What is the definition of secondary emotions?
Definition
Secondary emotions are emotional reactions we have to other emotions.
For example, a person may feel ashamed as a result of becoming anxious or sad.
sturti / Getty Images
In this case, anxiety would be the primary emotion while shame would be the secondary emotion.
Secondary emotions are often triggered by the beliefs we have about experiencing certain emotions.
Therefore, whenever these emotions are experienced, these thoughts come up, which trigger secondary emotions.
A number of individuals grow up hearing that boys don’t cry or girls don’t get angry.
Race may also play a role in how certain emotions are perceived.
A Black man may have grown up hearing that he shouldn’t get angry, lest he scare people.
Therapy may help such people.
How Therapy Can Help
In therapy, patients can learn to simply feel their feelings without judgment.
They can be taught that no feeling or emotion is a bad emotion.
Trying to avoid such feelings or self-medicating to numb them can lead to self-destructive habits and behaviors.
In reality, you haven’t fallen short; you’re simply human.
Fear, anger, and sadness have long been part of the human experience and always will be.
2014;9(8):e103940.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0103940
Bonilla-Silva E.Feeling Race: Theorizing the Racial Economy of Emotions.American Sociological Review.
2019;84(1):1-25. doi:10.1177%2F0003122418816958
