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  How necessary are emotions?

Although some philosophers have cast emotions as villains that represent what is most irrational and "animal" in human nature, there is a strong argument for crediting the emotions with all that is worthy and wonderful about human life. If "love makes the world go around," it can also be said that, like love, many other emotions inspire us to improve our own lives and the lives of others.

Moreover, without emotions we could not enjoy great art and literature or root for our favorite team. fear of punishment is effective in stopping many of us from committing rash or violent acts: if we do lose control, remorse follows. Having emotions may make human life less tidy and predictable, but how drab and spiritless the world would be without them.

How many emotions are there?

Because emotions shade into one another, researchers cannot agree on what counts as a separate emotion. When does impatience become anger? Or lukewarm acceptance become friendship and then love? Depending on how such questions are answered, the total number of emotions could be dozens or thousands.

Many psychologists have tried to pare down the number of emotions to short lists of the most basic ones.A typical selection is that of psychologist Robert Plutchik, who list eight:acceptance, anger, anticipation,disgust,fear,joy,sadness, and surprise.

Some researchers suggests that it is senseless to try to count emotions, because the number is virtually limitless. That is, what someone feels depends entirely on the thinking, experience, and memory of the individual-who is unique among all the people who have ever lived.

Is it possible to study feelings scientifically?

A major problem in studying emotions is how to keep the investigators own emotions and the research environment from affecting the responses of the people being studied. Furthermore, verbal descriptions of emotions-either by the investigator or the subject-can be misleading.

A pounding heart or sweaty palms can signal any number of emotions, from puppy love to fear of flying. Such symptoms can hardly be used as definitive signposts by the scientist.

Nevertheless, the mysterious terristory of emotions, straddling the boundary between body and brain, is beginning to yield some secrets. Aristotle's hunch that emotions are partly physical and partly mental is backed by new theories of the function of the brain's limbic system, where thoughts seem to be converted to body reactions, and bodily stresses to feelings.

When do emotions begin?

As the brain develops, emotions grow more complex. Not until about the age of two months is the brain advanced enough to manage the first real smile. Four months later, a baby begins to show a fear of separation.

As we grow older, our expectations increase and we react strongly if these expectations are challenged. For example; if we hope to get a job and then do not, we may feel anger and dissapointment and self-doubt. All three feelings occur at once and add up to a complex total response. Similarly, if we fall in love, memories of earlier relationships color our feelings. Our experiences may take us warier, less prone to trust our feelings; or they may. by comparison with the present, make us readier to believe that we have found the real thing.

Is too much or too little emotions a sign of mental illness?

How people express their emotions- in other words, their behavior-is a significant clue to mental health. However, there is a wide range of behavior that is normal, and a diagnosis of mental illness is rarely made on the basis of one or two seemingly abnormal emotional episodes.

If a person expresses a response to a situation in a way that falls well within the normal range, psychologist say the person is showing appropriate affect. On the other hand, people who express less range of emotion are said to have constricted affect. The apparent reverse of this affect is seen in people who seem to ride an emotional rollercoaster: laughing one moment and crying the next. This condition is termed instability of affect, a sign of an unstable personality or considerable stress. If such emotional responses are serve and long lasting, they are called affective disorders.
 

How do culture influence us ?

How emotions are expressed varies from culture, but presumably feelings are much the same anywhere. Psychologists refer to these cultural practices as "display rules". As children grow up, they unconsciously absorb the display rules of their society.

In Japan, for example, a smile is used to mask anger, shame, or any other emotion the smiler wants to hide. Touching someone. As a sign of friendship is a common public display in Mediterranean countries but hardly ever seen in British Isles.

Is it harmful to suppress anger?

"Count to ten! "Bite your tongue!" For a while not too many years a go, such advice for avoiding an angry outburst was considered old-fashioned.It was better for mental health, said some psychologists, to "let it all hang out". Now the pendium has swung back. It isn't always healthy to show anger, say the experts. A public temper tantrum may fuel anger instead of dissipating it. Control, on the other hand, gives calm a chance to prevail and can help avoid a first fight or a court case.

Are women more comfortable with emotions than men are?

Men and women feel their emotions with equal intensity but they tend to express them differently. In general women are more open about their emotions, admitting to loneliness, embarassment, and fear. Men tend to cover up such feelings, perhaps because they were brought up to believe that displaying emotion was "unmanly". Men are also quicker to show anger to strangers, especially to the other men who challenge them.

Because women have traditionally occupied a subordinate position to their husbands but a dominant role in the care of the family, they have often had to learn to read others emotions as a from of self-protection and to keep peace.

Historically, as women moved into the workplace, they did so in occupations such as seamtres. elementary school teacher, and nurse, roles that were an extension of their nurturing functions in the home. In particular, nurses were called upon to be compassionate no matter how they felt .