The term feeling can be confused with emotion and, although they are related, they are not exactly the same. We are now talking about what feelings are and how we can recognize them.
Difference between emotions and feelings
Some of you may have wondered what difference an emotion from a feeling. Well, to understand this difference we can extract a fragment from the book “Descartes’s error” by Antonio Damasio. The author is a researcher who has attached great importance to emotions and feelings in social behavior and even in reasoning.
For Damasio: “When you experience an emotion, for example the emotion of fear, there is a stimulus that has the ability to trigger an automatic reaction. And this reaction, of course, starts in the brain, but then it is reflected in the body, either in the real body or in our internal simulation of the body. And then we have the possibility to project that particular reaction with various ideas that are related to those reactions and to the object that caused the reaction. When we perceive all that is when we have a feeling. “
An example about emotions and feelings
In short, emotion would be the first reaction we experience to a stimulus and it has to do with the limb system. And the feeling would be the result of an emotion, and has its origin in the neocortex, specifically in the frontal lobe. The response to a feeling can be physical and / or mental, and is mediated by neurotransmitters such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Likewise, feelings last longer than emotion, since their duration is proportional to the time we think about them.
Right after, we analyzed the situation and asked ourselves a series of questions: “Why me? What have I done wrong? ” and we begin to experience sadness and pity for having to leave the job, anger, inferiority, uncertainty about the future, etc. This second reaction, modified by our conscious thoughts, would be a feeling.
In our daily life, feelings are manifested all the time, for example: We are at work, our boss approaches and tells us to accompany him to the office. There, he tells us that the management does not like our work and they fire us. Almost constantly fear takes hold of us, which would be the emotion.
The components of emotion
It should be said, but, that the debate between feeling and emotion comes from afar and has been a controversial issue, since they are terms that are often confused and used interchangeably. One of the first authors who spoke about emotions and feelings was Richard S. Lazarus, who affirmed that these two concepts are interrelated. The feeling would be part of the emotion, since it is its subjective component, that is, cognitive.
Emotions, which originate in the limbic system of the brain, are complex states in which different components intervene:
Physiological: They are involuntary processes, the first reaction: increases muscle tone, breathing, hormonal changes occur …
Cognitive: Information is processed, both consciously and unconsciously that influences our subjective experience.
Behavioral: movements of the body, tone of voice, face …
For Carlson and Hatfield, the feeling is the subjective experience of emotion. That is, the feeling would be the combination of instinctive and brief emotion, together with the thought that we obtain rationally from that emotion.
16 feelings we experience
There are many feelings that human beings experience.
Here is a list of 16 very common feelings:
Positive feelings:
1. Euphoria: This feeling makes us feel high and our perception of life is magnificent.
2. Admiration: When we contemplate something or someone in a positive way.
3. Affection: It is a pleasant feeling when connecting with someone.
4. Optimism: We perceive life in a positive way and without fear of facing it.
5. Gratitude: We feel grateful for someone.
6. Satisfaction: A feeling of well-being for something that has happened.
7. Love: A complex feeling that expresses the best of ourselves.
8. Pleasure: Something gives us pleasure.
Negative feelings:
They are feelings that we experience in an unpleasant way:
9. Anger: It is a feeling of disgust or bad disposition towards someone or something
10. Hate: A strong feeling of repulsion towards a person
11. Sadness: A negative state that causes discomfort with a tendency to cry
12. Outrage: Upset at something that is considered unfair
13. Impatience: Feeling of needing something now.
14. Envy: Feeling that occurs when you want something that you do not have and that someone else has.
15. Revenge: You want to do revenge, but you don’t necessarily have to carry it out.
16. Jealousy: Feeling that arises when you think you are going to lose someone you love.
The importance of managing feelings for emotional health:
One of the most important topics in psychology today is emotional intelligence. Although people often talk about emotions, they actually refer to feelings. The correct management of feelings, that is, for example, self-knowledge or regulation provides many benefits for people both in their mental well-being and in their performance whether at work, educational or sports