The Dealings of Feelings: Let’s Talk Emotions
What are those sometimes confusing, sometimes uncomfortable, and sometimes extraordinary things called emotions? If you’re not so sure of the answer, keep on reading. Identifying, understanding, and coping with emotions are not only relevant to one’s therapeutic journey but also play significant roles in one’s day-to-day life.
What are emotions?
A primary emotion as “any one of a limited set of emotions that typically are manifested and recognized universally across cultures.” Examples of primary or basic emotions include happiness, sadness, disgust, fear, surprise, and anger. A secondary emotion as “an emotion that is not recognized or manifested universally across cultures or that requires social experience for its construction.” For example, if a car in front of you is moving slowly, your primary emotion may be anger. However, as a result of feeling angry, you may experience a secondary emotion of guilt. Lastly, Emotion differentiation refers to the ability to distinguish among a variety of emotions in various circumstances.
Do these definitions make you feel overwhelmed? Puzzled? Confused? Or perhaps they make you feel satisfied, powerful, or intelligent. With time, you’ll be able to more accurately label what it is you’re feeling and better understand how nuances among words may actually impact your overall well-being.
Why is this information important?
Research reveals that individuals with high emotion differentiation, in other words, those who are able to identify and perceive specific, distinct emotions are:
Better able to regulate their emotional experiences. This is because an accurate emotional label can serve as a context clue or a guide for how to take appropriate action. Additionally, being able to differentiate among emotions can help someone gain distance between him/herself and the emotion, resulting in a more rational, stable course of action. This means the individual does not become overpowered by his/her emotional state.
Less likely to cope in dysfunctional manners.
Better able to cope with rejection.
Better able to recognize the emotions of someone else.
Emotion differentiation is a skill that can be improved. One way to work on your emotion differentiation abilities is to increase your emotion vocabulary and to practice using a variety of new, distinct words to label your emotional experiences.
The Feeling Wheel is one powerful tool to help build one’s emotional vocabulary. Here are some additional tools to check out: