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Motivation and emotion/Tutorials/20 emotions

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Tutorial 09: 20 emotions
This is the ninth tutorial for the motivation and emotion unit of study.

Overview

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This tutorial discusses the nature and functions of 20 individual emotions.

Individual emotions

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Emotion knowledge can be developed by expanding one's vocabulary for different types of feelings. Having a wide vocabulary helps to distinguish a wide range emotions and to understand their purposes and functions.

This tutorial distinguishes 20 specific emotions and their functions.

When dealing with many emotions, it helps to organise them into categories.

Categories

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The 20 emotions can be organised into three categories (Reeve, 2018; see Table 1):

  • Basic (7) - Core emotions: present in early development; recognised cross-culturally
  • Self-conscious (5): occurs when we become self-aware about how others perceive us
  • Cognitively complex (8): arise from thoughts/perceptions about life events often involving others

Table 1

20 Individual Emotions Organised Into Three Categories

Note. Links go to Wikipedia articles; For a table of these emotions with links to specific Wikiversity book chapters, see the individual emotions lecture; Based on Reeve (2018)

What other systems of categorisation (or dimensions) could be useful? e.g.,

  • Active vs. passive emotions - trigger motivation for action vs. involve inception or reflection
  • Approach vs. avoidance emotions - motivation towards positive engagement vs. motivate withdrawal of defensive behaviours
  • Positive vs. negative emotions - pleasant vs. unpleasant
  • Primary vs. secondary emotions - innate, universal, appear early in life vs. develop later, require self-awareness
  • Short-term vs. long-term emotions - transitory, immediate reactions vs. sustained over time
  • Social vs. non-social emotions - arise in interpersonal contexts vs. not dependent on social relations

I feel ...

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What do each of these 20 emotions actually feel like and why do we feel them?

The main reason for each of the emotions is presented in Table 2.

Table 2

"I Feel" Definitions for 20 Emotions

Emotion Definition
Anger I feel injustice
Compassion I feel caring about you
Contempt I feel superior to you
Disappointment I feel down about a poor outcome
Disgust I feel repulsed
Embarrassment I feel awkward in front of you
Empathy I feel with you
Envy I feel jealous - I want what you have
Fear I feel in danger
Gratitude I feel thankful
Guilt I feel bad about wronging you
Hope I feel optimistic about my future
Interest I feel curious
Joy I feel happiness within
Pride I feel good about myself and achievements
Regret I feel sorrow for what I did
Sadness I feel bad about a loss
Schadenfreude I feel pleasure at your misfortune
Shame I feel bad about myself because I am publicly wrong
Triumph I feel victorious

Emotion matching exercise

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Activity: Emotion matching

 
  1. Collaborate in pairs to discuss and complete the 20 Individual Emotions Matching Exercise
  2. Each pair completes two sheets:
    1. Find the emotion and category that matches the definition
    2. Find the definition and category that matches the emotion

Discussion

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  1. What is/are your favourite or most interesting emotion(s)? Why?
  2. What is the difference between shame, guilt, and embarrassment?
    1. Shame and guilt both involve feeling bad about the standard of the self's behaviour
    2. Shame is public; Guilt is private (shame in the courtroom; guilt in the cell)
    3. Shame focuses on self; Guilt focuses on behaviour
    4. Embarrassment arises from innocent social blunder; it acknowledge this awareness and asks forgiveness
  3. What is the difference between pride and triumph?
    1. Both involve feeling good
    2. Pride is more personal, based on achievement
    3. Triumph is more social, based on competitive victory over others
  4. What are the two aspects of pride?
    1. Authentic: Based on genuine achievement
    2. Hubristic/Narcissistic: Self-puffery; based on desire to be better/more dominant than others; undermines relationships
  5. What emotions are associated with these interpersonal scenarios?
... other person feels good ... other person feels bad
I feel good because ... vicarious joy, mudita, compersion, empathy, freudenfreude schadenfreude, contempt, hate, narcissism, arrogance
I feel bad because ... envy, jealousy, gluckschmerz empathy, compassion, sympathy
  1. What are the two types of envy?
    1. Benign: Focuses on self-improvement (building up)
    2. Malicious: Focuses on undermining another (tearing down)
  2. What is the difference between empathy, compassion, and sympathy?
    1. Empathy: Mirrors the feelings of another
    2. Compassion: Motivates action to help another
    3. Sympathy: Pitying of others; involves power
  3. What is the difference between disappointment and regret?
    1. Both involve experiencing a worse outcome than expected; the difference is the amount of perceived control
    2. Disappointment: Perceives that one's behaviour could not have lead to a different outcome
    3. Regret: Perceives that, had one's behaviour been different, a better outcome could have been achieved
  4. What are the two aspects of gratitude?
    1. Indebtedness   Exchange-based relationship: If the receiver focuses on what was received (e.g., $50), then the receiver may feel indebted to repay, leading to an exchange-based relationship
    2. Care   Communal relationship: If the receiver focuses on the giver (e.g., a friend), then the receiver may feel cared for and loved, leading to a communal relationship
  5. What is the opposite of hope?
    1. Fear
    2. Both fear and hope are about expectations of the future
    3. Also consider hopelessness / helplessness

Readings

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Recording

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See also

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Lecture
Tutorials
Admin

References

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Reeve, J. (2018). Understanding motivation and emotion (7th ed.). Wiley. The School Locker. Google Books. Instructor companion site. UC Library. ISBN: Paperback 978-1-119-36760-4, E-text 978-1-119-36765-9. E-Book.
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