Emotions

Emotions are data. Learn to recognise them and read them, and life will become far easier.

Life keeps going by doing three things on loop: self-organisation (SO) — making usable order; self-production (SP) — rebuilding and growing; and self-correction (SC) — noticing mistakes and fixing them. Together they let living systems persist and adapt, from cells to societies.

In Biopsychology, emotions are the fast, in-body regulatory signals that help the mind run SO/SP/SC in real time.

Introduction 

Primary Emotions

Fast, mostly universal, body-first reactions that handle basic needs (safety, loss, keeping germs out, bonding, surprise) before much thinking.

Love Anger Fear Sadness Joy Disgust Surprise Curiosity Awe

Secondary Emotions

Learned blends and appraisals—shaped by memory, beliefs and culture—that mix the primaries into social meanings.

anxiety guilt shame pride envy jealousy contempt compassion gratitude hope

relief boredom loneliness frustration resentment regret grief

Tertiary Emotions

Fine-grained flavours and “feelings about feelings,” often cultural styles or mixes, that add nuance more than they drive action.

nostalgia bittersweetness schadenfreude embarrassment cringe admiration indignation

Hybrid Emotions

Hybrid emotions are repeatable patterns made from a mix of feelings, stories and habits; they give quick relief or reward now, but often cost you later unless you change the pattern.

Read about them here, including Hubris, Cynicism, Burnout, Perfectionism, Hypervigilance, Outrage, and Catastrophising.

Time and Emotions

Emotions all have a time element - focusing on the past, present or future. Read about it here.