Berit Brogaard D.M.Sci., Ph.D | Posted June 30, 2018 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

It is commonplace in philosophy and psychology to divide emotions into two groups: basic and complex emotions.

Complex emotions, such as grief, regret, and jealousy, have highly variable appearances and compositions.

Basic emotions, which include sadness, anger, fear, disgust, contempt, joy, and surprise, are so-called because they are associated with universally recognizable facial expressions (see image). In disgust, for example, you see a raised upper lip, a wrinkled nose bridge, and raised cheeks.

Although basic emotions are sometimes accompanied by unique facial expressions and behavioral responses, there is no one-one correspondence between emotions and how they appear. Take the universally recognizable facial expressions. Very talented actors can mimic these facial expressions without having the associated emotion. Conversely, most of us are masters in suppressing facial expressions accompanying emotions. You might feel genuinely sad, yet put on a big smile before entering your workplace, thereby deceiving your colleagues into thinking that you are cheerful.

Even when our emotional expressions reflect our inner mental life, they need not be universally recognizable. This is because the basic emotions can trigger many other expressions besides the unique facial expressions, physiological responses, and tendencies to act. Examples:

1. Intense sadness might give rise to a facial expression nearly indistinguishable from anger or rage.
2. Mild sadness may not look like anything at all.
3. When several emotions are simultaneously present, one of the emotions may dominate and show up on your face.
4. When emotions last for a long time, they pop in and out of your conscious awareness. When you are not aware of them, It is much harder to detect them.

Basic emotions likely have made significant contributions to our survival since the beginning of human history. When understood in this sense, “basic”—as it occurs in “basic emotion”—just means primordial (evolutionarily basic).

But if an emotion is truly basic, how could it have more basic components? Take surprise. We can split surprise into two responses: one is a positive sense of interest and wonder, and the other is a negative feeling of panic. Why call surprise “basic” when it’s composed of other emotions?

The reason for this is that “basic” does not mean “lacks components.”

In fact, complex emotions vary a lot in what they are like in different people, situations, and cultures. Although grief is often taken to be a blend of surprise, denial, sadness and anger, grief can be entirely different in some people or cultures. For example, some people grieve a loss without ever showing anger. Others grieve by being absolutely furious.

Grief is often said to be composed of surprise, denial, bargaining, fear, anger, sadness, and acceptance. These components are not usually present all at the same time during a grieving episode but tend to occur sequentially and not necessarily in the order I just listed them in. Although grief can involve these building blocks, it can be manifested in numerous other ways. If the loss was expected, surprise may not be a component. If you are grieving the death of a loved one, the grief may not involve denial or bargaining. If, by contrast, you are grieving a breakup, you may go through long periods of denying that the breakup really is a breakup and ferociously negotiate and bargain with your ex. Grief can also involve alterations in mood, including feelings of depression, despair, melancholy, irritability or anxiety as well as temporary changes in the manifest features of personality, for instance, shifting toward isolation, insecurity, emotionality, and vigilance.

It’s likely because complex emotions can be a blend of different mental states in different people, situations and cultures that they do not give rise to a facial expression that is universally recognized.

Original Post: Basic and Complex Emotions

Copyright belongs to the original author.

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基本情绪和复杂情绪

Berit Brogaard D.M.Sci., Ph.D | 2018年6月30日 | 审阅：Jessica Schrader

在哲学和心理学中，情绪通常被分为两类：基本情绪和复杂情绪。

复杂情绪，如悲伤、后悔和嫉妒，具有高度可变的表现形式和组成部分。

基本情绪包括悲伤、愤怒、恐惧、厌恶、蔑视、快乐和惊讶，它们之所以被称为“基本”，是因为它们与普遍可识别的面部表情相关联。 例如，在厌恶的情绪中，你会看到上唇抬起、鼻梁皱起、面颊上扬。

虽然基本情绪有时伴随着独特的面部表情和行为反应，但情绪和它们的表现之间并不存在一一对应关系。 以那些普遍可识别的面部表情为例。 非常有才华的演员可以模仿这些面部表情，而不产生相应的情绪。 相反，我们大多数人都擅长抑制伴随情绪的面部表情。 你可能真的感到悲伤，但在进入工作场所前露出大大的笑容，从而让同事误以为你很开心。

即使我们的情绪表达反映了内心的精神生活，它们也未必是普遍可识别的。 这是因为基本情绪除了独特的面部表情、生理反应和行为倾向之外，还会引发许多其他的表现。 例子如下：

1. 强烈的悲伤可能导致的面部表情几乎无法与愤怒或暴怒区分开来。
2. 轻微的悲伤可能根本没有任何外在表现。
3. 当几种情绪同时存在时，其中一种情绪可能会占据主导地位，并在你的脸上表现出来。
4. 当情绪持续较长时间时，它们会在你的意识中进进出出。当你没有意识到它们时，情绪变得更难被察觉。

基本情绪很可能自人类历史开端以来对我们的生存做出了重要贡献。 在这个意义上，“基本”（在“基本情绪”中的意思）只是指原始的（进化意义上的基本）。

但如果一种情绪是真正的基本情绪，它怎么可能有更基本的成分呢？ 比如惊讶。 我们可以将惊讶分为两种反应：一种是积极的兴趣和好奇感，另一种是消极的恐慌感。 既然惊讶由其他情绪组成，为什么还称它为“基本”情绪呢？

原因在于“基本”并不意味着“没有成分”。

事实上，复杂情绪在不同人、不同情境和不同文化中有很大的差异。 虽然悲伤常被认为是惊讶、否认、悲伤和愤怒的混合体，但在某些人或文化中，悲伤可能完全不同。 例如，有些人在失去时从不表现出愤怒。其他人则通过愤怒来表达悲伤。

悲伤常被认为由惊讶、否认、讨价还价、恐惧、愤怒、悲伤和接受组成。 这些成分通常不会在悲伤的过程中同时出现，而是会按顺序发生，并且不一定是我刚才列出的顺序。 虽然悲伤可能涉及这些构建块，但它可以通过许多其他方式表现出来。 如果损失是预料之中的，惊讶可能就不是成分之一。如果你为一位亲人的去世而悲伤，悲伤可能不涉及否认或讨价还价。 相反，如果你为一场分手而悲伤，你可能会经历长时间的否认分手的现实，并激烈地与前任讨价还价。 悲伤还可能伴随情绪的变化，包括抑郁、绝望、忧郁、易怒或焦虑的感觉，以及个性外在特征的临时改变，例如向孤立、不安全感、情绪化和警觉性转变。

复杂情绪可能因为在人、情境和文化中的不同精神状态混合而成，所以它们不会引发普遍可识别的面部表情。

原文链接: Basic and Complex Emotions

版权属于原作者，本翻译仅供学习用途。