What are emotions?

Updated :24 Jan 2023 

What are emotions? 

Most of the time we don’t have exact words to explain what we are actually  feeling . And it is quite difficult to differentiate emotions and feelings. 

The words “emotions, feelings, and moods” are often used interchangeably. But actually they are not the  same . Emotions are related to, but different from, mood ..

Are emotions and feeling both the same thing?

Emotions are a physiological response to a stimulus, such as happiness, anger, or fear. They are relatively short-lived and specific to a particular event or situation. Feelings, on the other hand, are the conscious experience of emotions and can be more long-lasting and broader in scope. Feelings may also include thoughts, beliefs, and judgments about an emotion.

 Emotions :

  are specific physical reactions to a particular event. Their general purpose is to produce involuntary bodily response to a stimulus. That are usually of fairly short duration. 

No matter how friendly and caring a person you are , or you want to be, your brain keep saying you things that aren’t so kind when your emotions are triggered. 

The brain responds to stimuli long before your conscious brain can choose. Your immediate reactions often produce bad results and then instead of trying to undo what happened, you quickly find reasons to justify your behaviour.

If you want to manage your emotions,  start looking inside instead of outside .

Psychologists identify twenty-seven Categories of emotion: 

Admiration, adoration, aesthetic appreciation, amusement, anger, anxiety, awe, awkwardness, boredom, calmness, confusion, contempt, craving, disappointment, disgust, empathic pain, entrancement, envy, excitement, fear, guilt, horror, interest, joy, nostalgia, pride, relief, romance, sadness, satisfaction, sexual desire, surprise, sympathy and triumph.

Five main purposes of emotions : 

Emotions help us

•  To take action.
•  To survive.
• Strike and avoid danger.
• To make decisions.
•  To understand others. Moreover, they help other people to understand us.

~Kendra Cherry (Psychology Expert)

Feelings : 

are mental associations and reactions to an emotion. They are coloured by our personal experiences and believes. 


When you say, "I feel anxious, angry, happy...", you are interpreting emotion by how it feels in your body.

Types of feelings :
There are only three types of feelings

• pleasant
• Unpleasant
•  Neutral

Feelings vs emotions  

Is Feelings and emotions are the same thing? 

In response to specific stimuli The emotion comes first and it  is universal. What kind of feelings it will then become varies from person to person and from situation to situation because feelings are shaped by individual temperament and experience. 

 Emotions are event-driven, while feelings are learned behaviours .

• Joy is an emotion. 

Happiness is a feeling. 

• Fear is an emotion. 

Worry is a feeling. 

• Enthusiasm is an emotion. 

Contentment is a feeling.

• Anger is an emotion.

Bitterness is a feeling.

• Attraction is an emotion.

Love is a feeling.



Expressing all types of emotions, even negative emotions, is natural and healthy.

Ending words :

An event or  stimulus cause emotions and emotions cause feelings .But same emotions generate different feelings in different people. 

I hope now you can fully understand emotions , and differentiate emotions and feelings well .

Thanks for reading! 

Sources :

https://www.laughteronlineuniversity.com/feelings-and-emotions/

https://inpowercoaching.com/tame-your-emotional-triggers/

https://imotions.com/blog/emotions-matter/

• Tweet
• Share
• Share
• Share
• Share