List of Emotions: 6 Basic Emotions to Express How You Feel

Human emotions are the feelings that inform a person’s subjective experience, decision-making, and mental health. Genes can influence a person’s emotional resilience and sensitivity to emotional information. Personal values can also inform emotional reactions, making you feel positive emotions and negative emotions. Your emotional state can vary daily and even hour to hour. Specific emotional experiences may trigger physiological responses, like an increase in heart rate or the movement of facial muscles, and significantly affect a person’s overall well-being.

When a person experiences an emotion, different regions of the brain, namely the amygdala, activate and process the response. The two amygdalae appear to process different emotions. The right amygdala processes fear-inducing stimuli. It can issue a fearful response that elevates blood pressure, propels heart rate, and releases stress hormones and adrenaline. The left amygdala seems connected to the body's reward-processing system and can process both positive and negative emotions. Dopamine receptors in the left amygdala help make this possible.

Many scientists studied the theories of emotions and how they correlate to health, heart rate, nervous system wellness, and more. Consider the following studies on emotional experiences:

• Biological emotions: Charles Darwin was an emotional theorist, writing in his 1872 book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals that, biologically, emotions serve no evolved role in humans.
• Six basic emotions: Psychologists and neuroscientists—including Jaak Panksepp, Carroll Izard, Silvan Tomkins, and Lisa Feldman Barrett—made advancements in studying emotions. Psychologist Paul Ekman is perhaps one of the most famous researchers of emotion theories. Ekman theorized six basic emotions (anger, disgust, fear, enjoyment, sadness, and surprise) and studied how they translate to legible body language and facial expressions of emotions between cultures.
• Wheel of emotions: Professor Robert Plutchik expanded on Ekman’s six emotions with his wheel of emotions, which noted eight primary emotions that blend to create others, similar to the color wheel.

There are several different emotion categories. Per researcher Paul Ekman, the six basic emotions include:

1. 1. Anger: If you are feeling anywhere from grouchy to irate, you are likely experiencing anger. If unchecked, this strong emotion can lead to more complex emotions with dangerous consequences, such as physical violence or revenge. People engage in therapy or anger management to better control this emotion.
2. 2. Disgust: The news, others’ actions, and smells can repulse you. Disgust may be temporary, but if it persists, you may need to change your environment or leave it altogether.
3. 3. Fear: This feeling can lead to intense anxiety, but it can also make you giddy or exhilarated if you anticipate an event or occasion. Chronic fear can adversely impact your wellness, and you should address it with a mental health professional.
4. 4. Enjoyment: This joyful emotion encompasses simple cheerfulness or immense elation. All emotions come in waves, and chasing happiness is often a more overarching, lifelong pursuit for people. Happiness may be immediate through a good meal or more permanent via a strong friendship or relationship.
5. 5. Sadness: Feeling heartbroken, remorseful, or listless can result from sadness. Anything from losing a sports game to the death of a loved one can lead to this dejection, which can be challenging to navigate.
6. 6. Surprise: Surprise can be delightful or trigger a fight-or-flight response. If you walk into a surprise birthday party, you may feel jubilation; however, surprises, such as bad news, can also make you anxious and worried.

There are many ways to express and talk about your emotions. Consider the following methods:

• Keep a journal. Try journaling daily, weekly, or monthly as a more private activity. Journaling lets you examine past emotions, track trends, and understand how you react to different situations and stimuli.
• Talk about your feelings with loved ones. Try opening up slowly to people you trust and love. Go for a coffee or walk to have dedicated time to chat. Expressing emotions is essential to healthy relationships with family members, friends, romantic partners, and coworkers.
• Seek therapy. In some cases, opening up about your emotions can trigger trauma. A licensed professional can give you the skills to understand and cope with your emotions. A therapist can help you identify emotion words to describe how you feel and help you find ways to regulate your emotions better.

Practicing empathy can help you lead more effectively while building stronger relationships across the personal and professional facets of your life. Challenge your perceptions with the MasterClass Annual Membership and take lessons on emotional intelligence from Pharrell Williams, Roxane Gay, Gloria Steinem, Dr. Cornel West, Walter Mosley, Robert Reffkin, and Robin Arzón.