Emotional states: typology and characteristics

Emotional states are mentala phenomenon that occurs in a person as a result of a reaction to an object or situation. They are not static and have varying intensity. Such conditions determine the behavior of a person and depend on the data of his character and psychotype.

Basic emotional states: characteristic

Emotions are characterized by three parameters:

1. Valence. This is the so-called tone of emotion: they can be negative and positive. An interesting fact is that negative emotions are allocated much more than positive emotions.
2. Intensity. Here the strength of emotional experience is estimated. External physiological manifestations are all the more pronounced, the stronger the emotion. This parameter is closely related to the autonomic nervous system and the central nervous system.
3. Stiffness. This parameter affects the activity of a person's behavior. It is represented by two options: stenic and asthenic. Asthenic emotions contribute to the paralysis of actions: the person is weak and apathetic. Stenic, on the other hand, leads to action.

Kinds

Emotional states of a person are divided into 5 categories, which are identified by the strength, quality and duration of manifestation:

1. Mood. One of the longest emotional states. It affects human activity and can arise either gradually or suddenly. Moods are positive, negative, temporary and stable.
2. Affective emotional states. This is a group of short-term emotions that suddenly envelop a person and are characterized by a vivid manifestation in behavior. Despite the short-term, the impact of affects on the psyche is very large and has a destructive nature, reducing its ability to organize and adequately assess reality. This state can be controlled only by persons with developed will.
3. Stressful emotional states. They arise when a person falls into an extreme situation from a subjective point of view. Strong stress can be accompanied by an affect if a great deal of emotional damage has been incurred. On the one hand, stress is a negative phenomenon that adversely affects the nervous system, and on the other hand, it mobilizes a person, which sometimes allows him to save his life.
4. Frustration. It is characterized by a sense of difficulties and obstacles, introducing a person into a depressed state. In the behavior there is bitterness, sometimes aggressiveness, as well as negative reaction to the events taking place regardless of their nature.
5. Emotional states of passion. This category of emotions is caused by the person's reaction to material and spiritual needs: thus, a strong desire for something causes in him the desire for an object that is difficult to overcome. In the behavior there is activity, the person feels an upsurge of strength and more often becomes more impulsive and proactive.

Along with this classification there is also a more detailed one that divides all emotions into 2 categories.

Psychologists distinguish 7 main emotions:

• joy;
• anger;
• contempt;
• surprise;
• fear;
• disgust;
• sadness.

The essence of the main emotions is that they are experienced by allpeople who had a harmonious development without pathologies from the nervous system. They are equally manifested (albeit in varying degrees and numbers) among representatives of different cultures and social environments.

This is due to the presence of certain brain structures that are responsible for this or that emotion. Thus, a certain set of probable emotional experiences is inherent in a person from the very beginning.

On the other hand, there is another categoryemotions - variative. These are the experiences that are conditioned by the specifics of the environment, upbringing, and culture. Their difference from the basic ones is that they manifest themselves in the behavior of a person unequally.