Emotion Clusters

There are many emotions, and it would be helpful to organize this vast array somehow. 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 in different ways. One approach is by the meaning of the emotion, based on the rules we use to evaluate events (internal or external) that trigger these emotions. Another approach is by how emotions are experienced. In practice, these two methods are closely connected. Additionally, for each individual, the meaning of emotions and the way they are experienced can differ, so clusters may vary from person to person. Here, the main goal is to demonstrate the general principle.

Evaluating Situations

To assess situations from an emotional perspective, five criteria are usually enough:

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

Based on these, we get different meanings for emotions (for example, your list 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 deservedly achieved something important;
• Grief – loss of something very important;
• Sadness – my needs are unmet;
• Annoyance – 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 five criteria, and each cluster will have a set of common characteristics. Differences within a cluster are usually about intensity: how strongly values are violated, how important the gain or loss is, how fair or unfair it seems, or how likely the event is. For example, fear differs from anxiety in the level of certainty (with fear, the source of danger is known; with anxiety, it’s not), and fear differs from concern in the degree of danger (possible loss).

Experiencing Emotions

Clustering also works if we look at how emotions are experienced. Here, we focus on meta-kinesthetics: joy feels like expansion in the chest, fear like a knot in the stomach, anger like vibration in the front of the torso. Two main criteria describe the experience:

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

You can also identify critical kinesthetic submodalities for both energy and valence. For example, the larger the sensation, the higher the energy; the stronger the compression, the more unpleasant; the stronger the expansion, the more pleasant. Based on these, you can draw a map: adrenaline from 0 to 20, valence from -10 to +10, just to have a 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 kinesthetically—say, as pressure on the chest. Identify the critical submodality for intensity (usually different from valence or energy), such as the strength of the pressure. 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 “losing access” to certain experiences: pleasant events that won’t happen again, people who have left your life, or 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 later.
• Astonishment – strong violation of expectations.
• Fright – dangerous surprise, affective surprise plus fear.

Satisfaction

Your needs or values are met.

• Joy – a desired event 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 even more important and good 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 or 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 or values are not met.

• Sadness – my needs are unmet;
• Dissatisfaction – I don’t like what’s happening;
• Longing – my important needs are unmet;
• Despair – my needs are unmet and there’s no hope for change.

Rejection

Someone violates social values.

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

Violation

Someone violates fundamental values. If annoyance is just a reaction to a violation, anger and rage are reactions to an unfair (in your opinion) violation. It’s like “you crossed a line,” so I have the right to fight back—hence, anger and rage include a sense of superiority. You can be annoyed at yourself, others, or a situation, but anger and rage are only toward others.

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

Misconduct

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 chance 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 a 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 can’t handle;
• Terror – a very big problem in the future.

Conclusion

Emotion clusters help organize the vast array of emotions into 10-15 groups, making them much easier to remember. These clusters are connected not only to how we evaluate situations that trigger emotions but also to how we physically experience them, which is quite tangible.