Classifications of the Emotions

Emotions have been classified in many ways. An early classification placed them in two groups according to their social value: (1) the base physical passions such as fear, anger, and lust, and (2) the spiritual emotions such as pity, sympathy, and love.

Another classification was based upon the order of their appearance: (1) the primary emotions such as fear, anger, grief, and lust and (2) the derived emotions such as pity, gratitude, and sympathy.

Another classification was based upon the object of the emotion: (1) the subjective emotions such as shame, embarrassment, and pride and (2) the objective emotions such as fear, anger, and love. None of these classifications have proved to have much value and have been generally abandoned.

For every instinct there is a corresponding and accompanying emotion. We will include only a partial list of these instinctive and emotional activities.

INSTINCT ACCOMPANYING EMOTION

1. Instinct of escape, self-preservation, etc. Fear, terror, fright

2. Instinct of combat Anger, rage, fury

3. Parental Tender emotion, love

4. Pairing, mating Lust, sexual emotion

5. Assertion, self-display Elation, feeling of superiority

6. Laughter Amusement, jollity

The primary emotions, those belonging to the original and fundamental nature of man, are fear, rage, and love. All other emotions are developed from these three by a process of conditioning-i.e., by learning; in some specific cases there is the possibility of maturation.

The stimuli which are originally capable of bringing out these emotional reactions are: for fear, removal of support, a slight shake, and loud sounds; for rage, hampering of the infant's movements; for love, stroking or manipulation of some erogenous zone, tickling, shaking, gentle rocking, patting and turning upon the stomach across the attendant's knee.

The responses are: for fear, sudden catching of the breath, clutching with the hands, sudden closing of the eyelids, puckering of the lips, crying, possibly flight and hiding; for rage, crying, screaming, stiffening of the body, slashing and striking with hands and arms, foot and leg movements, holding the breath and flushing of the face; for love, smiling, gurgling, cooing, extension of the arms, and cessation of crying.