Two concepts widely used in psychology, but… do we really know what they mean?
In general, they are often used as synonyms and mix or confuse them in colloquial speech. In this article we will detail the main differences between emotions and feelings .
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What are emotions?
Emotions are psychological and physiological responses of the person that the brain executes in response to stimuli from the external environment. Stimuli can be an object, a situation, a person, or a threat. These types of responses are spontaneous and can be both neural and hormonal, as well as physical. Emotions are the result of an agent, usually external, and have existed since the beginning of the human species as a survival mechanism.
Some of the aspects for which emotions have been used throughout evolution can be: to facilitate the communication of individuals, to facilitate the positioning of people in the face of a daily problem or dilemma, and to serve as a record of information stored in the mind of people against external threats, among other uses.
From a relatively recent psychological study on emotions, it was considered that there are 6 major main emotions. The main and most characteristic emotions of the human species are joy, sadness, surprise, fear, disgust and anger.
What are feelings?
Feelings have been the objective of an analysis of how the human psyche works for decades , since there are different definitions of the concept of feelings, their study can be guided from different perspectives.
However, in this article we will take the categorization that defines feelings in two ways, both as the spontaneous state of mind produced by a given situation or stimulus, and as an evaluation or knowledge of the person’s state of mind in a given situation.
In other words, in addition to the unconscious response, in the feelings there is also an evaluation of that situation. Feelings also have their origin in the neurosensory activity of the limbic system
What are the differences between emotion and feeling?
Once we have seen the main characteristics of emotions and feelings, we can establish a series of main differences between one psychological phenomenon and another . We detail them below.
1. Awareness
One of the basic differences between emotions and feelings lies in the fact that feelings can be evaluated and analyzed while they are being experienced .
On the contrary, emotions are irrational, spontaneous and unconscious and cannot be subject to intellectual analysis or self-evaluation of the person who feels them.
2. Bidirectionality
One of the differences between emotions and feelings that emerge from the first is the fact that emotions are unidirectional and feelings are bidirectional . That means that emotions develop spontaneously without the possibility of further interpretation, evaluation or reflection.
On the other hand, feelings are conceived as bidirectional processes, that is, the person experiences them as a primitive, basic and unconscious reaction, but once they have them, they can come to conceive them from a conscious point of view, from the primitive to the reason.
3. Subordination
Another fundamental difference between feelings and emotions is that feelings are always the result of the former . Emotions are the catalysts and an emotion can arouse different feelings, but never the other way around.
4. Duration and intensity
Another difference is that emotions are characterized as temporary or transitional states in the mood or subjective experience of people. On the contrary, feelings, by requiring a period of reflection or evaluation, are more persistent in the person’s state.
Similarly, another essential difference between emotions and feelings is that the intensity of the former is always greater than that of the latter, since more elaborate cognitive processes are involved in feelings and not so much emotional spontaneity.
5. Management capacity
Feelings are easily manageable or controllable , due to the fact that reason, conscience and logic intervene in them. On the contrary, emotions are difficult to control or regulate, due to the fact that they are phenomena that are above reason and consciousness.
Bibliographic references
- Schacter, D. L.; Gilbert, D. T.; Wegner, D. M.; & Hood, B. M. (2011). Psychology (European ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Ekman, P; Richard J. (1994). The Nature of emotion: fundamental questions. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 291–93
To the classic question “what do you do?” I always answer “basically I am a psychologist”. In fact, my academic training has revolved around the psychology of development, education and community, a field of study influenced my volunteer activities, as well as my first work experiences in personal services.
