At the same time, when it’s related to emotions like anger, it generates outrage. When connected with sadness, it gives rise to disappointment when it’s connected with joy, it causes delight. It’s classified as a neutral emotion and can alternate between distraction and wonder. Surprise is the reaction to what’s unpredictable in the environment. According to Plutchik’s wheel, anger is the opposite of fear. For example, the integration of fear and sadness produces despair. This emotion is associated with others to create more complex emotions. Its main function is, as stated in this article, to provoke adaptive responses. Plutchik defines fear as an unpleasant uncertainty, which is born from expectations associated with damage or evil to come. When this happens, the person loses their freedom in favor of someone else’s wishes and will. Usually, trust tends to merge with fear, giving way to submission. It’s linked to security, tranquility, and hope.įor Plutchik, this emotion can diminish and become acceptance or enlarge and transform into admiration. Trust is a subjective position in which one has the conviction that there will be no harm or damage in a certain situation or in the face of one’s own action. It can also couple with fear and anger, generating guilt and pride. Joy can interact with other emotions, producing new sensations. For example, it can be combined with confidence and anticipation, to give rise to love and optimism, respectively. Joy is felt when a goal is reached or a good moment is enjoyed. It can be subtle, like serenity, or intense, like ecstasy. Joy is defined as a state of satisfaction and well-being, both with oneself and with the circumstances in which one lives. Let’s see what Plutchik says regarding of each of those emotions: 1. Each of them is in the essence of the human being and corresponds to emotion in its pure state. – Anticipation ranges from interest to vigilance.Īccording to Plutchik’s thesis, which is found in various articles and research, basic emotions are the following: Joy, trust, fear, surprise, sadness, aversion, anger, and anticipation. – Disgust ranges from dislike to abhorrence. – Surprise ranges from uncertainty to astonishment. – Confidence ranges from acceptance to admiration. Changes in intensity produce the diverse amount of emotions that we can feel, such as the following:.The degree of similarity determines which emotions are more related and which are the opposite.Like many things in nature, there’s a duality with emotions, so each has its opposite pole.Emotions are constructs, or ideas, that help describe a certain experience.The sum of these various primary emotions will produce new ones, such as love = (joy + trust), guilt = (joy + fear), and delight = (joy + surprise).The most basic emotions are the primary ones: Trust, fear, surprise, sadness, disgust, anger, anticipation, and joy.These are the identifiable common patterns and elements that make up each emotion.The most influential role of emotions is to help us survive.Emotions arose as part of the evolutionary process long before apes or humans existed.Animals and humans experience the same basic emotions. The limbic system of a human being is similar to that of other mammals.The foundation of his theory of emotions is derived from the postulates observed in this research, which include the following: The more intense an emotion is, the more it will resemble the basic emotion and the closer it will be to the center of the graph. This is plotted on the Plutchik wheel as color intensity. There are four axes of opposition: Joy/sadness anticipation/surprise disgust/trust and fear/anger.įinally, intensity refers to the strength of emotions. On Plutchik’s wheel, such emotions appear at opposite ends so that such opposition becomes apparent. The first are those that are in a natural state, and the second would result from the combination of these.Īs for antagonism, it refers to the opposition that exists between some emotions and others. Regarding the typology, Plutchik points out that there are two kinds of emotions : Basic emotions and compound ones. These are typology, antagonism, and intensity. Plutchik’s wheel is based on three axes or basic criteria.

Plutchik’s wheel represents the evolutionary course of basic emotions.

Robert plutchikâ™s wheel of emotions