Bitter. Mortified. Outraged. Rejected. These are all emotions that, let's say, don't feel great. We all experience these negative emotions, but our differences can affect how we experience them and to what degree. So how do psychologists understand and research negative emotions? What can we do when we have them to avoid real harm?
- What is the definition of negative emotions?
- Then, let's examine a list of negative emotions
- As we continue, we'll discuss an example of negative emotions.
- Is it possible to transform negative emotions and how?
- Finally, are there any benefits of negative emotions?
Negative Emotions Definition
Defining negative emotions is not very difficult for us to do. Negative emotion is a universal human experience that, even from the moment we are born, we experience regularly.
Negative emotions simply refer to any emotional experiences that make us feel bad.
So how exactly are negative emotions formed? An experience or stimulus that causes negative emotions for one person may cause a positive emotion for another.
For some people, being near the ocean can create feelings of peace and tranquillity. However, if you have galeophobia -- an intense and debilitating fear of sharks -- simply looking at the ocean may cause feelings of anxiety and fear.
Our past experiences usually play a significant role in how we experience emotions because they help shape our emotional schemas.
Emotional schemas are a person's cognitive representation of an emotion formed by past memories, which affect their interpretation, perception, and expectation of an emotional experience.
For example, your cognitive representations, or emotional schemas, of anger will affect how you express this emotion and whether you identify another person's presentation of anger.
You text your classmate about borrowing their notes from the class you missed. They respond with a simple "Yes." To you, and according to your emotional schema, a message with no emojis or exclamation marks indicates that the person is annoyed or upset. However, your classmate simply doesn't feel they need to put too much energy into a text and was happy to share their notes with you.
Fig 1 - Negative emotions can make a person cry.List of Negative Emotions
The human experience can be complex, and describing it can be challenging. While several psychologists have attempted to pinpoint the basic negative emotions, the list of negative emotional terms we use to describe how we feel is extensive.
Psychologists have attempted to pinpoint basic emotions. Paul Ekman identified six basic emotions. The negative emotions in Ekman's list include sadness, anger, fear, contempt, and disgust. Carroll Izard, on the other hand, identified ten basic emotions. He added a few negative emotions to Ekman's list, including shame and guilt.
Take a look at this list of negative emotions. Can you think of any that you would add? What about the ones that you experience most frequently?
| Abandoned | Agitated | Annoyed | Anxious |
| Attacked | Belittled | Brokenhearted | Chaotic |
| Conflicted | Confused | Cranky | Cynical |
| Defeated | Defensive | Depressed | Downcast |
| Drained | Embarrassed | Envious | Flustered |
| Forgotten | Frustrated | Gloomy | Harassed |
| Hostile | Impatient | Inferior | Irritable |
| Jealous | Lonely | Melancholy | Misunderstood |
| Mortified | Neglected | Obstructed | Outraged |
| Overwhelmed | Paranoid | Phobic | Pessimistic |
| Powerless | Regretful | Rejected | Ridiculed |
| Self-Conscious | Stressed | Tense | Tired |
| Unappreciated | Uncomfortable | Unfulfilled | Unworthy |
| Used | Violent | Worried | Worthless |
Negative Emotions Examples
Feeling negative emotions can be an incredibly powerful experience. We know that emotional experiences can also cause bodily responses, especially the most stressful ones. Negative emotions cause us stress and can thus cause harm to the body if these stress levels remain high for an extended amount of time. What are some examples of negative emotions that increase our stress levels?
Anger
One helpful example of negative emotions and how they affect us is when a person experiences anger.
Anger is an intense displeasure or hostility aroused by a perceived wrong.
While some emotions, such as fear, may cause "flight" behaviors, emotions, such as anger, will trigger our "fight" behaviors.
Chronic anger, just like chronic stress can cause an increase in heart rate as well as inflammation in the body, weakening our body's defense mechanisms against disease.
Fear
Several situations may cause a person to experience fear. Maybe you hear a loud crash in the house in the middle of the night. Or maybe you a terrified of the math final you have tomorrow morning.
Fear is an unpleasant or distressing feeling that's aroused by a sense of impending danger, pain, or threat.
Fear is one of the most powerful negative emotions we may experience. It's one of our most basic survival instincts. While we all experience fear, we don't all react to this negative emotion similarly.
Walter Cannon was the first to propose the idea of "fight-or-flight". Today, psychologists have identified four ways a person may respond to fear based on Cannon's original theory.
Disgust
A foul smell. An offensive act. These are just a few reasons a person may experience the emotion of disgust.
Disgust is the profound disapproval or revulsion of an offensive or unpleasant stimulus, event, or person.
Researchers have found that the prefrontal cortex in the brain is most active when a person experiences disgust.
Considered one of Eckman's basic emotions, disgust is an emotion that can appear in a person's facial expressions and can be detected by a wrinkled nose, pulled upper lip, and downturned eyebrows.
Fig 2 - Look of disgust.
Transforming Negative Emotions
Negative emotions are not enjoyable and, as we've mentioned, can be harmful to our physical and mental health. So what measures can we take to transform negative emotions when we experience them?
Depending on one's culture, the answer may be different. Individualist cultures are more likely than collectivist cultures to encourage people to vent their negative emotions like rage rather than conceal them. In psychology, this is called catharsis.
Catharsis is the act of releasing powerful and aggressive energy or emotion.
While avoiding negative emotions isn't helpful, catharsis may not always be the best way to handle negative emotions like anger. It may bring temporary relief, but acting angry can cause you to continue feeling angry. Letting loose fails to cleanse you of the negative emotions you're experiencing.
Some more helpful methods a person may use to transform negative emotions include:
Cognitive appraisal: How can you reframe a negative experience in a more positive light? Changing your perspective on a situation causing negative emotions can allow you to see the silver lining.
This year you didn't make team captain. You felt defeated. But then you realize that you'll have more time to spend with your friends after school since you won't get to practice early and stay late every day.
Avoid rumination: when we ruminate on a thought, we replay it over and over in our heads. We can't stop thinking about it! When you experience emotions, it's best not to dwell on the event that caused the negative emotions.
This is not to say that you should avoid and suppress how you feel. But if you noticed you've thought about what happened and how you feel all day, it may be helpful to find something to distract yourself with to help reduce the intensity of your negative emotions.
Practice Self-Compassion: Have you ever done poorly on a test or missed your curfew because you lost track of time? It's easy to beat yourself up when these things happen, and you may experience negative emotions such as guilt or shame.
While it's important to learn from your mistakes, it's also important to show yourself compassion knowing that you can do better next time. Practicing self-compassion can help a person move on more quickly and avoid rumination as well.
Benefits of Negative Emotions
It’s easy to assume that nothing good can come from experiencing negative emotions. But if you did, you’d be wrong. Researchers have found that a person can reap several psychological benefits of negative emotions if they can practice habitual acceptance.
Habitual acceptance is the process of regularly and habitually accepting and not judging one's negative emotions.
It may seem counterintuitive, but by engaging in habitual acceptance we can reduce our emotional response to stressors. Our reactions to these stressors are not as drastic. There are several reasons why this is the case.
People who are able to accept negative emotions are:
less likely to ruminate on how they feel and why a type of thinking that can only perpetuate negative emotions
less likely to experience meta-emotions which are reactions to their initial negative emotion.
less likely to try to avoid or suppress their mental experiences associated with negative emotions.
When we experience negative emotions, it gives us the opportunity to improve our emotional intelligence and awareness, empowering us to better process and work through the emotions we experience in more healthy ways.
While being optimistic can be a helpful trait to have, too much optimism can lead a person to have unrealistic expectations, which can in turn lead to extreme letdowns. A person who does not experience negative emotions often or rather, who judges or avoids these emotions, may have an even harder time working through them than others.
Factors of Negative Emotions - Key takeaways
- Negative emotions simply refer to any emotional experiences that make us feel bad. Our past experiences usually play a significant role in how we experience emotions because they help shape our emotional schemas.
- While several psychologists have attempted to pinpoint the basic negative emotions, the list of negative emotional terms we use to describe how we feel is extensive.
- Negative emotions do, in fact, cause us stress and can thus cause harm to the body if these stress levels remain high for an extended amount of time.
- Transforming negative emotions may involve cognitive appraisal, avoiding rumination, and practicing self-compassion.
- Researchers have found that a person can reap several psychological benefits of negative emotions if they are able to practice habitual acceptance.
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