So to begin defining emotion, I'll describe what I think are the qualities that "emotion" encompasses:
- Emotions are reactions. Something (an action, an idea, an observation) or other elicits emotion. For example, the observation that it is a nice, sunny day might make you feel the emotion of happiness.
- Emotions are felt. You feel angry because someone wronged you. You feel love because your friends are there for you. You feel because you are watching a horror movie.
- Emotions are not physical. You can feel exhausted, but exhaustion is not an emotion because it has physical origins. You might be feeling exhausted because you haven't been sleeping enough or have been working for too long (both of which are physical origins of your exhaustion). However, you might feel sad because you are exhausted. Sadness is an emotion.
- While emotions are not physical, they can be physically expressed. For instance, there are certain facial expressions associated with certain emotions. When we are happy, we smile. When we are sad, we frown or cry . However, in social situations, we might attempt to mask our emotions by suppressing these physical manifestations and controlling how we appear to others. So instead of frowning or crying when we are sad, we brace ourselves and put on a smile so as not to worry others.
- There are a range of emotions. So while watching "Jaws" might make you scared, witnessing a real shark attack will make you more frightened.
-Alice Huang
No comments:
Post a Comment