Questions tagged [emotion]

For questions regarding the concepts (e.g., happy, sad, angry) that we use to describe the changes in cognition, behavior, and experience that occur in response to physiological and environmental stimuli.

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24 votes
3 answers
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Is extreme empathy and compassion considered a disorder?

Can extreme empathy and compassion get to a point where it is considered a disorder? For example, if someone is so empathetic, when feeling someones pain it negatively affects their life to the same ...
Greg McNulty's user avatar
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23 votes
1 answer
412 views

How do emotions influence the language structures we use?

What are the verbal signs of subjectivity? I am doing research about the linguistic content of media (debates, talk-show, sport comments). It occurs that once the participant gets nervous or excited, ...
Paulina Dymalska's user avatar
22 votes
1 answer
2k views

How long can a person stay happy, excited and motivated about something new?

I'm interested in learning more about studies or experiments that determine how long a typical person can stay excited about something new: ...
Alex Stone's user avatar
  • 9,390
20 votes
5 answers
245k views

Why do people laugh in serious situations?

I've seen people (including myself) that laugh for no apparent reason in really serious situations, such as in an argument or when receiving bad news. Although the other party is clearly very upset, ...
Eric B's user avatar
  • 301
19 votes
2 answers
893 views

How to classify and understand emotions of people using chat and text messaging lingo and emoticons?

I am looking for scholarly, peer-reviewed articles that discuss natural language processing (NLP) involving chat or text messaging lingo/acronyms and the affect of chat participants based on language ...
Dan's user avatar
  • 293
18 votes
1 answer
2k views

What is a validated single-item measure of mood?

Has anyone validated, proposed or tested a single-item state-based positive affect or happiness measure? I am particularly interested in something for tracking mood every day.
Jason McPherson's user avatar
18 votes
3 answers
2k views

Longitudinal mobile mood tracking app with random reminders

The goal is to take simple measurements of mood using Likert scale over an extended period of time (e.g. two months). I know there is a large number of mobile apps for tracking mood on every ...
Geek On Acid's user avatar
  • 2,377
18 votes
1 answer
727 views

Do cultures differ in the perception of emotions from body expression?

In their classic study, Ekman and Friesen (1971) identified seven facial expressions recognised by people universally across all cultures as depicting certain emotions: happiness, sadness, surprise, ...
Geek On Acid's user avatar
  • 2,377
17 votes
4 answers
599 views

Does straightening your back increase confidence?

Background: I have always felt moderately socially insecure. Today I noticed that when I straighten my back from its normal crestfallen position, I feel a little more confident, and as if I were in ...
Enoque Duarte's user avatar
17 votes
2 answers
2k views

What effect do random visitors have on children in orphanages and people in old age homes?

Leading a volunteering team, I've been to an orphanage where the sister (who did a psychology course) running the orphanage was strict that volunteers should spend a minimum of 3 months teaching the ...
Nav's user avatar
  • 463
17 votes
2 answers
17k views

Does anxiety produce adrenaline or does adrenaline make the person anxious?

Its obvious that both are related(adrenaline and anxiety) but which causes which? What (I think) I know: Anxiety accelerates the hearth rhythm due to the feeling of fear. It makes the body believe ...
SOMN's user avatar
  • 273
16 votes
1 answer
438 views

What causes laughter?

I was looking at this video from VSauce: "Why did the chicken cross the road?", where several facts about this old joke are exposed and explained. At some point, (6:59) Michael explains that there is ...
Alpha's user avatar
  • 791
15 votes
6 answers
36k views

Why do people want what they don't have now?

There are many examples of people wanting what they don't have. For example, a single man may want to have a girlfriend, but after some time of having a girlfriend, he may want to be single again. Or ...
tsykora's user avatar
  • 683
15 votes
3 answers
605 views

What causes people to feel depressed without there being a problem?

I have noticed that some people have lives that appear perfectly fine, yet they feel depressed. In my specific case the feeling typically lasts for a few days and then magically disappears, only to ...
Simon Verbeke's user avatar
14 votes
5 answers
8k views

Why do humans need emotions?

If the emotions' only purpose is to stimulate certain behavior, why can't this task just as effectively, or even more effectively be done by the reasoning part of the brain? Are emotions really ...
Slava's user avatar
  • 243
13 votes
3 answers
2k views

Is Decision-Making Emotionally Based, with Rationalization as the only Conscious Component?

My interest is in how problem-solving decisions are made, and what, if any skills could be taught to increase people's ability to make effective decisions? Effective, in this case, means that an ...
Thomas McNamee's user avatar
13 votes
4 answers
1k views

Why do humans cry?

People cry when they experience intense emotions. Crying seems to occur most frequently in intense episodes of sadness and fear, but sometimes also happens when people are very happy or angry. What is ...
Cemre's user avatar
  • 233
12 votes
2 answers
4k views

What is the most comprehensive system of describing human emotions or states of mind?

Reading about the human mind, I sometimes come across attempts to classify human emotions using various scales. The one that comes to mind most often is the 6 scale circle model shown below. Is ...
Alex Stone's user avatar
  • 9,390
12 votes
2 answers
997 views

What causes short-term dysphoria following intense pleasure?

I'm interested in the phenomenon of short term Dysphoria: Dysphoria is a state of feeling unwell or unhappy; a feeling of emotional and mental discomfort as a symptom of discontentment, ...
Alex Stone's user avatar
  • 9,390
12 votes
2 answers
1k views

Modern replacement for Panksepp's "Affective Neuroscience" book?

Jaak Panksepp's book (Amazon link here) is a phenomenal and highly readable systems-based introduction to not only affective neuroscience, but the neuroscience of motivation in general. The problem ...
shanusmagnus's user avatar
  • 1,495
12 votes
1 answer
239 views

By which neuronal mechanisms does music make us happy or sad?

There are brain regions (X) that show stronger activation for joyful music, regions (Y) that show stronger activation for sad music, and regions (Z) that show similar activation for both. Assuming ...
Hans-Peter Stricker's user avatar
12 votes
1 answer
139 views

How do our emotions toward a subject affect our brain activity within similar activities?

I'll bring an example: there are people who love to dance and could do it for hours. Yet, if you'd make them run a long distance they would get tired really soon just because they don't like running ...
Keira's user avatar
  • 141
12 votes
0 answers
1k views

What are the neurological differences between varying types of love?

It stands to reason that the biochemical cascade involved when a person experiences love, gives a feeling of well-being and drive. Studies in neuroscience have involved chemicals that are present ...
user avatar
11 votes
4 answers
492 views

Can the brain be trained into a state of persistent happiness?

Happiness is a state of mind. Can we retain this state even in the case of sadness, depression, or a dire situation through training? What methods could one use in order to train the brain to retain ...
mindless_thought's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
4k views

Why is an image of a face without features disturbing?

Below is a snapshot of an article linked from LinkedIn today. What I find more disturbing than the topic at hand is the featured image used to head up the article. Clearly it's important to provide ...
Roger Attrill's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
1k views

Can one "understand" emotions, yet not "feel" them?

Prometheus Viral Clip #3 - David is a good clip of a fictional character in a science-fiction movie that helps frame my question; but I am interested in the general question, not the specifics of this ...
PheonixEnder's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
2k views

Are there emotions that only some people can feel?

Presumably, there are emotions that almost any person can feel, such as happiness, sadness, guilt, and embarrassment. But are there emotions that only a small fraction of the population can feel? ...
Owen's user avatar
  • 221
11 votes
1 answer
1k views

Evidence-based best practices for writing a gratitude journal

I was intrigued to read (in the question "What positive writing exercises improve happiness?") the idea of a gratitude diary suggested as an intervention that "causes psychological well-being levels ...
Jonathan Deamer's user avatar
11 votes
1 answer
218 views

Definition of or research on fun

What does research have to say about defining "fun"--what it is or when it happens? I've found some research on whether or not people rate specific things as fun, and lots of misleading titles with ...
Krysta's user avatar
  • 2,943
10 votes
3 answers
3k views

Why do people commit suicide?

I don't understand why people commit suicide. If I imagine myself in a really bad situation and make a list of what kind of things I would do in that situation, I don't have suicide even in my top-...
TheGoodUser's user avatar
10 votes
5 answers
40k views

Why does a person feel sad without knowing the reason?

I have known people to behave in a way they despise, and they don't know why.
user5402's user avatar
  • 275
10 votes
2 answers
553 views

Is it possible to become totally envy free?

Can we develop a particular mind set for being totally envy free; to stop envying others?
tsykora's user avatar
  • 683
10 votes
1 answer
360 views

What is a reliable physiological measure (e.g., serotonin levels) of positive affect?

Is there a reliable physiological measure or correlate to positive affect? What does research say on this? I thought that serotonin levels are correlated with self-reported happiness levels, but, ...
Software Mechanic's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
367 views

Are psychologists more immune to psychological problems?

Does knowledge of a psychological problem prevent (or enable one to better defend) the development of psychological issues? For example, if a person has studied about depression and is familiar with ...
kevin's user avatar
  • 201
10 votes
2 answers
1k views

Why are humans the only species to maintain relationships with other animals simply for pleasure?

In the wild, animals may share waterholes, and grazing areas. Some animals have symbiotic relationships one example being the hippopotamus and the oxpecker bird. The symbiotic relationships are based ...
user avatar
10 votes
3 answers
25k views

What is the effect of scolding kids

Is there any harmful effect of scolding kids. Also does that affect more to kids who are 1 year old or to those who are much older like 5 years and so. By the term scolding I mean: Shouting, ...
gpuguy's user avatar
  • 541
10 votes
1 answer
334 views

What is the effect of high expectations on long-term happiness?

Are there any studies about the long term effects of having high expectations of oneself on one's happiness? Does crashing after failing to reach unrealistic goals significantly impact long-term ...
PKG's user avatar
  • 273
10 votes
2 answers
11k views

Can curiosity be described as an emotion?

Can curiosity be described as an emotion? On one hand it is definitely an emotion in the sense that is a feeling. IT feels like you want to know something. Furthermore, it can be pleasant or ...
Heberto Mayorquin's user avatar
10 votes
2 answers
236 views

Can emotional IQ be learned?

Can emotional IQ be learned? This question concerns both the general population and those with lower than average emotional quotients such as individuals with Asperger's, or Autism spectrum disorder ...
jiniyt's user avatar
  • 675
10 votes
2 answers
18k views

What adjectives can be used to describe emotional intelligence competences?

After reading the book Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman, I'm having a difficult time comparing emotional intelligence (EQ) with Intelligence Quotient (IQ). When talking about someone's IQ we ...
German Florez's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
298 views

Is there any "predictive" component to positive/negative affect in Seasonal Affective Disorder and Bipolar Disorder?

I'm wondering if the human brain "predicts" how certain weeks of the year should feel? For example, a child who is going to school may have a more positive affect in anticipation of summer holidays, ...
Alex Stone's user avatar
  • 9,390
9 votes
4 answers
2k views

To what degree is emotional state visible in a person's eyes?

Is it true that a person's emotional state (such as arousal, fear, etc) can be determined by looking solely at the persons eyes? Here I am assuming that this may be the case only in limited ...
x457812's user avatar
  • 141
9 votes
3 answers
50k views

Is there a term to describe an inability to express emotion or feelings?

I am writing a novel and was wondering if there was a specific term for someone unable to express his own emotions or feelings. The catch here is, this doesn't mean he doesn't know what anger or love ...
JimmyK's user avatar
  • 213
9 votes
6 answers
7k views

Is there any good alternative to the International Affective Picture System (IAPS)?

I'm looking for (particularly negative) emotion inducing pictures or videos. After some research, I think the best known and widely used database is the International Affective Picture System (IAPS). ...
user6189's user avatar
  • 301
9 votes
3 answers
653 views

How to prevent insults from unconsciously causing negative emotions?

When someone is insulted, they can feel anxiety and shame, even though his/her conscious mind knows the insult isn't true and tries to be as logical and unemotional about it as possible. Positive ...
Wuschelbeutel Kartoffelhuhn's user avatar
9 votes
2 answers
1k views

Skin conductance responses to emotional stimuli

The skin conductance response (SCR) is said that cannot be reduced to one specific stimulus (Boucsein, 2012). Does this mean that if the participant is presented with stimuli of different emotional ...
Dana Sugu's user avatar
  • 511
9 votes
1 answer
7k views

Is there a correlation between EQ (EI) and IQ?

Is there a correlation, positive or negative, between emotional intelligence and IQ?
Philip Seyfi's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
9k views

What is the difference between affect and feeling?

What exactly is the difference between affect and feeling? Affect seems to refer to conscious experience: Affect is the experience of feeling or emotion. And confusingly, so does feeling: In ...
Arnon Weinberg's user avatar
  • 19.6k
9 votes
2 answers
19k views

Does anger increase your body strength?

Will anger increase your body strength or not? If you get angry, you may think that i can break anything or fight anyone but sometimes you almost lose control on your body completely (or probably ...
Muhammad Rafique's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
6k views

Open-source software for analyzing Electrodermal activity

Electrodermal activity (EDA) is a measure of the sympathetic activity, typically caused by stress or an emotional state. Analysis not a straightforward process like analysing reaction times. It ...
Robin Kramer-ten Have's user avatar

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