Positive, negative and neutral emotions and are they all necessary?

Hello to all readers! Lyudmila is in touch. What events bring you an endless stream of joy, optimism and happiness? Think about it for a second. Wow, the corners of your mouth are probably already tugging at a smile. For me, joy is going out into nature with my family, seeing friends and much more. And this joy charges us for a large chunk of time. Today we have a pleasant topic - we are talking about positive emotions. I will give a complete list of them, and also tell you what influence they have on us. I don’t want to talk about bad things... Not today... But if you really want to balance your knowledge, you can delve into the list of negative emotions that I wrote earlier.

Positive and negative emotions

You might think that positive psychology is only about positive emotions. But it's not just them. Negative and neutral emotions are an integral component that we must feel in order to live brightly and richly. Why are negative emotions needed in combination with positive ones, and why a neutral state is an integral attribute of everyday life, read on.

Frequently used emotions

Basic human emotions have not changed in thousands of years, and we still experience fear, lust, love and joy. The basic emotions of a person can be counted on one hand, but there are a great many derivatives. The more developed the society, the richer the palette of emotions. In primitive societies, such as the indigenous tribes of the Amazon forest, there is no such diversity. They know what fear, joy, lust, sorrow, pleasure, regret are, and this is quite enough to survive in the wild.

Civilized people also most often experience precisely this set of emotions, but in a “diluted” and modified form. This is due to the active mental work that we all carry out. The simpler life is, the more primitive the emotions. The richer a person’s inner world (readability, education, curiosity, developed nervous system, subtle mental organization), the richer his emotional baggage.

A look from psychology

People have been studying emotions for years. Given the difficulty of focusing on feelings, it is not surprising that we know little about them. Most people lack an understanding of the necessity of both emotions for healthy functioning and a full range of feelings. Let's start with definitions and find out the types of feelings and impressions when certain emotions arise, what is their source and how to create them yourself.

Definition and meaning of positive emotions

Positive emotions are emotions that we generally find pleasant to experience. The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology defines them as “pleasant or desirable situational responses, distinct from pleasant feelings and undifferentiated positive affect.”

Essentially, this definition states that positive emotions are pleasant reactions to our environment (or our own internal dialogue) that are more complex and goal-directed than simple sensations.

Definition and meaning of negative emotions

On the other hand, negative emotions are those that we usually don't like. Negative emotions can be defined as “unpleasant or unhappy emotions that are evoked by people to express a negative impact on an event or person.”

If an emotion lowers your emotional state and worsens your mood, then most likely it is a negative emotion.

Learn more about conflicting feelings and cognitive dissonance.

Should you take your anger out on your child?

Psychologists say that sometimes you can and should direct and throw out your steam on a child. Consciously, at some point, we act not as we should, but as we want. At the same time, understanding that we do not break down, but choose the moment and reaction ourselves. We release steam, but there is no breakdown. That is, we allow ourselves a controlled outbreak, which, thanks to control, will pass with full awareness of the consequences.

And most importantly, the child will suffer much less, since the mother does not become hysterical, but simply releases negativity! That is, as in the method of communication through the acceptance of feelings, everyone wins here - both mother and child.

Read more: Stupid woman or smart woman: find the differences

Do we need negative emotions as well as positive ones?

Look at the list of negative emotions. Would you be willing to volunteer to try any of them? Probably not, and this is not surprising! We have already talked about the harm of negative emotions on physical health in an article about psychosomatics .

Here are some examples of identified patterns between negative emotions and human diseases.

Now refer to the list of examples of positive emotions. It is easy to see that this list is full of pleasant experiences that people strive to find and prolong. We need positive emotions to function effectively, grow and prosper.

So, if we generally dislike experiencing negative emotions and enjoy experiencing positive ones, do we even need negative experiences? As it turned out, yes. Next, we will look in more detail at why this happens.

List of dangerous emotions

According to psychologists, each person should make such a list on his own, because only he alone knows which feelings lead to a deterioration in his physical condition. However, there is also a generally accepted opinion about which emotions and feelings irreversibly harm health.

In this case, there are no emotions from the list of positive ones; only negative feelings have a negative impact. These include sadness, disappointment and melancholy, since prolonged manifestation of these feelings causes rapid weight gain, and also contributes to the emergence of life-threatening neoplasms in the body.

In addition, fear has a negative impact, since it can fetter a person, both physically and mentally. A person who experiences fear will never walk with a straight posture, which sooner or later will lead to scoliosis and problems with the musculoskeletal system. The fear of rejection often leads women to health problems and the loss of the opportunity to produce healthy offspring.

Anger also has a destructive effect: it increases blood pressure, strains the heart, and leads to gastrointestinal problems and serious skin diseases.

Resentment has the most destructive properties, especially if it is directed at oneself. It can lead to serious mental illness, depression and even loss of sanity.

Jealousy and envy can lead to loss of appetite, decreased immunity and lack of sleep. Frequently experienced shame will inevitably affect the condition of nails, hair and skin. Disgust and contempt can cause frequent headaches, nausea and insomnia.

It is clear that it is impossible to prohibit yourself from experiencing certain feelings or emotions, but in order to prevent the occurrence of such diseases, you need to learn to take your feelings and emotions under control.

This is interesting: “How to cope with anger, irritation and rage”

Why are negative emotions needed?

Although they are unpleasant to experience, negative emotions are truly essential to living a fulfilling life. This happens for two reasons:

1. Negative emotions give us the opposite of positive feelings.
2. Without negativity, will positive emotions be as pleasant?

Negative emotions serve evolutionary purposes, encouraging us to act in ways that increase our chances of survival and help us grow and develop as individuals.

As psychologists note, there is a good reason for each of the basic emotions, both positive and negative:

• Anger is an incentive to fight problems;
• Fear - allows you to protect yourself from danger;
• Anticipation - helps to look into the future and plan;
• Surprise - focus on new sensations;
• Joy is to be reminded of what is truly important to us;
• Sadness - to connect with those we love;
• Trust - communicate with people who help;
• Aversion is to refuse something that is harmful to health.

Without fear, would you be here today? Or have you engaged in life-threatening activities, putting yourself at unnecessary risk? Without disgust, would you be able to refrain from consuming any harmful substances to which you have access?

As unpleasant as they may be, there is no denying that negative emotions serve important purposes in our lives.

Why is it good to be happy?

As you know, a positive emotional background is good for health. It helps improve the functioning of all organs and systems of the body, especially the nervous system. Positive emotions help to withstand stressful situations and avoid the occurrence of many diseases. Joy hormones (endorphins) contribute to the normalization of all biochemical processes in the body. Therefore, experiencing a lot of positive emotions is simply necessary for all people to maintain good health. It’s not for nothing that they say that laughter prolongs life.

Do people really only experience stress in negative situations?

Although you may think of stress as a purely negative emotion or reaction, people often experience stress in neutral and positive situations.

In fact, many events that are usually considered positive can cause enormous stress in our lives.

Here are just a few examples of positive experiences that stress can bring:

• Planning an upcoming wedding;
• Moving or new job;
• Expecting a baby;
• The start of an exciting journey.

It is natural to feel stressed in all of these situations, even if they are classified as happy and positive. This is another example of the interaction between positive and negative feelings that give balance to our lives.

Why do we experience emotions?

If you've made it this far, you may be wondering: how are emotions created? I was also interested in this aspect, and I decided to understand the mechanism of their appearance. The author of the book of the same name (“How Emotions Are Born”), Lisa Feldman Barrett, also thought about this.

In it, she analyzed in detail a person’s emotional feelings, the reasons for their appearance and the mechanisms of influence on others. Any of the experienced feelings is the accumulated experience of previous generations, which parents pass on to their children along with a set of genes. The manifestation of emotions is a reaction to the world around us. Protective, or, conversely, necessary for communication.

Emotions appear on the face unconsciously. The process itself occurs in the cerebral cortex, from where it is transmitted through the nerves. The face is our business card, which reflects a warning or invitation. We read signals from other people without even thinking, and understand them without a translator. The civilized world forces us to move away from nature, and we do everything to hide our real feelings. This happens because now there is a different value system, and pretense is a tool for achieving success and well-being.

Positive and Negative Emotions: A Look at the Differences

As we now know, positive and negative emotions are vital to living a healthy, fulfilling life. Let's look at how emotions in both categories affect us.

How do they affect the brain? Positive and negative feelings play important roles when it comes to the brain, but in general they are different roles.

Positive feelings

They affect the brain in the following ways.

• Increases efficiency in performing a cognitive task, uplifting spirit, improving concentration and brain function .
• Triggers motivation and reward pathways in the brain, helping to reduce stress and improve well-being.
• They help expand the horizons and capabilities of our brain.

Negative feelings

They affect the brain in the following ways:

• Facilitate the processing of emotional conflicts, helping to understand conflicting information and not fall into procrastination;
• Help solve complex emotional problems;
• Facilitate the processing of cognitive conflicts by participating in the understanding of conflicting cognitive information.
• Reduces empathy and helps you avoid over-connecting with others and focus on your goals.

Both of these senses play important roles in psychology and brain function, and these roles complement each other rather than compete with each other.

The role of both senses in positive psychology

Considering the influence of positive and negative feelings on a person's thoughts and behavior, one can understand why positive psychology pays close attention to negative emotions. It is also important for us to learn to increase our positive emotions and take advantage of the opportunities they provide. It is equally important to learn to adapt to negative experiences and cope effectively with them.

When we are able to accept and use all emotions, we give ourselves the best chance to live a balanced, meaningful life. This is why the field of positive psychology does not focus on positive emotions alone.

It is also important to understand how to turn negative emotions into useful experiences and put them into practice.

What emotions can harm a person?

In addition to the good and pleasant ones, there are also negative ones in a person’s life. This is an unpleasant feeling that you often want to get rid of as quickly as possible. We advise you to find out how positive ones differ from negative ones, which is well described in the publication: https://fb.ru/post/wellness/2016/9/3/7270.

However, sometimes negative ones also contain an important task - to motivate a person to action, to change something in himself or in his life, so as not to experience similar things again. Negative ones include:

• fright;
• anxiety;
• fear;
• disturbance;
• anger;
• shame;
• rage;
• bitterness.

However, emotions are what is on the surface, deeper feelings. They are tested for a long time, sometimes for years and sometimes for decades. And overcoming them can be much more difficult than coping with momentary anxiety.

How to better track your emotions

We now know the importance of accepting and managing our emotions, both positive and negative. The next question is how we actually do it.

The first step to effectively managing emotions is to identify, understand, and look for patterns in emotional experiences.

If you need help identifying positive and negative emotions or tracking experiences, a few charts can help.

Wheel of Emotions