Human beings have the capacity to have a wide range of emotions that we feel throughout life according to various situations that we experience. Sometimes, we can detect a specific type of emotion that appears in isolation that we can recognize, but at other times we perceive a series of unified feelings.
Are you interested in knowing more about this topic? In this Psychology-Online article we will provide you with information about What are complex emotions, their types and the list of them.
What are complex emotions
Has it happened to you that you have felt a mixture of anger and sadness at the same time? Have you noticed in your body that an exaltation of joy but fear arises at the same time for a new job? Unlike animals, which are only guided by instinct that determines a single emotion, people can have two or more emotions at the same time that vary depending on the moment we are going through.
What are basic emotions
To begin with, we must make an attempt to differentiate basic emotions and complex emotions. When we talk about the basic emotions, we refer to bodily sensations that occur naturally. In other words, they are responses determined by each person’s genes that will give rise to survival mechanisms. Specifically, these are joy, fear, disgust, anger, surprise and sadness.
These emotions can be accompanied by some related behaviors and the presence of words or sounds, while in other cases this does not happen, since words and actions do not always go hand in hand with basic emotions. These reactions are not exclusive to humans since animals can also experience these sensations during their lives. In this article, we explain.
Definition of complex emotions
On the other hand, we have complex emotions. These types of emotions are result of a combination of basic emotions and they manifest themselves in situations that involve contact with some stimulus that produces them.
How do complex emotions arise? What is the origin of complex emotions? There is the possibility that they arise in a certain social context since they are typical of human beings and are not present in animals. Here you can see the and .
Types of complex emotions
Returning to the previous point, there are various complex emotions that need to be distinguished as their meaning changes. We will divide this section into three types of complex emotions:
- : they correspond to reactions that belong to individuals who are part of a society in specific situations. This means that the meaning of these emotions will be given as long as there are other people who can make sense of and understand these types of responses. For example, someone at a party may regret yelling at a guest. Here, regret is a complex emotion.
- aesthetic emotions: consists of the way that each person finds to respond to stimuli that are linked to aesthetics. This can include art, love, literature, music, among others. A person may feel great admiration for a portrait made by an artist. In this case, the complex emotion lies in admiration.
- Moral emotions: When we refer to this type of complex emotion, we will say that they are physical reactions that people manifest in the face of certain guidelines imposed by a society. As an example, we can think of the violation of a traffic rule. Faced with this event, one of the complex emotions that could arise consists of regret, guilt, and indignation.
What are complex emotions
Finally, we can create a list of complex emotions that allows us to recapitulate the information we already have. As a result, the list may be as follows:
- Shame
- Blame
- Pleasure
- Pride
- Satisfaction
- Enthusiasm
- Irony
- Repentance
- Admiration
- Indignation
- Frustration
- Boredom
- Compassion
- Tranquillity
- Disappointment
- Abandonment
- Loneliness
- Enthusiasm
- Astonishment
- Confusion
- Shock
- Burden
- Worry
- Rejection
- Ridiculous
- Jealousy
- Resentment
- Pain
- Hate
- Disappointment
- Despair
- Melancholia
- Empty
- Indifference
As we can see, these emotions result from a mixture of basic emotions that have been found since the birth of the human being. Unlike this type of emotions, complex emotions develop throughout a person’s life through the experiences they have at a social level with their environment. However, sometimes these reactions can cause various problems that may be difficult to cope with. Given this, there are some alternatives that provide solutions such as medication, among others. These types of approaches take into account the characteristics of each person such as age, sex, family medical history, pre-existing diseases, family history and sociocultural context to suggest an appropriate treatment.
In this article, you can see .
If you want to know how to work with complex emotions, we recommend the following articles about and .
This article is merely informative, at Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Bibliography
- Cossini, F.C., Yanina, W., Politis, D.G. (2017). How many are the basic emotions? Preliminary study in a sample of healthy older adults. Research Yearbook, 14 (1), 253-257.
- Gil, M. (2016). The complexity of human emotional experience: Animal emotion, biology, and culture in Martha Nussbaum’s theory of emotions. University of Valencia, Faculty of Psychology.
- Pinedo Cantillo, IA, Yáñez-Canal, J. (2020). Basic emotions and complex moral emotions: keys to understanding and classification criteria from a cognitive perspective. National University of Colombia, Faculty of Psychology.