Emotions

Emotions

Meaning and Definitions of Emotions:

Emotion is any conscious experience characterized by intense mental activity and a certain degree of pleasure or displeasure. Scientific discourse has drifted to other meanings and there is no consensus on a definition. Emotion is often intertwined with mood, temperament, personality, disposition, and motivation.

Emotion plays a major role in influencing our behavior. Life would be dreary without feelings like joy and sorrow, excitement and disappointment, love and fear, hope and dismay. Emotion adds color and spice to life.

Emotions are feelings such as happiness, disappointment and sorrow that generally have both physiological and cognitive elements that influence behavior. The word emotion is derived from the Latin word ‘Emover’ which means to stir up’ or to excite’. Emotion can be understood as an agitated or excited state of our mind and body

Here are some definition of emotion.

1.       Charles G Morris:

2.      “Emotion is a complete effective experience that involves diffuse physiological changes and can be expressed overtly in characteristic behaviour patterns”.

3.      2. Crow and Crow:

4.      “Emotion is an affective experience that accompanies generalized linear adjustment and mental and physiological stirred up states in the individual and that shows itself in his overt behaviour”.

5.      3. Woodworth:

6.      “Emotion is a ‘Moved or ‘stirred up’ state of an organism. It is a stirred up feeling that is the way it appears to the individual himself. It is a disturbed muscular and glandular activities that is the way it appears to an external observer”.

7.      4. McDougall:

8.      Emotion is an affective experience that one undergoes during an instinctive excitement. For example, when a child perceives a bull coming towards him (cognition) he experiences an affective experience in the form of the arousal of accompanied emotion of fear and consequently tries to run away. McDougall discovered 14 basic instincts and concluded that each and every emotion, whatever it may be is the product of some instinctive behavior.

On the basis of these definitions, emotions can be understood as some sort of feelings or affective experiences which are characterized by some physiological changes that generally lead them to perform some or the other types of behavioral acts.

Characteristics of Emotions:

Some of the important characteristics of emotions are as follows:
1. Emotional experiences are associated with some instincts:
Every emotional experience is associated with one or the other innate instinct. An emotion is aroused under the influence of an instinctive excitement. One can experience emotion of anger only after riding on the instinctive waves of pugnacity or combat.
2. Emotions are the product of perception:
Perception of a proper stimulus (object or situation) is needed to start an emotional experience. The organic changes within the body (favourable or unfavourable) then, may intensify the emotional experience.
3. Emotions bring physiological changes:
Every emotional experience involves many physical and physiological changes in the organism. Some of the changes which express themselves as overt behaviour are easily observable. For example, the heart beating, reddened eyes, flushed cheeks, choke in the voice, or an attack on an emotion aroused stimulus.
In addition to these easily observable changes, there are internal physiological changes, e.g. changes in the circulation of blood, impact on the digestive system and changes in the functioning of some glands like adrenal glands.
4. The core of an emotion is feeling:
Actually every emotional experience, whatever it may be involves feelings—a sense of response aroused in the heart. Feeling and emotions—both are affective experiences. There is only the difference of degrees. After perceiving a thing or a situation, pleasure or displeasure feelings can be aroused. There may be some intensity or degree of strength in these feelings.

Kinds of Emotions:

Emotions have both positive as well as negative effects.
1. Negative emotions:
Unpleasant emotions like fear, anger and jealousy which are harmful to the individual’s development are termed as negative emotions.
2. Positive emotions:
The pleasant emotions like affection (love), amusement, curiosity and happiness which are very helpful and essential for normal development are termed as positive emotions.
By their nature of being both positive and negative, it should not be assumed that all the positive emotions are always good; and the negative emotions are bad. While weighing their impact, other factors like frequency and intensity, nature of situations and the stimuli aroused should also be considered. Excess of everything is bad.
Emotions with too much of intensity and frequency, whether positive or negative, bring harmful effects. But the so-called negative emotions are essential for human welfare. The emotion of fear prepares an individual to face the danger ahead. The child who has no emotions of fear is sure to get affected because it does not learn to save itself against a possible danger.

Importance of Emotions:

Emotions occupy a very important position in a person’s life, as they motivate many in their job endeavors. A person in love makes sacrifices for the object of his love. The love of their offspring spurs the parents to great sacrifices.
Emotions have a stimulating effect, for example, a person who is in a happy state of mind invariably makes others also happy and sees happiness around him. Similarly, a person who is angry makes others angry. Thus emotion is contagious. Emotions also play a crucial role in creative and artistic activities.
The ability to understand and interpret the emotional states of others is very important in our social life. It is clear that emotions play a major role in our behaviour and in understanding other’s behaviour. Sometimes, emotions are beneficial and at other times they are harmful.
It depends on the intensities and duration of emotion. When emotion becomes intense, whether pleasant or unpleasant, they usually result in some description of thought or behaviour. So also when emotions are prolonged or excessive they do harm because of the sustained physiological changes that accompany them.