What are UNIVERSAL EMOTIONS: list and examples

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. Later, Tomkins along 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 human beings, 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, for this reason they are called universal emotions. To keep discovering what are universal emotions and examples of them, keep reading Psychology-Online.

Index

1. Disgust
2. Afraid
3. Joy
4. Sadness
5. Surprise
6. Go to
7. Other universal emotions

Disgust is a

In this article, we explain in depth what are emotions and what is their function.

Another of the basic emotions is fear, that feeling that makes us flee from a potentially dangerous situation. Again, it is based on our survival instinct, although today many people have developed phobias They do not have any foundation so, on many occasions, fear is not responding to this function.

The way to express it facially is by raising the eyebrows and joining them up, raising the lower eyelid and bringing the lips back. Another way to express it is through hyperventilation, for example.

Here you will find what is fear in psychology.

The next universal emotion is joy. It's the way we have to know that something or someone produces 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 slightly squeezing the eyes. We also express it through laughter. In this article we explain the four physical symptoms of joy.

The sadness 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 remains drooping, the gaze is not focused on a fixed point, but is "lost" and the corners of the lips go downward. In many people it is also common to raise the eyebrows and gather them up.

It is quite common to associate sadness with crying, despite the fact that it is not socially accepted to cry in public.

The surprise it is also considered a basic and universal emotion. It is the reaction of situations that we do not expect. It helps us to adapt to a new situation, to readjust ourselves. We can express this emotion through a scream or also with facial expression. The eyebrows are raised, while the eyes and mouth are opened.

Logically, the reaction after the surprise can vary depending on whether the surprise is positive or negative.

Anger occurs when we've been damaged by some person or situation. It leads us to attack as a defense. People tend to yell, to say bad words. In addition, facially the eyebrows are drawn down and the brow furrowed, the eyes are narrowed and the lips are pressed together.

In many cases, you can clench your fists or, even if the level of rage or anger is very high, you can cry.

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
• guilt
• Contempt
• Fun
• Satisfaction
• Pride
• Enthusiasm

That is to say, actually, 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 with both positive and negative emotions.

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. By studying him, he shows that there is no group of people with a culture that points to a facial expression associated with an emotion and that in another group another facial expression is indicated, which shows Eckman's theory.

This article is merely informative, in 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 examples, we recommend that you enter our category of Emotions.

1. Ekman, P. (1999). Basic emotions. Handbook of cognition and emotion, 98(45-60), 16.

• 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.