List of emotions and feelings

We all have different emotions and feelings. The human affective sphere is extremely varied. However, we are not always able to give a name to what we feel. We all feel emotions, but not all of us are able to recognize and manage them.

In fact, there are people who have very limited emotional self-knowledge because, although they experience a wide range of emotions, they are unable to recognize them precisely. Obviously, not knowing what emotions or feelings we are experiencing is an impediment to managing them in the most appropriate way.

Instead, knowing all the emotions and feelings will allow us to sharpen our emotional awareness. If you only know one or two musical notes, they will be the only ones you will hear as you will pay more attention to them. If you know them all, your musical universe will expand. The same happens at the level of feelings and emotions.

A study conducted at George Mason University revealed that people who are able to detect and understand their emotions are less likely to use drugs, alcohol or food as escape routes.

Other studies done at the University of Kansas went further, delving into the impact of emotional self-regulation on a physical level. These researchers found that people with cancer who could detect, label and understand their emotions had lower levels of inflammation, a process that is at the root of this disease and is considered a poor prognosis.

Neither the feelings are that emotional nor the thinking is that rational

We tend to think that emotions and thinking are antagonistic processes that are mutually exclusive. But the truth is that in every emotion there is a pinch of reason and in every thought there is a bit of feeling.

Although we act guided by the emotions we are experiencing at that moment, in reality we are also reacting to a complex mental process that occurred in the background: the cognitive interpretation we made of the event.

The truth is that we don't react to reality, but rather to the meaning we give to it, and in that case it affects everything from our expectations and needs to our thoughts. Therefore, emotions are not simply reactions to the environment, but also to the assessment we make of what is happening to us.

For example, if a person spills a glass of water on us, the most normal emotional reaction would be surprise because it is an unexpected event. But when we start thinking about that person's intentions and our rational mind kicks in, we can react with anger, thinking that he did it on purpose. Therefore, anger is not an emotional reaction to what happened, but to our interpretation of it.

What is the difference between emotions and feelings?

Knowing the difference between emotions and feelings is not a mere epistemological or linguistic exercise, it will help us to better understand our reactions and behaviors, allowing us to regulate our affective responses to achieve greater well-being.

What are emotions? They are reactions of affective value to certain stimuli, which can be external, something we see or experience, or internal, such as a thought or a memory. Emotions trigger a series of hormonal and neurochemical responses that produce a state of activation, prompting us to take immediate action. They are usually relatively fleeting experiences that generate a high degree of pleasure or displeasure.

When they give us terrible news, such as the death of a pet or a loved one, for example, it is an emotion that is activated. In this type of situation, our reaction is almost automatic and difficult to control, so we will feel very sad and we will also likely cry.

What are feelings? Feelings elicit the same physiological and psychological responses as emotions, but they have a built-in conscious evaluation. In other words, they imply awareness and appreciation of the underlying emotion and affective experience we are having. They also tend to be more stable over time.

As the days go by, emotions fade to give way to feelings as a cognitive interpretation of the state occurs. In the case of bad news, for example, the feelings that sadness leaves are usually: pain, melancholy, emptiness, restlessness, discouragement or even anger.

Therefore, the main differences between emotions and feelings are:

1. Duration. Emotions are transient states that come and go relatively quickly. The feelings, on the other hand, have been more stable over time. Joy, for example, is an emotion, while love is a feeling.
2. Order of appearance. Feelings are the result of emotions, so they usually precede them. Joy, for example, can turn into happiness and attraction into love.
3. Intensity. Emotions are usually more intense than feelings because their main goal is to predispose us to action. The complex processes of evaluation that usually intervene in feelings diminish their intensity somewhat.
4. Processing level. Emotions manifest themselves unconsciously, generating an almost immediate response, while feelings, which take longer to form, are consciously processed.
5. Degree of regulation. Emotions have been affective states that are difficult to control as they generate automatic psychophysiological reactions. We cannot completely contain emotions such as fear or joy, for example, as as soon as we experience them, they will manifest themselves through microexpressions. Feelings, on the other hand, can be managed better over time by looking for ways to express them more assertively.

However, emotions and feelings are often difficult to separate in practice since where there is one feeling there are usually different emotions and vice versa.

Understanding the differences between emotions and feelings helps us not to feel guilty about our first emotional reactions. It also teaches us not to cling to them, so that the unpleasant ones can disappear with the same naturalness with which they appeared.

The 3 functions of emotions and feelings

Although Western culture has prioritized reason for centuries by relegating emotions to the background and even turning them into our enemies, the truth is that they are very useful. Even the most unpleasant emotions play an important role in social and personal adaptation.

1. Adaptive function

Primary emotions are particularly important due to their hedonic quality. Fear, for example, favors flight or defensive immobility in the face of danger, while disgust prevents us from eating something that could harm us. Even the expression of fear may be enough to calm a strong reaction from an attacker.

Surprise, on the other hand, encourages us to pay more attention to what is happening in our environment. Therefore, emotions and feelings are a kind of internal compass that allows us to quickly orient ourselves in our environment, generating the most appropriate response.

1. Social Function

Feelings and emotions are powerful social adjuvants. Their expression allows us to predict how other people might behave in order to adapt our behavior to theirs, which helps us to better adapt to social environments.

Emotions allow us to carry out an information exchange with our interlocutors through small facial gestures, tone of voice or body movements. In fact, we are all able to capture emotional micro-expressions and process them at a subconscious level to understand the emotional states of others and guess their intentions.

This ability is what allows us to understand that a person is upset and perhaps it is not the best time to make a criticism or pushes us to approach someone sad to console him.

Therefore, emotional reactions not only reveal our affective state, but are also clues that regulate how others react to us. Repressing certain emotions can also have a social function to avoid conflicts or problems in interpersonal relationships.

1. Motivational function

Another of the most important functions of emotions and feelings relates to their power to energize our behavior. Emotions have a deep relationship with motivation. In fact, emotions drive us to action.

This is the case, for example, of anger, an emotion that generally triggers aggressive or defensive behavior. Emotions can generate motivated behaviors, direct them towards a certain goal and make us perform it with intensity. Passion is another feeling that can keep us focused on a person or a project for a long time.

It is worth clarifying that this motivational function does not depend only on the type of emotion but also on the dimension of sympathy or antipathy it generates and on the intensity of the emotional reaction. If we're just angry, for example, we might control ourselves, but if we feel angry it'll be harder not to let that anger out.

How many emotions are there?

In Psychology there is a certain general consensus in speaking of 6 basic types of emotions: fear, anger, disgust, sadness, surprise and joy. However, more recent research has shown that the human face is capable of creating more than 7.000 different expressions that reflect a great deal of emotional variety.

Therefore, basic emotions are simply the foundation upon which we build more complex and subtle feelings and emotions that color our experiences.

List of basic and complex emotions and feelings

Positive emotions and feelings

1. Enjoyment
2. Love
3. Affection
4. Compassion
5. Generosity
6. Enjoyment
7. Jubilation
8. Hope
9. Admiration
10. Freedom
11. Success
12. Justice
13. Gratitude
14. Acceptance
15. accompanying
16. Kindness
17. Appreciation
18. Benevolence
19. Pride
20. Amiability
21. Relief
22. Empathy
23. Integrity
24. Humility
25. Attachment
26. Approval
27. Concentration
28. Enough
29. Armonia
30. Honesty
31. Temperance
32. Tolerance
33. Motivation
34. Happiness
35. Firmness
36. Fortezza
37. Autonomy
38. Honors
39. Solidarity
40. Optimism
41. Satisfaction
42. Safety
43. Reading comprehension
44. Sympathy
45. Tenderness
46. Passion
47. Pixy
48. Enthusiasm
49. Respect
50. Peace
51. Piacere
52. Compromise
53. Fervor
54. Charm
55. Competition
56. Fullness
57. Omnipotence
58. Euphoria
59. Ecstasy
60. Illusione
61. Support
62. Contentment
63. Interest
64. Confidence
65. Rejoicing
66. Please note:
67. Dignity
68. energia
69. Vitality
70. Complacency

Negative emotions and feelings

1. Sadness
2. malinconia
3. abandonment
4. Girl
5. Abuse
6. Need
7. Absence
8. Demotivation
9. Fright
10. Bitterness
11. Anguish
12. Aggression
13. Anguish
14. Hesitation
15. Anxiety
16. Disgust
17. Revenge
18. Courage
19. discomfort
20. Shame
21. Empty
22. Hatred
23. Hostility
24. Humiliation
25. Contempt
26. Meanness
27. Fear
28. Stubbornness
29. Terror
30. Betrayal
31. Annoyance
32. Overwhelm
33. Pietà
34. Handling
35. Fear
36. Phobia
37. Failure
38. Fragile
39. Frustration
40. Furia
41. Solitude
42. Imperturbability
43. Paralysis
44. rancor
45. Anger
46. I suspect
47. Modesty
48. Vulnerability
49. Miseria
50. Fearlessly
51. Concern
52. Arrogance
53. Pessimism
54. Discrepancy
55. Penalty
56. Laziness
57. Regret
58. Hate
59. Anger
60. Hoax
61. Stress
62. Loss
63. Guilt
64. Ira
65. Envy
66. Offense
67. Wonder
68. Saddening
69. Amazement
70. Impatience
71. Distrust
72. Impotence
73. Bewilderment
74. Disability
75. Incompatibility
76. Misunderstanding
77. Misadventure
78. Indignation
79. Instability
80. Unhappiness
81. Inferiority
82. Injustice
83. Distruzione
84. Heartbreak
85. Dissatisfaction
86. Insecurity
87. insufficiency
88. Intolerance
89. Ira
90. Irritation
91. Jealousy
92. Guilt
93. Censorship
94. Collar
95. Opposition
96. Addiction
97. Depression
98. Defeat
99. Discouragement
100. Impotence
101. Discomfort
102. Restlessness
103. Reconsideration
104. Disappointment
105. Desolation
106. Miseria
107. Resentment
108. Disenchantment
109. Despair
110. Reluctance
111. Disappointment
112. Desolation
113. Petrification
114. Disorientation
115. Contempt
116. Famine
117. Discredit
118. Undermining
119. Devaluation
120. Pain
121. Disgust
122. Pietà
123. Laziness
124. Dysphoria
125. Exasperation
126. Rimordimento
127. Resentment
128. Obnubilazione
129. Affliction
130. Disappointment

Ambivalent emotions and feelings

1. nostalgia
2. Desiderio
3. Lussuria
4. Unit
5. attraction
6. Alarm
7. Amazement
8. Courage
9. Alteration
10. Pride
11. Vulnerability
12. Enhancement
13. Temptation
14. Patience
15. Surprise
16. Ambivalence
17. Tenderness
18. Desiderio
19. Shyness
20. Tranquility
21. Pentimento
22. Paranoia
23. Disruption
24. Frenzy
25. Confusion
26. Serenity
27. Company introduction
28. Submission
29. Calm
30. Rebellion
31. Refuse
32. Membership
33. Compromise
34. Bliss
35. Disgust
36. Repugnance
37. Reserve
38. Persecution
39. Obligation
40. Ostentation
41. Excitement
42. Mastery
43. Oddity
44. Non-compliance
45. Disbelief
46. Resignation
47. Indifference
48. Fearless
49. Intrigue
50. Invasion
51. Impulsiveness
52. Calm
53. Consolation
54. Restlessness
55. Correspondence
56. Curiosity
57. Nearness
58. Suffering
59. Hesitation
60. Contempt
61. Enjoyment
62. Exaltation
63. Condescension
64. Equanimity
65. Apathy
66. Inspiration
67. Seriousness
68. Trance
69. Stubbornness
70. boldness
71. Perplexity

In this list of emotions and feelings we refer to positive, negative and variable emotions, but in reality all emotions and feelings can become negative or positive depending on the way we experience and express them. Furthermore, it is not even all emotions that exist since there are also other emotional states that we have experienced but which in our language do not have a literal translation, such as pronoia and awumbuk.