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Emotions can be classified following a two-dimensional space along which all of them would be located. From the study of the emotion of humor and from models based on biological activation, the existence of two different and partially independent systems that correspond to the so-called positive and negative emotions is suggested.
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Gilboa and Revelle carried out an investigation to test, among others, the hypothesis that the independence of positive and negative emotions could be demonstrated not only in the structure, but also in the temporal pattern of emotional responses. The duration of emotions associated with negative events was longer than that associated with positive events. These results are consistent with that proposed by Frujda in the law of hedonic asymmetry, which states that pleasure is always contingent on change and that it disappears with continuous satisfaction, while pain can persist over time, if the changes persist. Adverse conditions. In this way, we would have, on the one hand, a dimension formed by thenegative emotions that are unpleasant emotions, experienced when a goal is blocked, a threat occurs, or a loss occurs; They require the mobilization of important cognitive and behavioral resources for the creation and elaboration of plans that solve or alleviate the situation.
Instead, positive emotions are pleasant emotions, which are experienced when a goal is reached; in such a way that in them it is less likely that the revision of plans and other cognitive operations will be needed, for this reason it could be expected that negative emotions are longer in time than positive ones. Negative emotions have a clear value in survival and adaptation to the environment, while in the case of positive emotions this is not at least as evident.
A third category would be neutral emotions that are neither pleasant nor unpleasant, that is, neither positive nor negative; but they share characteristics of both, thus they resemble the positive ones in their short time and the negative ones in the great mobilization of resources that they produce.
Classification of Emotions
Tomkins has distinguished nine innate emotions:
- Positive: Interest - Joy - Surprise
- Negative Anguish - Fear - Shame - Contempt - Anger - Rage
Plutchik has proposed a three - dimensional classification of emotions in which the eight basic emotional dimensions appear represented as orange segments in a cross section. The vertical dimension represents the intensity of the emotions, which goes from the maximum intensity (upper part) to the dream state at the bottom.
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