What emotion drives how you experience the world?
The Emotion Quiz
Who Is This Test For?
Each response corresponds to one of the four main emotions.
In the 1970s, a psychologist named Paul Eckman said there were six basic emotions all humans experienced.
He named these as happiness, sadness, disgust, fear, surprise, and anger.
Psychologist and professor Robert Plutchik created the Wheel of Emotions, also called a feelings wheel.
His theory was that basic emotions could be built on to describe more complex emotions and mixed emotional states.
The wheel has basic emotions and several others that branch out and even combine to create new emotions.
For example, disgust combined with anger equals contempt.
One 2017 study published inProceedings of National Academy of Sciencesidentified 27 different basic emotions.
A 2019 study published inFrontiers in Psychologyidentified four basic emotions.
The research also discussed deeper layers of emotions where basic emotions can branch out.
Plutchiks Wheel of Emotions includes these, with several others branching off from them.
Its associated with joy and well-being.
Even though its considered a basic emotion, happiness can be more complex.
Happiness for one person can be completely different for another person.
Sometimes we think certain things or circumstances will lead to happiness, but we end up being wrong.
Some research suggests happiness is linked to better health and potentially even living longer.
However, expressing only happiness without the other emotions might indicate a denial of other feelings or issues.
Who doesn’t like to feel happy?
We spend our lives trying to feel this way!
Just remember that happiness is an emotion, and like all emotions, it isn’t constant.
It’s okay to feel other things and know that you will feel happy again in the future.
Its associated with grief, feeling hopeless, or disinterest.
The way we experience sadness and how we express it depends on the person and the cause of sadness.
Coping with sadness might lead to behaviors like substance use and withdrawing from other people.
Everyone feels sad, lonely, disappointed, rejected, and low from time to time.
Fear
Fear is an emotion that developed in humans for survival.
Its an intense emotion brought on by a perceived threat.
Your body might physically react to fear with tense muscles, a raised heart rate, and racing thoughts.
In the modern world, fear is often associated withanxiety.
Anger
Anger is an intense emotion associated with hostility, rage, and frustration.
Like happiness, research has found anger has an impact on health.
Its thought to be linked to developing chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
Anger can be an effective way for our brains to tell us something isn’t acceptable.
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