Psychology of Emotions and Moods

Study Notes

Affect refers to a broad range of feelings people experience.
Emotion is an intense feeling directed at someone or something, short-term, and action-oriented.
Mood is a feeling that is less intense and longer-lasting, often without a contextual stimulus.

Robert Plutchik created a circle of emotions, categorizing emotions into 8 basic categories.
Emotions in the circle are self-rated in intensity and severity, with adjacent emotions being more similar.
Mutual feelings indicate an opposite situation (e.g., joy-sadness).
Combining emotions creates broader emotions (e.g., joy + trust = love).

Positive affect: a mood dimension consisting of positive emotions like excitement and enthusiasm (high) and boredom and depression (low).
Negative affect: a mood dimension consisting of nervousness and anxiety (high) and contentedness and calmness (low).
Positive moods are more common than negative moods, with a positivity offset.

Personality: people experience certain moods and emotions more frequently than others, with varying intensities.
Time of day: people's moods vary throughout the day.
Day of the week: people tend to be in their best mood on weekends.
Weather: no impact on emotions and moods.
Stress: increases negative emotions and affects decision-making.
Social activities: physical, informal, and epicurean activities increase positive mood.
Sleep: lack of sleep increases negative emotions and impairs decision-making.
Exercise: mildly enhances positive mood.
Age: older people experience negative emotions less frequently.
Sex: women show greater emotional expression and experience emotions more intensely.

Emotional intelligence: the ability to perceive, understand, and regulate one's emotions.

Emotional labor: an employee's expression of desired emotions during work interactions.
Emotional dissonance: when an employee has to project one emotion while feeling another.

Felt Emotions: an individual's actual emotions.
Displayed Emotions: learned emotions required by an organization, with surface acting (hiding true emotions) and deep acting (trying to change emotions).