Primary and secondary emotions pdf

Is anger a secondary emotion

According to emotion research, there are believed to be two distinct types of emotions that humans feel: primary and secondary emotions. According to Damasio :. Primary emotions are immediate, instinctual responses to stimuli e. Secondary emotions are reactions to primary emotions and are more complex, often influenced by personal experiences, beliefs, and thoughts.

They are not reactions to other emotions, but are the original, direct emotional responses. Imagine that you find out you won a competition, and your primary emotion may be to feel extreme joy. Or if you receive some bad news that you were not expecting, you may feel a surge of sadness. Primary emotions are often very strong, which makes them easy to identify.

They are thought to be instinctive, primal, and sensitive. Primary emotions are adaptive as they make us react a certain way without the emotion being contaminated or analyzed by thoughts or habits. Even when painful, primary emotions serve an adaptive purpose. When experienced fully, primary emotions bring a sense of clarity and authenticity.

As time goes on, the primary emotion is likely to fade since we struggle to connect the same emotion with the event because our emotions have changed. Psychologist Paul Ekman identified six primary emotions: Anger, disgust, fear , happiness, sadness, and surprise. He theorized that these human emotions are innate and shared by everyone across cultures.