? Upon closer examination, it turns out that there is no smell of synonyms here. The concepts are, of course, similar, but once you understand their definitions, it will be impossible to confuse them later.
How are feelings different from emotions?
Our body reacts to change external conditions: pulse quickens, pupils dilate, breathing slows, goosebumps run through the body. And the initial impetus for these changes is given by emotions, which are a reaction to any situation. Emotions are needed to maintain vitality. important functions and have a direct connection with the satisfaction of our needs or lack thereof. For example, if the body needs rest, then it is formed in the brain, due to which a person feels tired. If this need is satisfied, the emotion will change; if not, it will intensify. That is, these reactions are situational, and those associated with biological needs are innate.
How then are feelings different from emotions? The fact that they are not innate, unlike primary reactions, are based not on a momentary situation, but on acquired experience. They are also called secondary, higher emotions, since the initial impetus for formation was given by the primary reactions. The difference between feelings and emotions is also their associativity, implicitness and difficulty in explaining. For example, we are able to explain anger or surprise, but if we try to understand what causes love for a person, this is unlikely to work. Most likely, everything will end in lengthy discussions that will not provide an understanding of the reasons for such sensations. Also, the difference between human feelings and emotions lies in the long-term nature of the former and the short-term nature of the latter. The closest people can cause irritation, resentment, sadness, but with the resolution of the unpleasant situation this passes, but love remains, and such momentary reactions are unable to shake this feeling.
You can also notice the difference between feelings and emotions by their external manifestation. Emotions are expressed by our facial expressions, manner of speaking, tone of voice, gestures, and speed of conversation. 
Feelings have verbal expression, and if we hide them, they cause certain emotions. It often seems to us that these manifestations are invisible; in fact, those around us usually understand the state of our interlocutor. The point here is the social function of emotions and feelings, thanks to which external reflections of emotions have acquired stability. For example, in anger we flare our nostrils, and when amazed at some discovery we open our mouths.
How else are feelings different from emotions? Among the minor points, one can note the power of manifestation. Instant reactions can be very sharp and vivid, but feelings, due to their longer duration, are calmer.
In life, concepts such as emotions and feelings are often confused, but these phenomena are different and reflect different meanings.
Emotions are not always realized
Sometimes a person cannot quite clearly formulate what emotions he is experiencing, for example, people say “everything is boiling inside me,” what does this mean? What emotions? Anger? Fear? Despair? Anxiety? Annoyance?. A person cannot always identify a momentary emotion, but a person is almost always aware of a feeling: friendship, love, envy, hostility, happiness, pride.
Experts make a distinction between the concept of “ emotion" and the concepts " feeling», « affect», « mood" And " experience».
Unlike feelings, emotions do not have an object connection: they arise not in relation to someone or something, but in relation to the situation as a whole. " I'm scared"is an emotion, and " I'm afraid of this man" is a feeling.
The feelings and emotions listed here do not exhaust the entire palette, the entire variety of human emotional states. A comparison with the colors of the solar spectrum is appropriate here. There are 7 basic tones, but how many more intermediate colors do we know and how many shades can be obtained by mixing them!
|
Positive
1. Pleasure Neutral 25. Curiosity. |
Negative
30. Displeasure. |
It is difficult to say how many different emotional states there may be - but, in any case, there are immeasurably more than 70. Emotional states are highly specific, even if, with modern crude assessment methods, they have the same name. There seem to be many shades of anger, joy, sadness and other feelings.
Love for an older brother and love for a younger sister are similar, but far from identical feelings. The first is colored with admiration, pride, and sometimes envy; the second is a sense of self-superiority, a desire to provide patronage, sometimes pity and tenderness. A completely different feeling is love for parents, love for children. But to designate all these feelings we use one name.
The division of feelings into positive and negative is not done on ethical grounds, but solely on the basis of the pleasure or displeasure delivered. Therefore, gloating ended up in the column of positive feelings, and sympathy - in the negative feelings. There are, as you can see, much more negative ones than positive ones. Why? Several explanations can be offered.
Sometimes the idea is expressed that there is simply much more in language more words expressing unpleasant feelings, because in a good mood a person is generally less inclined to introspection. This explanation seems unsatisfactory to us.
The initial biological role of emotions is signaling, of the “pleasant - unpleasant”, “safe - dangerous” type. Apparently, the signaling “dangerous” and “unpleasant” is more significant for the animal; it is vitally important, more relevant, because it directs its behavior in critical situations.
It is clear that such information in the process of evolution should receive priority over information signaling “comfort”.
But what has developed historically can change historically. When a person masters the laws of social development, this will change his emotional life, moving the center of gravity towards positive, pleasant feelings.
Let's return to the list of feelings. If you carefully read all 70 titles, you will notice that some of the listed feelings coincide in content and differ only in intensity. For example, surprise and amazement differ only in strength, that is, in degree of expression. The same is anger and rage, pleasure and bliss, etc. Therefore, some clarifications need to be made to the list.
Typically, feelings come in five main forms:
The definition of feeling was given above.
Affect- this is a very strong short-term feeling associated with a motor reaction (or with complete immobility - numbness. But numbness is also a motor reaction).
Passion called a strong and lasting feeling.
Mood- the resultant of many feelings. This state is distinguished by a certain duration, stability and serves as the background against which all other elements of mental activity take place.
Under experiences however, they usually understand exclusively the subjective mental side of emotional processes, without including physiological components.
Thus, if we consider surprise a feeling, then amazement is the same feeling in content, but brought to the level of affect (remember the final silent scene of “The Inspector General”).
Similarly, we call anger brought to the level of passion by rage, bliss is the affect of pleasure, delight is the affect of joy, despair is the affect of grief, horror is the affect of fear, adoration is love that has become passion in duration and strength, etc.
Displays of emotions
Emotional reactions are associated with nervous processes, they also manifest themselves in external movements, called `` expressive movements." Expressive movements are an important component of emotions, the external form of their existence. Expressions of emotions are universal, similar for all people, sets of expressive signs that reflect certain emotional states.
Towards expressive forms of emotions include the following:
Gestures (hand movements),
Facial expressions (movements of facial muscles),
Pantomime (movements of the whole body) - see,
Emotional components of speech (strength and timbre, voice intonation),
Autonomic changes (redness, paleness, sweating).
You can read more about how emotions are expressed
The human face has the greatest ability to express various emotional shades (see). And, of course, the mirror of emotions is often the eyes (see)
Emotions and feelings are unique mental states that leave an imprint on a person’s life, activities, actions and behavior. If emotional states are determined mainly outside behavior and mental activity, then feelings influence the content and inner essence of experiences caused by the spiritual needs of a person.
Based on materials from openemo.com
