Science investigates basic emotions common to all men.
The Nation, January 24, 2010
LONDON .- Can you name six basic emotions? Make a score among his friends and we guarantee you will not find consensus. However, psychologists agree: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, surprise and disgust.
These are the six major emotions, literally, everyone exhibits the same characteristics dramatic facial expressions. They have been the subject of intense research for more than half a century and more, because of the role they have played in our survival as a species.
However, times have changed. Our ancestors may have had the daily need to fear their predators, to conquer the enemy anger or disgust to prevent disease, but we live in a more subtle, in which other emotions have appeared. Today, there are many contenders. Greed, shame, boredom, depression, jealousy and love, for example, may represent the modern era. Yet today some darker emotions may become increasingly relevant. Here we explore five
of them, any of which can be promoted to a category close to the six major emotions.
SPIRIT RISING
Elevation
Amid the economic crisis last year, the inaugural speech of Barack Obama was powerful and inspiring. Some of his supporters, to hear, have had tears in his eyes, a tingling sensation in the neck and a warm feeling in the chest as if it were opened to an overflow of love and hope. This feeling is what Jonathan Haidt of the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, labeled as "lift."
seems to be a universal sentiment: he has been documented in Japan, India, U.S. and in the Palestinian territories. That places it in the same league as the six major emotions, provided you have also a purpose. If emotions are to play a role as assistants of survival, should encourage activities that help us in the fight. So what use is the elevation? Haidt
The idea was born of the feeling of suffocation that often describes people to experience the rise. This indicates that the vagus nerve is involved, since it is responsible for stimulating the throat and neck muscles. Activation of the vagus nerve is also linked to the release of a hormone called oxytocin, which generates feelings of warmth and calm, the kind that is associated with elevation.
But contrary to the six major emotions, it has a characteristic facial expression. If you can see the context, one can detect the features are softened slightly, says Haidt. Sometimes the eyebrows are raised as if the person is sad.
EMOTION
CURIOUS
Interest
The head tilts to one side, speech becomes faster and the muscles of his forehead and around the eyes contract as one is engrossed in learning a sonata with bassoon, to understand the thermodynamics of the universe, or perhaps just browse through a collection of stamps. Interest may be more difficult to identify than fear or joy, but also has one of the characteristics of a basic emotion, its own facial expression.
interest also seems to have a purpose. The psychologist Paul Silvia, University of North Carolina, United States, believes that motivates people to learn "not for money or for a consideration" but for herself, to increase one's knowledge and just because you want. This may explain why interest is important in the modern world. It can be seen as the counterpart of fear and anxiety surrounding the unknown experiences. Without the interest turn away from the new and complicated things because they tend to get nervous.
"This makes sense if we think in terms of evolutionary history, and unfamiliar situations that can often be dangerous," said Silvia. "But in the modern world, would be disastrous because it could grow intellectually."
One approach that some psychologists use to define a basic emotion is that it must be associated with an aberration or pathology. Too much fear, for example, creates panic and chronic anxiety. Another very interesting results in repetitive behaviors, overwhelming and compelling.
STIMULATING REACTIONS
Gratitude
Before meeting the highest standards of emotion, gratitude has its own forms of manifestation, so his facial expression has yet to be identified although it is easy to speculate what may involve a smile, perhaps a nod. However, it still must conduct studies on non-Western cultures.
Like all emotions that deserve that name, gratitude motivates us to act: do we want to recognize and reward a kindness or a friendly gesture. So gratitude could simply ensure a reward mechanism, but new research suggests it may be more than that. Sara
Algoe, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA, found that gratitude makes cohabiting couples feel more connected. She argues that the truly kind gestures help us find the individuals that really "trap."
The feeling of gratitude is a sign that we should know better because they are most likely to be there for us in the future. So, once you're in a romantic relationship, the feelings of gratitude serve as a small reminder of how good is our partner.
The long-term appreciation, he says something, is there to help promote a positive cycle of giving and receiving, creating a spiral rising satisfaction in the relationship.
EXCITEMENT WITH TWO FACES
Pride Pride has been called the deadliest of the seven deadly sins. However, it can also be noble. We all know the satisfying feeling of accomplishment and self-esteem that comes from having done something right. So Jessica Tracy of the University of British Columbia, Canada, distinguishes between what she calls "hubris" and "authentic pride." Both
make people tilt the head back, separate their arms from the body and try to look as far as possible. But contrary to the basic emotions, the face only plays a small role, only a gentle smile through it. Tracy considers it a basic emotion, he found even in people blind from birth, indicating that it is innate.
So what is the purpose of pride. In general, when people express the pride is associated with high status. Thus, it motivates us to do the right thing to gain respect. There are two ways to do so, which may explain the secondary side of pride.
status can take two forms, says anthropologist Joe Henrich, University of British Columbia. The first is based on the domain: the stronger individuals are revered because they can dominate or kill others. The second type of status has to do with prestige. In this case, respect and power they gain through knowledge or skill. "This fits with the two types of pride," says Tracy. One is associated with extreme aggression and confidence, while the other encourages hard work and altruism.
ALLY OF CHANGE
Confusion
is a feeling that we have all experienced, but it's hard to describe. dachte Keltner, University of California, United States, suggests that "the feeling that the environment is giving us insufficient or contradictory information." But Is the confusion really an emotion? For some psychologists, the idea is outrageous. Others describe the confusion as the most marginal of emotions. Also, Silvia thinks there are good reasons to consider a basic emotion because it is so easy to identify. It frowns, eyes closed, you can even bite his lip, one recognizes the confusion when he sees it. In fact, one study found that expression was the second most recognizable daily, only surpassed by the joy. And what good is the confusion? It is an emotion based on knowledge of the same family of interest and surprise, says Silvia. He believes that is the way it is our brain to tell us how we're thinking about things not working, that our mental model of the world is imperfect and inadequate. Sometimes this will take you back, but can also motivate us to pay attention or to change our learning strategy. Another idea is that a facial expression of confusion alert others to help the confused person. If so, the confusion serves to provide new knowledge and to encourage social relations, making it perhaps the perfect emotion century.
Libedinsky
Por Juana "New Scientist", translated by Maria Elena King
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