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Researchers found there are actually 27 emotions, not only six
STATES CHRONICLE – Some time ago, scientists used to think human emotions fall into some limited six categories. These categories included sadness, happiness, surprise, anger, disgust, or fear. Now, researchers from the University of California – Berkeley challenged this old idea, and developed a study showing there are actually 27 emotions.
They took over 800 participants and showed them 2,000 videos which were meant to make them experience various kinds of emotions. Then, they were able to see how people showed a more diverse sample of feelings, exceeding the boundary of the classic six emotions. Then, on the basis of some statistical models, they created a map showing how they interact.
Also, the old theory claimed each emotion is independent, and cannot interact with a different one. Therefore, these 27 emotions showed unclear boundaries, and people could easily switch from one state to another. Their emotional specter is incredibly complex, but all of its faces are related. This is why the specter is not endless.
These findings can have various applications. Knowing there are 27 emotions might ease the better understanding of moods and how our brains act as these moods change. This can lead to the improvement of psychological and psychiatric treatments, and what our brain is actually in need of.
Humans don’t have only six, but 27 emotions
For the study, a diverse group of 853 participants were shown a total of 2,185 short videos. These videos were supposed to make the participants experience all kinds of emotions. They included happy moments, weddings, births, terrifying animals, sexual intercourse, death, natural calamities, war, awkward situations, and all kinds of other events.
After the videos were over, they had to fill in a questionnaire regarding how they felt. In general, participants showed similar responses after watching the same videos, and this allowed the researchers to come to the conclusion that there are, in fact, 27 emotions.
In the end, they could construct a complete map of all human emotions. Each of them was displayed in a different color on the map, which showed how human feelings are way more complex than we used to think.
Image Source: Max Pixel
