What Is The Difference Between Feelings And Emotions?
It is very possible that you use the words ‘feelings’ and ’emotions’ as synonyms. Are they really the same thing? Discover the main differences between an emotion and a feeling.
In our daily lives we usually use the words interchangeably feelings and emotions Although these two words indicate two very similar human traits, the reality is that there are some differences between these two psychological concepts that can help you understand and better understand how the human mind and people’s behavior works.
The emotions They provoke biochemical reactions in us that make changes in our physical state. In fact, one of the best known is the one associated with the fight or flight response, that is, the reaction experienced when faced with any stressful event or danger.
This is one of the basic emotions and it is deeply rooted in us because experiencing this emotion has helped us survive as a species. In addition to this emotion, there is a long list of emotions that we can experience when interacting with the environment in which we live.
The emotions They are a neurochemical reaction to a stimulus, which makes them unconscious and instinctive. However, through inner work or with the help of psychological therapy, people can be aware of their emotions.
One of the main differences between emotions and feelings, is that the first are responses that occur in the subcortical regions of our brain, the amygdala and the ventromedial prefrontal cortices. When we experience an emotion, our body reacts through different biochemical responses that alter our physical state.
Thus, the emotions They are encoded in our genes and although they vary slightly from person to person, they are generally universally similar in all humans (and even other species). The emotions They precede our feelings, since they are physical and instinctive. Because it is a series of physical reactions, emotions can be measured through our blood flow, our brain activity, facial microexpressions, and our body language.
List of emotions
According to psychologists Paul Ekman and Wallace Friesen, there is a list of basic emtions that all humans can experience. These are the following:
Happiness
Sadness
Fear
Disgust
Anger
Surprise
The emotions They have had a very relevant role in human interaction and in the formation of relationships between us.
What are feelings?
Unlike the emotions, feelings They are formed in our brain when it assigns its own meaning to an emotional experience we are having. Therefore, because they are based on a subjective attribute, feelings can vary from person to person.
In the case of the feelings, it is something that we notice on a conscious level and arise when our brain subconsciously interprets certain related emotions. Although they are two separate concepts, as you can see, they are not unrelated to each other in any way, and in the next section, you will learn more about how the feelings and emotions They can be intertwined with each other.
Unlike emotions, the feelings They originate in the neocortical regions of our brain. This implies that they are a series of mental associations and reactions to emotions. As it is a reaction to everything that happens to us, both the positive feelings and negative feelings They are due to our subjectivity and are influenced by experiences, beliefs and memories.
Therefore, a feeling It is a mental representation of what is happening in your body when you have an emotion and is the byproduct of what your brain perceives and assigns to the meaning of an emotion.
“Feelings are mental experiences of bodily states, which arise when the brain interprets emotions, the same physical states that arise from the body’s responses to external stimuli. (The order of such events is: I am threatened, I experience fear, and I feel horror.”
Antonio Damasio, neuroscientist
“Emotions are manifested in the theater of the body. Feelings are manifested in the theater of the mind.”
Sarah Mckay, PhD in Neuroscience
Difference between emotion and feeling
Many people use the words feelings and emotions as synonyms, but as we see in psychology these two terms are not interchangeable. On the one hand, feelings come from conscious experience. Instead, emotions can only be felt through the thoughts, beliefs, desires, and actions associated with it. Therefore, emotions are not conscious. Despite this, through work, people can be aware of their emotions.
In order to understand the difference between an emotion and a feeling, we must know that feelings are caused by emotions and have been ‘colored’ by our thoughts, memories and images subconsciously linked with a particular emotion for us. In some cases, this can also work the other way around, that is, only thinking about something threatening can trigger an emotional fear response as happens in people who suffer from anxiety.
Emotions are instinctive and common to all of us, however the feelings and the meanings they take on are shaped by the personality and experiences a person has had.
How are feelings and emotions related?
Our brain can assign a specific meaning to a group of emotions to create a feeling. In this way, our emotions They can affect the behavior we have towards the things that happen to us and this can allow a feeling to be generated due to it.
On the one hand, emotions tend to be temporary, on the other hand, the feelings They can be much more persistent and have much more influence on our lives. Both emotions and feelings have a great impact on our behaviors, therefore, they can greatly influence the way we interact with our world.
How to understand our feelings and emotions?
It may be easier to access our feelings than our emotions, since the latter require internal work to understand them. Likewise, being in tune with emotions and feelings It can be essential to be able to change both our thoughts and our behaviors on a daily basis.
To understand an emotion and a feeling A good method is to be attentive to our physical reactions, such as involuntary movements, our heartbeat or our body temperature. These physical sensations are precisely the only ways in which we can feel more objectively what happens to us.
By understanding the difference between emotions and feelings, we can become more aware of them and control the behavior that are associated with these two traits of our human nature. By learning it, either through our inner work or through psychological therapy, people can better control their thoughts and attitudes towards life to maintain balance in their lives. A skill that will undoubtedly be a real push to be happier on a daily basis.
