In the last two decades, the rise in the study of the nature of emotions and the relevance of their proper management for the psychological well-being of human beings has been justified by countless investigations, initiated by authors such as Peter Salovey and John Mayer or Daniel Goleman. Thus, currently the construct of emotional intelligence is addressed and included by most branches of psychology (clinical, educational, sports, organizational, etc.) as one of the basic components to more easily reach a higher level. of personal effectiveness.
Let us explain, then, what is the relationship between both phenomena: Why is it important to know how to express and manage emotions?
In general, emotions present three fundamental functions that allow human beings to adapt more competently to the environment in which they are interacting. Thus, these present, first of all, a communicative function, from which it is possible to let others know how one feels and, from this, be able to discern what psychological needs said individual may present.
Secondly, emotions regulate one’s own and others’ behavior, since there is a very close link between the individual emotional state and the type of behavioral response issued.
Finally, emotions have an intense impact on the process of social interaction, allowing the particularities of the interpersonal environment in which the subject operates to be perceived more effectively, allowing them to achieve a higher level of intellectual and emotional psychological growth.
Functions of basic emotions
Paul Ekman established six so-called basic emotions, since in his research carried out based on the analysis of non-verbal language (facial gestures) of individuals from different cultures, they showed how expressions of joy, sadness, anger, fear, disgust and surprise were common and, therefore, unconscious, innate and universal. All of them present considerable usefulness based on the three general functions mentioned above, but what type of message or information does each of them transmit?
Joy becomes a facilitator of interpersonal interaction since the social nature of the human being, according to the preservation of one’s own survival, tends to get closer to what gives them a feeling of well-being (social relationships) and to flee from stimuli that cause the opposite effect.
Furthermore, joy is an enhancer in the achievement of deeper vital objectives and projects, since serves as a motivational activator and encourages the individual to take action.
2. Sadness
It is the emotion experienced upon losing a valuable and significant object for the individual. This kind of event causes feelings of sorrow, failure, regret, etc. that must be processed and assimilated gradually. Thus, sadness is useful for activating processes such as introspection, awareness or showing support for others. It could be understood as a sign of “energy saving” from which an adequate elaboration of the grief generated by the object of said loss is possible.
3. Anger
This is the reaction produced by situations in which the individual perceives obstacles with respect to a specific established goal. Thus, the person feels that he must preserve integrity and defend himself, another individual/s or some other given phenomenon. In this sense, the emotion of rage indicates that there is a potential danger that must be faced and overcome.
4. Fear
It is the warning that our mind emits before the perception of potential danger that can compromise one’s own physical or psychological survival. Such a threat may be real (speeding down a dimly lit road) or imagined (the fear of being fired from work).
This type of notice allows the person to be prepared to issue a specific response. Unlike the previous one, fear has a connotation of avoiding suffering the effects of the threat instead of orienting itself to confront it openly.
5. Disgust
This is the emotion that is most linked to more organic aspects since the message that is intended to be sent is to protect the subject from ingesting foods or substances that are harmful or, at least, unpleasant to them. Therefore, It is related more to a biological level rather than to the psychological one.
It involves the experience of an unexpected circumstance for which the person needs to gather his or her own resources and prepare for action. It is a neutral emotion since its momentary nature has no pleasant or unpleasant meaning in itself.
The benefits of expressing emotions
As has been seen, the experience of each and every one of the emotions described above has an adaptive function for human beings. In this, the fact of communicating with the environment is found as an inherent characteristic, which is why one of the first reasons that supports the need to master the competence of emotional management lies in the fact of not losing said communicative and adaptive ability.
It can be concluded, therefore, that the problematic element does not reside in the manifestation and experience of the emotion itself, but that the phenomenon that causes the emotional discomfort in which the person is immersed on certain occasions is the degree of intensity of said emotion and the type of management carried out on it.
When an emotion prevents the individual from remaining conscious in the present moment and in the reality that surrounds them at that precise moment, that is when greater emotional effects usually arise. That is, when emotion “kidnaps” the mind and transports it outside of the present, the thread of what is rational, logical or authentic is usually lost.
According to Salovey and Mayer’s (1997) Model of emotional intelligence, emotions are understood as skills that can be learned. These skills consist of emotional perception, emotional understanding, thought facilitation and emotion regulation. It could be said that the first of these skills greatly favors the development of the rest, since a prior objective to consolidate becomes the competence in knowing how to identify and express one’s own and others’ emotions.
From this milestone, the processes of analyzing and giving meaning to emotions (comprehension skill), the integration between cognitions and emotions that guides the subject to attend to the most relevant contextual information for decision-making (thought facilitation) and the promotion of intellectual-emotional knowledge or the achievement of adaptive balance with respect to pleasant/unpleasant emotions (emotional regulation) become more easily affordable.
The absence of competence in the four indicated skills can lead the individual to adopt emotionally dysregulated functioning dynamics, that is, based on the aforementioned emotional “hijacking.” This repertoire is characterized by the following manifestations, according to three levels of action:
1. At a cognitive level
Inability to describe and observe the present experience (own and others) in the absence of unfair or excessive judgments and criticisms of the externalized emotion; incompetence in understanding the cause that motivates said emotion and the type of information that can be extracted as personal learning.
This point is related to the use of a type of irrational or distorted cognitive reasoning regarding the expressed emotion.
2. On an emotional level
Difficulty finding the balance between resistance to emotion and emotional overreaction to potentially destabilizing situations; ineffectiveness for transform the meaning given to unpleasant emotions (initially negative) in a more accepting perspective, promoting greater tolerance to discomfort.
Both the attitude of repressing emotions (especially unpleasant ones) and emitting them in an uncontrolled and excessive manner are equally harmful to the individual.
3. At a behavioral level
Inability to self-control the emission of an impulsive or hasty response that makes it difficult to properly manage the specific situation ; deficiency in the ability to differentiate what type of emotional consequences the person will experience in the short and long term, which usually tend to be mitigated or modified over time.
Being guided behaviorally by an incorrectly managed emotion can cause the experience to worsen, increasing the discomfort initially generated.
In conclusion
It has been possible to verify in the text the essential nature of an adequate level of emotional competence to promote the psychological well-being of the human being.
One of the prerequisites to consolidate this skill lies in the ability to know how to identify and express one’s own emotions, understanding them as “warnings” that alert the individual to an experience or event that must be psychologically attended to as a priority. On the contrary, repression or resistance to emotions can lead to significant psychological damage.
