Sometimes we ourselves do not notice how sadness is replaced by anger, and delight is replaced by fear. The rapid change of emotions seems strange. Psychologists Dacher Keltner and Alan Cowan believe that in fact all emotions are connected to each other much more strongly than we think.
Psychologists used to believe that most human emotions fell into universal categories: happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust. However, a new study by University of California psychology professor Dacher Keltner found that people experience more than 27 different emotions, all of which are closely related to each other.
The scientists used new statistical models to analyze the reactions of more than 800 people to emotionally stimulating videos. This allowed them to create a multi-dimensional interactive map that shows the connection of emotions. “We found that it took hundreds of people 27 different feelings to reliably describe the emotions evoked by the videos, rather than the six that scientists previously assumed.”
Moreover, contrary to the idea that each emotional state is independent of the others, the researchers found that emotions such as awe and peace, horror and sadness, amazement and adoration flow smoothly from one to another.
Lead study author Alan Cowan explains: “There are no well-defined clusters for each emotion on our map, because everything is interconnected. Emotional experience is much richer and more subtle than previously thought. We hope our findings will help other scientists and engineers better capture the emotional states that affect mood, brain activity, and expression. This will lead to more effective treatment of psychiatric illnesses, understanding of the origin of emotions in the brain and the emergence of technologies that meet emotional needs.”
The study organizers selected a demographically diverse group of 853 men and women for the experiment. Participants watched silent videos online, 5 to 10 seconds long, that were supposed to evoke emotions.
2185 videos were selected for screening, covering topics such as childbirth, children, marriage proposals, weddings, death, misery, spiders, snakes, awkward falls, risky stunts, sexual acts, natural disasters, natural wonders, and awkward handshakes.
The participants in the experiment were divided into three groups. Each group watched a series of videos and then completed a report. The first group reported on the emotions caused by each video in a free form. “Their responses indicated a rich and sophisticated set of emotional states ranging from nostalgia to disgust,” notes Cowen.
Thanks to the data obtained, scientists were able to identify 27 different categories of emotions.
The second evaluated each video depending on the intensity of the following emotions: admiration, awe, aesthetic pleasure, amazement, anger, anxiety, awe, awkwardness, boredom, calmness, confusion, contempt, strong desire, disappointment, disgust, pain, empathy, delight, envy , excitement, fear, guilt, horror, interest, joy, nostalgia, pride, relief, romantic mood, sadness, satisfaction, sexual desire, surprise, empathy, and triumph.
The organizers of the experiment noticed that the participants chose similar answers. More than half of the subjects gave the same answers for each video.
A third group of participants rated their emotional response to the videos on a scale of one to nine. Participants rated on the basis of such oppositions as positive or negative, arousal or calmness, dominance or obedience. The researchers were able to predict how participants would rate videos based on how participants in other groups rated the emotions of watching the same videos.
The study showed that participants in the experiment showed similar or identical emotional responses to each video. Thanks to the data obtained, they were able to identify 27 different categories of emotions. Using statistical modeling and visualization techniques, the researchers compiled emotional responses to videos into a semantic atlas of emotions. On this map, each of the 27 categories is indicated by a specific color.
“We wanted to shed light on the full palette of emotions that color the inner world,” said Cowan.
About the Authors: Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Alan Cowan is a PhD student in neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley.