• Question: what are emotions

    Asked by runfatboyrun to Faye, Martin, Mus, Pete on 25 Apr 2012.
    • Photo: Mustafa Sarkar

      Mustafa Sarkar answered on 25 Apr 2012:

      @runfatboyrun, really interesting question and especially relevant to psychologists. Emotions are what people display when reacting to an event and reflects an individual’s state of mind. Common examples include happiness, sadness, anger, frustration, joy, sorrow, fear etc. Generally speaking, it is better if we display positive emotions such as happiness and gratitude, as it is better for our own well-being.

    • Photo: Pete Etchells

      Pete Etchells answered on 25 Apr 2012:

      Mus is right! Some people think that emotions evolved in response to different things in our environment. For example, fear evolved because it makes you extra-sensitive to what’s going on around you, and sets your body up ready to run away if needs be. So even though being scared of something doesn’t feel great, it’s actually a good thing, because it means that you’re less likely to get hurt or die.

    • Photo: Faye Didymus

      Faye Didymus answered on 29 Apr 2012:

      Emotions are similar to feelings – they describe the ways that we feel such as happy, sad, excited, angry etc. To explain in a little more detail, an emotion is a complex psychophysiological (this means they involve the brain and our physical bodies) experience of your state of mind. They are complex because they involve both biochemical (internal) and environmental (external) influences. Emotions are also associated with mood, temperament, personality, disposition, and motivation.

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