Emotions
Emotions and Feelings
Emotions
¿What are emotions? Emotions are a very special type of reactions that several animal species show in reaction to changes in their surrounding medium. Animals routinely react to changes in their surrounding medium, such as when we sweat in response to high temperatures. What differences emotional reactions from simple body reactions like this one is that emotional reactions have "two sides":
An external side: the bodily reaction that everybody can see
An internal side: a mental state that only experiences the person having the emotion
For instance, when we are happy, we smile and our face shows our happiness. At the same time, we feel happy, and that is something only each one of us can experience.
Emotions, basic emotions, have the following characteristics:
They are provoked or triggered by an external stimulus
A body change, a body reaction, is always part of the emotion
They do not last long, less than a minute usually
They are innate, we are born with the capability of experience emotions and also with the capability of recognizing emotions in others
They are difficult to control, specially when the stimulus takes us by surprise
How many basic emotions are there? Most researches consider that there are six basic emotions:
Sadness
Happiness
Fear
Surprise
Disgust
Anger
¿Can you identify the emotion in each of the following faces?
Questions:
How many emotions are there? Can you name all of them?
What are emotions? Can you define them?
How can you prove that emotions are innate?
Can you control your emotions? Try to reason with examples.
Feelings
Feelings are similar but different from emotions. Both feelings and emotions are states of our minds. We experience both of them.
Examples of feelings are: love, friendship, admiration, respect, caution, shame, humiliation, hate, etc.
We can distinguish feelings from emotions:
Feelings may be caused be something external affecting us (same as emotions) but they may also be caused by memories, thoughts or other feelings (different from emotions).
Feelings may be accompanied by external reactions (same as emotions), but may also have no external reaction (different from emotions).
Feelings may last long: days, weeks or months.
Different people may express differently their feelings.
Feelings (unlike emotions) are not completely innate, we learn to express and recognize them, we can modify their expression and we may even control them.
Questions:
How many feelings are there? Can you name all of them?
How can you prove that feelings are not innate?
Can you control how and when to express your feelings? Put a couple of examples.
Can you control your feelings? Try to reason with examples.
Emotional intelligence
Questions
From the first video:
What is the difference between general intelligence (IQ) and emotional intelligence (EQ)?
Can you find a similarity between general intelligence and emotional intelligence?
Which are the five essential components of our emotional intelligence? Name and explain them a little bit.
Which component of our emotional intelligence is missing in each of the following situations?
I have to study for an exam but I get distracted checking my mobile phone.
Despite the fact that I am a shy person, I accept a job selling insurance door to door.
I do not understand why people do not laugh with my jokes, they are very funny.
I am thinking in giving up the football team because I failed in the last match.
I am losing friends because I am not able to keep the secrets they tell me.
How to increase your emotional intelligence? Explain the four lessons with new, original examples.
From the second video:
Are you emotionally intelligent? Which ones of the seven signs apply best to you?
Empathy
Questions:
What is empathy? Extract at least three characteristics from the definitions provided in the first video.
How empathy can improve day to day life at school? Choose three ways to be empathic.
