Darwin was the first to mention that human emotions were universal, and that they were expressed in the same way regardless of culture. He pointed out that they were biologically innate. Subsequently, Tomkins, together with Paul Eckman and Carrol Izard, began in-depth studies to discover what happened to emotions. It has been seen, in fact, that the facial expressions of adults are completely the same as those of newborns, who have not yet had too much interference from the environment.
There are a multitude of emotions in humans, but Paul Eckman’s studies limited them to six main emotions: joy, sadness, fear, anger, disgust and surprise. These emotions are common to all human beings, which is why they are called universal emotions. To continue discovering what are universal emotions and examples of the same, continue reading Psychology-Online.
Disgust
Disgust is a feeling of rejection before what we have before us. Regarding food, it comes from the survival instinct, protecting us from foods that could become toxic. The way to express it is through frowning and raising the upper lip. Vocally, it is common to make an onomatopoeic sound “yuck”, in order to convey this feeling.
In this article, we explain in depth.
Fear
Another of the basic emotions is fear, that sensation that makes us flee from a potentially dangerous situation. Again, it is based on our survival instinct, although today many people have developed that they do not have any foundation so, in many cases, fear does not respond to this function.
The way to express it facially is by raising the eyebrows and joining them above, raising the lower eyelid and bringing the lips back. Another way of expressing it is through hyperventilation, for example.
Here you will find .
Happiness
The next universal emotion is joy. It’s the way we have to know that something or someone brings us well-being. It is the only emotion that we could consider positive among the six main emotions that we are seeing.
The most common way to express it is by raising the corners of the lips and squeezing the eyes slightly. We also express it through laughter. In this article we explain.
Sadness
It is a basic and universal emotion, and it is our mind’s way of letting us know that it is necessary to make a change in our life. The eyelid relaxes and droops, the gaze does not focus on a fixed point, but is “lost” and the corners of the lips go down. For many people it is also common to raise the eyebrows and bring them together at the top.
It is quite common to relate sadness to crying, even though it is not socially accepted to cry in public.
Surprise
Surprise is also considered a basic and universal emotion. It is the reaction of situations that we do not expect.. It helps us adapt to a new situation, to readjust. We can express this emotion through a scream or also with facial expression. The eyebrows are raised, while the eyes and mouth open.
Logically, the reaction after the surprise can vary depending on whether the surprise is positive or negative.
Gonna
Anger occurs when we have been damaged by some person or situation. It leads us to attack as a defense. People tend to shout, to say bad words. In addition, facially the eyebrows are drawn down and the brow is frowned, the eyes are narrowed and the lips are pursed.
In many cases, you can clench your fists or even, if the level of rage or anger is very high, you can even cry.
Other universal emotions
In 1999, Eckman expanded the number of emotions, although not all of them were translated into facial expression. Among these new emotions are:
- Relief
- Embarrassment
- blame
- Contempt
- Fun
- Satisfaction
- Pride
- Enthusiasm
That is, in reality, we could go so far as to say that any emotion is, broadly speaking, universal, whether we talk about the six main ones or the others. This universality occurs both with .
Many other scientists have disagreed with Ekman’s theories. Some authors believe that emotions and, especially, the way we express them, are social and cultural constructs and not an innate aspect. However, the author states that there is no quantitative data that affirms that emotions depend on culture and not biology. With his studies, he demonstrates that there is no group of people with a culture that indicates a facial expression associated with an emotion and that in another group another facial expression is indicated, which he demonstrates.
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.
If you want to read more articles similar to What are universal emotions: list and exampleswe recommend that you enter our category.
References
- Ekman, P. (1999). Basic emotions. Handbook of cognition and emotion, 98(45-60), 16.
Bibliography
- Darwin, C. (1872). The expression of emotion in man and animals. New York: Oxford University Press
- Ekman, P., Friesen, W.V., & Ellsworth, P. (1972). Emotion in the human face: guide-lines for research and an integration of findings. New York: Pergamon.
- Ekman, P., & Oster, H. (1979). Facial expressions of emotion. Annual Review of Psychology, 30, 527-554.