Emotion Clusters

There are many emotions, and it would be helpful to organize this vast array somehow. Here, I’d like to introduce an interesting model that has already proven quite effective. First, it’s important to note that emotions can be grouped using different approaches. The first way is by the meaning of the emotion, based on the rules for evaluating events (internal or external) that trigger these emotions. The second way is by how the emotions are experienced.

In practice, these two methods are often closely linked. For each individual, both the meaning of emotions and the way they are experienced can differ, so the clusters may also vary. The main goal here is to show the general principle.

Evaluating Situations

To assess situations from an emotional perspective, just six criteria are enough:

• Who is being evaluated – yourself or others.
• Time – past (had something but lost it; did something in the past), present (have or do something now), future (will get, do, or lose something); there are also “timeless” emotions.
• Gain/Loss/Violation – I gained something, achieved a goal, or, on the contrary, lost something; someone broke rules or values.
• Fairness/Correctness – how (un)fair the outcome is or how (un)acceptable the behavior is.
• Accuracy, Probability – how likely the event is.
• Importance – how important the event is.

As a result, we get different meanings for emotions (for example, yours may differ):

• Excitement – there’s a chance to win;
• Guilt – I did something wrong, violated important values;
• Delight – received much more than expected;
• Admiration – someone did something very important and good;
• Anger – my important values were unfairly violated;
• Pride – I fairly/deservedly achieved something important;
• Grief – loss of something very important;
• Sadness – my needs are not met;
• Rage – someone (unfairly) violates my important values or principles;
• Fear – (possible) problem in the future;
• Happiness – my important values are fairly satisfied;
• Anxiety – possible (usually uncertain) danger in the future;
• Surprise – reaction to the unexpected;
• Terror – a very big problem in the future;
• Euphoria – my important values are satisfied much more than expected.

Almost all emotions can be grouped into “clusters” based on these six criteria, and each cluster will have a set of common characteristics. The differences within a cluster are related to intensity: how strongly values are violated, how important the gain or loss is, how fair or unfair it seems to you, and how likely the event is. For example, fear differs from concern by the degree of danger (possible loss), and fear differs from anxiety by the level of clarity (with fear, the source of danger is known; with anxiety, it is not).

Experiencing Emotions

Clustering also works when exploring how emotions are experienced. Here, we focus on meta-kinesthetics: joy feels like expansion in the chest, fear like a twisting in the stomach, anger like vibration in the front of the torso. To describe emotions, we use two main criteria:

• Energy – level of emotional arousal, adrenaline;
• Valence – how pleasant or unpleasant the experience is.

Critical kinesthetic submodalities can be identified for both energy and valence. For example, the larger the sensation, the higher the energy; the stronger the compression, the more unpleasant it is; the stronger the expansion, the more pleasant it is. Based on these assessments, you can draw a map: adrenaline from 0 to 20, valence from -10 to +10, just to have a comparable scale. Clusters on this map look like “vectors.”

Sometimes, it’s more convenient to build a cluster based on the intensity of the emotion. Take sadness, for example. Find out how sadness manifests on the meta-kinesthetic level—say, as pressure on the chest. Identify the critical submodality of intensity (which usually differs from the submodalities of valence and energy), for example, the strength of the pressure on the chest. Scale it from 0 to 10 and see which emotions correspond:

• Disappointment – 1-3 points;
• Regret – 4-5;
• Sadness – 6-7;
• Grief – above 8.

This gives you your own “loss” cluster.

Description of Clusters

Again, this is just one way to describe clusters. Yours may differ, and you’ll need to figure them out and calibrate as needed.

Loss

This cluster includes emotions related to “loss of access” to certain experiences: pleasant events that won’t happen again; people who have left your life; things that are gone.

• Nostalgia – pleasant events happened, but won’t happen again;
• Disappointment – loss of something not very important;
• Regret – loss of something;
• Sadness – accepted loss of something important;
• Grief – loss of something very important.

Unexpectedness

These are affective emotions: something happened suddenly.

• Surprise – reaction to the unexpected, sudden violation of expectations, can be neutral, positive, or negative: “Wow!” or “Oh no!” This is a quick, affective surprise, not the kind where you’re still amazed at something long after it happened.
• Astonishment – strong violation of expectations.
• Startle – dangerous surprise, affective surprise plus fear.

Satisfaction

My needs/values are satisfied.

• Joy – a desired event has happened or will happen;
• Happiness – my important values are satisfied;
• Delight – my important values are satisfied much more than expected.

Approval

Someone else is doing the right thing.

• Approval – a person (group, organization) did or is doing something good;
• Admiration – a person did something very important and good;
• Delight – a person did something important and good, even more than expected.

Superiority “+”

I did something good; I’m better than others.

• Importance – feeling of one’s own significance;
• Pride – justified sense of significance, based on actions or belonging to a group, race, country, team, or organization;
• Tenderness – feeling of superiority toward something cute and touching: a child, kitten, bird, or hamster.

Superiority “-”

You are worse than me.

• Superiority – you are worse than me;
• Disdain – you are not worthy of respect;
• Contempt – extreme disdain, you violated important values and lost significance.

Dissatisfaction

My needs/values are not satisfied.

• Sadness – my needs are not satisfied;
• Dissatisfaction – I don’t like what’s happening;
• Longing – my important needs are not satisfied;
• Despair – my needs are not satisfied and there’s no way to fix it in the future.

Rejection

Someone is violating social values.

• Disgust – someone is doing something that strongly violates social values;
• Loathing – someone did something that violates fundamental social values.

Violation

Someone is violating fundamental values. While anger is just a reaction to a violation, rage and fury are reactions to an unfair (in my subjective opinion) violation. It’s like “you crossed a line,” so I have the right to fight back—this is why anger and rage include a sense of superiority. You can be angry at yourself, others, or a situation, but anger and rage are only felt toward other people.

• Rage – someone violates important principles/values;
• Resentment – I was treated unfairly;
• Anger – someone unfairly violates very important values;
• Fury – someone very strongly and unfairly violates very important values.

Transgression

I broke the rules; my status is lowered.

• Embarrassment – others noticed I did something not quite right;
• Guilt – I violated important values;
• Shame – others found out I violated important values.

Winning

The probability of getting something good in the future. The key aspect here is the uncertainty about whether it will happen.

• Interest – chance to get useful information;
• Hope – chance to have expectations met;
• Excitement – there’s a chance to win (in the broad sense).

Receiving

Confidence that expectations will be met in the future.

• Expectation – passive waiting for a result;
• Anticipation – mentally associating with a situation where you already have it.

Danger

A dangerous event may happen in the future.

• Concern – danger in the future;
• Anxiety – possible (usually uncertain) danger in the future;
• Fear – (possible) problem in the future;
• Panic – a future problem I won’t be able to handle;
• Terror – a very big problem in the future.

Conclusion

Emotion clusters help organize the vast array of emotions into 10-15 clusters, which are much easier to remember. These clusters are connected not only to the evaluation of the situation that triggered the emotion but also to specific meta-kinesthetic representations, which are quite sensory and tangible.