The psychology of emotions in modern science is developed to a much lesser extent than other areas of psychological science. Emotions and feelings in psychology have been the subject of study for a long time, but there are still many gaps in this field of knowledge.
Each mental phenomenon performs two functions - reflection and regulation. At the same time, these functions carry out emotional phenomena differently from cognitive processes, such as thinking, memory, perception, sensation, imagination, etc.
The psychology of emotions studies the primary forms of reflection, which are much more ancient than conscious and mediated by speech processes of a cognitive nature. Their main purpose is to signal the benefits or harm to the body of certain phenomena of the world.
There is such an experimentally proven emotional first assessment as “first vision”. It precedes a more logical, informed and detailed assessment. This is written by E. Artemyev, K. Obukhovsky and others. Emotions bear the seal of connections with the desires and basic needs of man. It is this very close connection with needs that is the most important sign of emotions.
The psychology of emotions refers to the complex internal regulators of human activity, which emotions perform through motives. It is characteristic that quite often the motives of behavior remain unconscious for the person himself. This feature of emotions (connection with the unconscious) significantly distinguishes them from cognitive processes, carried out mainly under the strict control of consciousness.
Modern psychology of emotions does not give a clear definition of their object of study. That is, a clear statement of what is included in the concept of “emotion” does not actually exist. This can be seen in those branches of psychology that investigate various emotional states. For example, the psychology of loneliness is studying one of the most difficult problems in the psychology of emotions. The difficulty is that loneliness in the modern world has become synonymous with individual success and the main condition for the formation of personality. From the point of view of psychology, loneliness is an individual's problem, which often becomes a social problem. They have been trying to research the roots of the problem and find its solution for a long time: Z. Freud is at the source.
There are many different emotional states: fear, stress, anxiety, frustration, tension, etc. It is noteworthy that many emotional states have common characteristics and therefore are not clearly distinguished. In many ways, they have something in common with other conditions: mental, nervous, functional, etc. Such an uncertainty in the content of the term “emotions” greatly complicates scientific research in this field of knowledge.
The concept of emotions takes into account the integral factor of social experience, which is the cultural and historical determination of all mental phenomena. Social determination explains the emergence of certain emotions, and also determines the forms of their expression.
The general psychology of emotions should include aspects of emotional states and ideas about the mechanisms by which emotions are realized, that is, about the psychophysiological laws that ensure their existence.
The psychology of emotions explores both individual emotional states and individual characteristics of a person’s emotional life.
The basic emotional states inherent in man are divided into emotions, feelings and affects. The first two concepts express the meaning of certain life situations for a person in terms of actual needs. Emotions can be caused by both real and imaginary situations. They are perceived by man as inner experiences. In external behavior, they appear relatively weakly. Accompanying behavioral acts, they are not even always recognized by a person. Therefore, emotional experience is always wider than the experience of individual experiences.