Week8-12

• Paul Ekman-6 basic emotions:

  1. Anger
  2. disgust
  3. fear
  4. sadness
  5. suprise
  6. happiness
• Plutchick-8 basic emotions:

  1. Anger
  2. fear
  3. disgust
  4. sadness
  5. suprise
  6. trust
  7. joy
  8. antisipation
• why do we have emotions?


  an adaptive role in dealing with fundamental life-tasks
• Basic emotions can be combined/transformed into more complex emotions. (eg. love)
• The dimensional approach:

  emotions are the product of a spectrum of arousal (high-low) and valence (positive-negative)
• Facial expressions: all basic emotions possess distinct facial expressions, reflecting underlying neurophysiological processes. Unique facial musculature activation patterns and coding systems.
• Fear: energises us to react to stimuli which are perceived as an imminent threat. Inbuilt adaptive responses to escape survival threat.
• Anger: energises behaviour to deal with threat potentially adaptive asa form of defence/protective behaviour. Can help us gain or retain control over our environment
• Sadness: reduced arousal, avoidance, withdrawal as well as characteristic facial expressions. Coping mechanisms in response to loss or goal related challenges.
• Happiness/Joy: responses to goal achievement, success and other positive life events.
• Guilt: the unpleasant emotion that can occur when we have not met our own moral, ethical or behavioural standards.
• Shame: intense distress caused by above transgressions, which may lead to negative self-evaluation.
• Pride: ‘satisfaction’ from an internal attribution of a positive event.
• Envy: negative feeling by perceiving others possessing something that we lack.
• Empathy: capability enabling individuals to understand and feel the emotional states of others