Chapter 1
IN THIS LESSON
What are emotions, feelings, and moods, and how do we know what is happening?
Now that we’ve seen some differences between emotions, feelings, and moods, let’s explore more in-depth what they are and how we know what we’re experiencing.
Let’s look at examples:
Based on what you know about emotions, feelings, and moods, try to guess each one before opening the answer.
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Anger is an emotion as it is short-lived, intense, and a response to a specific event
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Compassion is a feeling as it is influenced by your experiences and the circumstance
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Irritability is a mood as it is longer-lasting, and may not have a specific cause
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Pride is a feeling as it is personal interpretation and influenced by the context
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Fear is an emotion as it is an immediate response to a trigger
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Cheerful is a mood as it is a more general state of mind and may occur without connection to a specific event
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Joy is an emotion as it is a short-lived response to a specific event
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Content is a feeling as it is a personal interpretation and influenced by context
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Melancholy is a mood as it lasts longer and is a general state of mind
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Resentment is a feeling as it’s influenced by experience and the circumstance
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Surprise is an emotion as it’s an intense reaction to a specific event
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Calm is a mood as it is a general state of mind and is longer-lasting
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Sadness is an emotion as it’s a response to a specific event and is short-lived
What do we mean by a response to a trigger or event?
Emotions are response to specific events or situations, such as:
Joy - from finding out you got a promotion
Fear - thinking someone is outside your house
Anger - your partner was disrespectful to you
Surprise - a friend remembered your birthday and threw a party for you
What do we mean by influenced by experience and context?
Feelings are influenced by our unique experiences and the context of each situation, such as:
Pride - you’re feeling good about the promotion you got, but it isn’t the biggest promotion you’ve gotten before
Resentment - the person hiding outside your house was a friend playing a prank on you
Ashamed - you find out your partner didn’t mean to disrespect you and after talking to them, you regret how you responded
Contentment - the surprise party had lots of friends you hadn’t seen in a while which made the party really special for you
What do we mean by a general state of mind?
Moods are general states of mind, meaning they impact our overall mindset, such as:
Cheerful - switching your responsibilities at work has reduced your stress and helped pay the bills on time
Melancholy - the friendship has not been the same after that prank and you can’t shake the sadness that your friend would put you through that
Irritable - you have tried to apologize for your angry outburst but your relationship isn’t going back to how it was, and the uncertainty has made you snappy toward everyone else
Calm - you are relaxed as you feel more connected to your friends after the party