Person (8) Emotions Analysis

I have identified five core emotions. Each one has a positive form and a negative form. This makes ten in all. There will be some blurring across the boundaries.


The table should be read as follows.

The positive emotions are on the top half of the table. The negative emotions are on the bottom half. God created us to experience both the positive and the negative emotions, so they are both good. Joy is the natural emotion when things have gone well. The opposite of joy is sadness. It is good to be sad when you have lost someone that you love.

Compassion is good if you see someone suffering. The opposite of compassion is anger. It is good to be angry when you see injustice, because it motivates you to action.

The scripture reference points to one example from the Bible.

Other Words are just that: they list other words that describe roughly the same emotion.

Although these emotions were created good, they have all been corrupted into something negative. When we get trapped in wrong thinking, a good emotion gets corrupted. These are shown under the heading Corrupted For example, compassion is good when directed to others, but when directed to myself, it becomes self pity which is destructive. Fear is good if a grizzly bear is coming down the road, because it motivates you to flee. But if you start living in fear, without faith, you get trapped in worry, which is a corrupted form of fear. Sadness is good, if you have lost someone you love, but it can get corrupted into bitterness, if you are not careful.

The Response To row explains what produces the emotion. Sadness is produced by loss. Peace comes from acceptance. Love produces joy.

Emotions are often associated with a particular physical response. Fear causes us to flee or freeze. Freezing is good, if you realise you are about to step into danger, because it gives you time to think. The corrupted form of the emotion often produces a different physical response, which is not as healthy. Bitterness can produce stomach illness.

A mood is a cluster of emotions. A mood can be influenced by attitudes.