Feelings in psychology - this is one of the central topics that causes great interest among scientists, as well as among ordinary people. This phenomenon accompanies a person constantly. As soon as we wake up in the morning, we immediately experience these or other feelings, which can vary depending on various phenomena. What seems simple and ordinary to us, in fact, is a complex system that has been studied by specialists for several centuries.
What are feelings
Feelings in psychology are a kind of reaction to various events or phenomena. Human life is impossible without them. And even if it becomes routine, without any vivid experiences, then people themselves begin to look for more acute sensations, listening to music, watching movies or playing sports, creativity. It is especially interesting that a person needs not only positive, but also negative feelings associated with anger, resentment or mental suffering for a full existence.
Types of feelings in psychology
Since human feelings cannot be the same in all circumstances, it is only logical that they have their own classification. This implies a division in accordance with the circumstances or conditions in which they arise. So, the types of feelings in psychology can be as follows:
- Higher feelings are all that are connected with society. This refers to the attitude towards people around us, the team, as well as the state and society as a whole. We can say that these manifestations are the most stable, since they practically do not change throughout life. This category also includes those feelings that are associated with falling in love, likes and dislikes towards other people.
- Moral feelings, synonymous with conscience, also govern the relationship between people. Guided by them, a person determines his behavior in relation to others. Also, morality and morality in many respects affect the actions and life position of a particular person.
- Practical feelings can be considered an integral part of a person’s life. They are related to the labor activity that accompanies people throughout their lives. This refers not only to the attitude to the work, but also to the reaction to its positive or negative results. A sense of duty is one of the fundamental concepts in this category, which can be considered the main incentive to work activity.
- Intellectual feelings are manifested in a person from the very moment of his birth. They are associated with a continuous desire to learn something new, analyze, compare and draw conclusions. Over time, due to the growing up of a person, they acquire higher forms and manifestations.
- Aesthetic feelings are a person’s ability to form the correct notions of beauty, reacting to nature or works of art. We meet this phenomenon every day, evaluating our appearance and those around us, encountering something beautiful and ugly, elegant and tasteless, and so on.
Emotions in Psychology
Speaking about such a thing as emotions, many people, due to lack of knowledge, compare them with feelings. But this is not entirely true. Emotions in psychology are a reaction (namely, an external manifestation) to certain phenomena, events, or the action of stimuli. This is a kind of one of the components of such a thing as feelings. Emotions express outwardly what a person experiences deep inside himself.
The emotional process is accompanied by such manifestations as:
- Interest in any phenomena or facts.
- The joy of positive events.
- A surprise that cannot be attributed to either positive or negative emotions, since it does not give a clear definition of attitude to certain facts.
- Suffering reflects an internal state caused by negative events.
- Anger can arise both in relation to a specific person, and to a group of persons (in some cases, it can develop into contempt).
- Aversion is a negative emotion that can occur both to animate or inanimate objects, and to some circumstances.
- Fear appears in a person when there is a threat to his safety (it can also be associated with a violation of the usual lifestyle, the transition to new, unusual circumstances).
- Shame occurs when a person is afraid of the reaction of others to their behavior.
If we express the relationship between the studied concepts more accurately, then we can say that feelings are an emotional process.
Characteristic feelings
Feelings in psychology are phenomena that imply the presence of a number of characteristics:
- Valency is one of the main characteristics that determine feelings. Accordingly, a person may experience positive or negative emotions. Also in some cases they can be neutral (or, in the scientific language, ambivalent).
- Intensity is the force with which these or other feelings arise. It can be insignificant when it practically does not affect a person’s mood. If the intensity is high, then the external emotional manifestation is appropriate.
- Strictness of feelings is a concept that determines their influence on human activity. So, in some cases, they can encourage a person to be active, and sometimes - lead him into a relaxed, melancholic state.
How feelings affect mood
A person’s mood is largely determined by the feelings he experiences. Depending on what shade they have, people can behave one way or another, feeling depressed or, on the contrary, inspired. So, we can distinguish the following positive sensations that contribute to the formation of a good mood:
- gratitude associated with a positive attitude towards a person who has committed a good deed;
- love - affection for a person of the opposite sex;
- admiration is a manifestation of aesthetic pleasure ;
- tenderness - a positive emotion caused by a person or animal;
- sympathy - a predisposition to another person, associated with his appearance or positive actions;
- passion is a strong attraction to a person or an object.
Negative feelings
Feelings in psychology are phenomena that can also be negative, correspondingly influencing mood. These include:
- jealousy - occurs in case of insufficient attention from loved ones;
- antipathy - causeless or justified hostility to a person;
- guilt - a negative feeling that occurs after committing a deliberately wrong act;
- hatred - a feeling of hostility and anger, addressed to a particular person;
- fear - negative feelings associated with a threat to human security.
How feelings are formed
The formation of feelings occurs through a number of organs that transmit information about the environment to the central nervous system. Thanks to them, a person can see, hear, touch, smell or taste, making up one or another impression of the external environment, surrounding people, or certain circumstances. For example, some feelings may arise in connection with watching an interesting film, listening to beautiful music, touching one or another surface, as well as awareness of the nature of taste or smell.
Another sensory organ, which is often undeservedly forgotten to mention, is the vestibular apparatus. It performs such an important function as a sense of space and understanding of its position in it. Another point that causes a lot of controversy in the scientific community is intuition, or foresight. Thanks to this mechanism, a person can anticipate the onset of a particular situation by pre-tuning himself to a certain wave of positive or negative feelings.
Feelings and morality
Moral feelings - this is one of the highest emotional manifestations of a person, which is expressed in his attitude to himself, others and society. The formation of these manifestations occurs throughout life. In the process of growing up, a person begins to become more familiar with the principles and rules of the society in which he lives, as a result of which certain moral values arise. Despite the fact that this category of feelings is considered relatively constant, it can still undergo changes associated with certain events in society or in personal life.
One of the most important manifestations of moral sensations is a sense of duty. This phenomenon also forms with age, in the process of education and training, as well as self-knowledge. A sense of duty can have several levels and manifestations:
- to oneself - an obligation to achieve certain goals and so on;
- to others - family, friends, society;
- to the labor collective - conscientious and responsible performance of work;
- to the state - a sense of patriotism and national dignity.
Types of emotional processes
An emotional process is a system of factors that regulate a person’s physical or emotional activity, which occurs as a reaction to phenomena and environmental stimuli. It is worth noting that at the moment there is no generally accepted theory that would give an exact definition of this concept.
Speaking about the emotional process, it is worth noting the existence of several of its varieties:
- affects are short-term, but rather strong emotional manifestations that can be expressed by intense psychological or physical activity;
- emotions give a person a subjective understanding of the situation, which is in no way connected with any specific objects;
- feelings, in contrast to the previous category, express the attitude and reaction of a person associated with any specific objects;
- moods are long-term emotional processes that are associated with the general environment, which includes both phenomena and objects.
What are desires
Lack of any objects or sensations can also cause a certain feeling. Desire is one of the most common forms of manifestation of needs. This is not just an awareness of a lack of any objects or sensations, but also the ability to clearly answer a number of questions:
- What exactly do I want? The ability to clearly identify the object in which there is a need or an urgent need.
- Why do I want to? The ability to determine the motive that gave rise to the need for something.
- How to achieve the goal? Knowing or searching for specific paths or methods that allow you to get the desired object or achieve any state.
Human feelings associated with desires can arise for a variety of reasons. They can be caused by both internal and external factors. Speaking of the first, it is worth mentioning a personal need or lack of any benefits. Another reason for the appearance of desires may be following fashion, as well as the desire to imitate stronger personalities or leaders of a social group.
A feeling like desire can persist for a long time, and can be quite permanent. In the first case, most often we can talk about emotional needs that cannot be filled with material goods. But the desires associated with any specific objects or objects may change or even disappear due to changing trends.
How are feelings expressed
The expression of feelings should be considered not only as a specific phenomenon or process, but also as an objective need that is characteristic of each person. We can distinguish a number of certain functions that the expression of emotions carries:
- The communication function is that any person constantly needs to communicate. Feelings allow you to express and convey to others your attitude to a particular phenomenon, as well as accept similar information from your interlocutor or opponent. People also express their relationship to each other. It is worth noting that communication occurs not only through verbal communication, but also through gestures, looks, movements and other manifestations.
- The function of manipulation (influence or influence) allows a person to direct the actions and behavior of other people in a certain direction. This process can occur due to a change in intonation and loudness of the voice, active gesticulation, as well as a certain facial expression. In addition, you can also manipulate others with certain expressions that reflect your emotional state.
- Emotional function is the release of feelings. The essence of this phenomenon is that psychological stress tends to accumulate regardless of what events or phenomena it was caused by (positive or negative). Expressing his emotions, a person seeks to free himself from them. Having expressed his feelings to the interlocutor (verbally or through gestures), a person can feel emotional relief, as well as relieve nervous tension. Psychologists know cases where the inability to exercise an emotional function led to serious mental or behavioral disorders.