What Emotions Are For

Emotions are useful and important: they let us know what our needs are, and they prepare us to act. As psychologist Daniel Goleman explains, different emotions prepare the body for different responses, guiding us to action that has worked for us before.

This isn’t a new idea. In the 19^th century, Charles Darwin proposed that emotions help us to survive and reproduce. And while there is still disagreement about how emotions are generated and how many there are (perhaps 27 or even 87)¹, there is agreement that there are around 5-7 core emotions that seem to have an adaptive function. This article will look at five of these and what they might do.

Fear
Fear is one of our most basic emotions, and one that has been key for our survival. It protects us by motivating us to act quickly to avoid danger. As Goleman explains, when there is a threat, ‘blood goes to our muscles and we get a flood of hormones’ to prepare us for action. Our basic response is fight-or-flight – the body is prepared to fight or run away. Fear is a response to something that is happening now, says Professor Brene Brown. In contrast, anxiety, an emotion connected to fear, is usually about something that might happen in the future – the threat is less clear, she says.

Suprise
Like all emotions, surprise prepares us to act. Its message is something like, ‘Pay attention – something new is happening.’ This can be seen in our facial expressions: the eyes open wide, and, as Goleman explains, raised eyebrows help us see more of what’s around us. Surprise is one of the shortest-lasting emotions, Brown says, usually lasting only a few seconds. She explains that once our brains are clearer about what is happening, other emotions may take over to prepare us for what is coming next.

Anger
Anger is a powerful emotion that helps us protect ourselves and fight back, says psychologist Jonice Webb. Brown adds that we often feel it when something gets in the way of what we want or when we believe something is unfair, especially when we feel that someone else is to blame. She describes it as an ‘action emotion’ – when we feel it, we want to do something. This matches what happens in our bodies: our heart rates increase and we get a surge of adrenaline to prepare us for action.

However, anger can sometimes be a secondary emotion, says psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb. Because anger can feel quite powerful, it can cover over more difficult emotions, such as fear, hurt, or shame. We might get angry rather than allowing ourselves to feel those more painful emotions. While it might be difficult to know if this is what’s happening when you feel angry, Brown suggests that it can be a useful signal, telling us to stop and check out what is going on inside.

Sadness
The function of sadness is perhaps a little less clear, but there is some agreement that, as Webb puts it, it tells us we are losing something important. It might help us adjust to loss by lowering our energy and giving us time to mourn, says Goleman. Brown adds that it might also lead us to evaluate our lives and consider making changes after a difficult event. And an idea from writer Susan Cain is that sadness is also about connecting with others. She argues that it might help generate compassion for other people and bring us closer together.

Happiness
Happiness might be the only positive core emotion, but its function is also a little less clear. One idea is that happiness might encourage us to do more of what is good for us. Evolutionary psychologist William Von Hippel suggests that it may have evolved to incentivise us to do more of the things that increased our chances of survival and reproduction – something like, ‘this feels good; do it more.’ He also believes that happiness might help the body by allowing us to rest and recover.

Psychologist Arthur Brooks has a slightly different view. He believes that there are actually two core positive emotions: interest and joy. Interest gives us pleasure from learning new things. This may have helped early humans by motivating them to learn about new sources of food, for example. And joy is a short and powerful feeling coming from connecting with others – possibly supporting social bonding and, therefore, survival.

While there are some areas of disagreement, it seems clear that our core emotions help prepare us to act in response to what is happening in our bodies and in the world. And beyond these core emotions, there are many others that may also have important functions. Learning more about these could help us in different ways – that will be the focus of the next article.