What Are Emotions

Learning about emotional intelligence

What are emotions? Emotions are the feelings and thoughts we have that run deep and can cause physiological and psychological reactions. They are generally a quick response to a specific event, and include love, hate, anger, trust, joy, panic, fear, and grief. Emotions should not be confused with the milder ’mood’ – moods are more like general feelings such as happiness, sadness, frustration and contentment.

Emotions are thought to have the following components: subjective feelings, physiological (body) responses, and expressive behavior.

Subjective feelings describe the way each person experiences feelings; this cannot be measured or observed. A person experiencing an emotion may describe it one way, while another may consider the same feeling more or less important to themselves.

Physiological responses can be measured; they include heart rate, sweating, blood rushing to the face, and adrenaline spikes – the latter triggered by the flight or fight instinct.

Expressive behavior covers the outward signs of emotion and can include fainting, a flushed face, muscle tensing, facial expressions, tone of voice, rapid breathing, restlessness, or other body language.

Emotions appear to serve both physical and psychological purposes, adding depth, creativity and expression to our lives. Emotions can even serve as motivation to behave in specific ways. They can aid in survival, help people monitor social behavior, and keep relationships or situations from getting out of control.

Governing your emotions doesn’t mean locking them up in a jar; it means dealing with them openly and honestly Learning the answer to the question ‘What are emotions?’ puts you one step closer to being able to understand and control your own.

Emotional intelligence is the ability to monitor your own (and other people’s) emotional states. The five parts to emotional intelligence include:

1. Self-awareness

2. Managing emotions

3. Motivation 4. Empathy

5. Handling relationships

You have to be self aware. You need to learn to manage your emotions in a healthy way; you need to be motivated and strong, full of empathy with others, and committed to forming good relationships based on trust.

Tests that can measure emotional intelligence are in the works. It is hoped that a way can be found to encourage the social aspect; people with high emotional intelligence usually work well with others and can motivate and manage for a while.

On the other hand, people with low emotional intelligence can misinterpret emotional signals and have frequent difficulty with relationships. The key is catching it early and repairing the damage before it is too severe.

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