Panksepp ( 5) noted that “fear is an aversive state of mind,” the major driving force of which is a “subcortical FEAR system” ( 33). Mowrer ( 32) argued that rats freeze “by cause” of fear. Darwin ( 1), for example, called emotions like fear states of mind inherited from animals. For some, fear is a subjective state, a phenomenal experience elicited by danger. Then, I would examine whether or not those qualities that I’m building align with my Values, thus building my Self-Concept of me…then, my self-esteem naturally raises as a benefit and eventually, my block is removed and my anger regarding that experience is diminished.What is meant by “fear” varies among those who use it to account for behavioral and physiological responses to threats. What activities/actions can I do to gain more emotions that surround Love? … what activity/actions can I do that are Joyous to me? What actions can I do to create warmth in myself so that I may gain “Trust”…what learning can I do to become more “accepting”…perhaps mirror work will help? perhaps building qualities around Trust, Acceptance, or Serenity. This is the most important question we can ask ourselves when looking inward at our mirror… Me: Thank you Anger (emotion) for showing up, what are you here to tell me? Answer: I’m here because I am being blocked from finding Love (the abstract). Also realizing, that the mirror is from those they associate who provide a mirror to them and thus the message their subconscious is receiving…making the emotion your friend, giving it a personality, giving it a smiley face or other, then telling it and asking it… “Thank you X for showing up, what are you hear to tell me?” The emotions that contribute to them in the color part of the wheel is what is exuded or rather mirrored out from the person. I then conclude that Aggressiveness and Submissiveness are also abstracts. You can read Robert Plutchik’s explanation of his model of emotions in an article that was originally published in American Scientist in 2001 and can be read on Springer International Publishing AG. Literacy means “ a person’s knowledge of a particular subject or field.” So enhancing emotional literacy means not only having words for emotions, but understanding how different emotions are related to one another and how the tend to change over time. Plutchik’s wheel of emotions helps us look at literacy through a broader lens. This is an important rule about emotions to be aware of in relationships: If left unchecked, emotions can intensify. Herein lies the wisdom of enhancing your emotional vocabulary: it’s the bedrock of effectively navigating emotions. Or, a feeling of boredom can intensify to loathing if left unchecked, which is dark purple.

At its highest level of intensity, anger becomes rage. For example, anger at its least level of intensity is annoyance. Intensity: The cone’s vertical dimension represents intensity – emotions intensify as they move from the outside to the center of the wheel, which is also indicated by the color: The darker the shade, the more intense the emotion. There are also tertiary feelings, not shown on the feelings wheel, that are a combination of 3 (and maybe some feelings have 4 or more parts? Let us know what you think in the comments below), Emotions are often complex, and being able to recognize when a feeling is actually a combination of two or more distinct feelings is a helpful skill. For example, anticipation and joy combine to be optimism. Physiology: Reject vs embraceĬombinations: The emotions with no color represent an emotion that is a mix of the 2 primary emotions. Anticipation is the opposite of surprise.Physiology: Get small and hide vs get big and loud These are based on the physiological reaction each emotion creates in animals (including humans… Plutchik studied animals!): Opposites: Each primary emotion has a polar opposite.

Primary: The eight sectors are designed to indicate that there are eight primary emotions: anger, anticipation, joy, trust, fear, surprise, sadness and disgust. Interpreting Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions

Layers of fear theory