Emotions: Positive and Negative

Synonyms

Affect; Mood; Positive and negative affect

Definition

Emotions are defined as multicomponent response tendencies that unfold over a short span of time, and include cognitive processing, physiological responses, and the subjective experience of emotion (i.e., affect). Emotions are often conceptualized as varying in valence, from positive (e.g., happiness, excitement, contentment, curiosity) to negative (e.g., sadness, anger, anxiety, disgust). Subjectively, people experience positive emotions as feelings that reflect a level of pleasurable engagement with the environment. Negative emotions, in contrast, reflect a general feeling of distress. Emotions are thought to have evolved to promote the behaviors necessary to survive and thrive. Positive emotions facilitate approach behavior or continued action; experiences of positive affect prompt people to engage with their environments and partake in activities which are adaptive. Negative emotions, on the other hand, prompt...