We have all experienced basic emotions. Emotions exist in our world and help us in everyday situations and large-scale events in our lives.
As a child, our emotions can be very black and white. As we get older, though, more and more come into account when we have an emotional response to our world.
Today I will be going over something of a ‘feelings wheel’ to help you understand and start to manage those human emotions we experience every day.
What Is An Emotion Wheel?
Just as it is called, an emotion wheel is a tool that can be used to help explain and identify emotions. It was made to find a deeper understanding of our basic emotions as they become complex emotions.
Are There More Than One Emotion Wheels?
Yes! As of right now, two recognized emotion wheels are used on a daily basis in the world. There are Psychologist Robert Plutchik‘s and Psychologist Gloria Wlicox’s wheels.
How Does An Emotion Wheel Work?
The wheel of emotions was created to help you understand your core emotions and grow your emotional intelligence. You pull out the wheel whenever you have an emotional intensity, pleasant and unpleasant feelings, or any emotional responses that you can’t quite understand why you have them.
You can start with a basic emotion and work your way out until you find a word that works best for you. There is no right or wrong way to use an emotion wheel, be true to yourself and listen to your body and mind.
The Eight Primary Emotions
The emotion wheel has eight primary emotions or eight-core emotions in the center. They may be worded differently on each wheel, but all are similar in layman’s terms.
The Primary emotions are :
- Anger
- Sadness
- Fear
- Disgust
- Trust
- Surprise
- Anticipation
The wheel works because every primary emotion has a polar opposite emotion. Polar opposite emotions are emotions that can not be felt simultaneously in most cases. The emotions go like this:
- Anger =/= Fear
- Sadness =/= Joy
- Disgust =/= Trust
- Surprise =/= Anticipation
The Secondary Emotions
As long as they are not polar opposites, emotions can be mixed with those next to them to create certain emotions. Secondary emotions are emotions created due to us being complex human beings.
Some examples are surprise can be mixed with fear to create alarm, or anticipation can be mixed with joy to create excitement.
How Many Emotions Are On The Emotion wheel?
Robert Plutchik believes that the average human can experience +34,000 different and unique emotions. On an emotion wheel, the eight primary emotions stay the same.
Though there are not that many on the wheel, with the help of the primary emotions and secondary, it can help lead to an exact emotion or even help with milder emotions.
Can I Make My Own Wheel Of Emotions?
Now that you understand the basics of these emotion wheels, you probably wonder how you make your emotion wheel?
There are a couple of pretty easy ways. There are a lot of resources that you can find online to help. You can look up pages to print or youtube videos on how to use different colored paper. The biggest thing is to keep the basic emotions the same.
The Benefits Of A Wheel Of Emotions.
So we learned what the wheel is and how to use it. You might be asking, but why use it? Can it make a difference?
Studies have shown that using an emotion wheel is great for learning more about yourself and understanding negative emotions. It can boost emotional intelligence and help understand and communicate with others in difficult or high tension situations.
It is also a great way to help children learn and grow their emotional intelligence.
Who Can Use An Emotion wheel?
Anyone Can!
As long as they have a way to communicate an emotional component in their thoughts, an emotion wheel can be used.
When using a wheel with smaller children with a smaller vocabulary, find a wheel that uses kid-friendly words.
My Final Thoughts
Psychologist Robert Plutchik made the emotion wheel to help people learn and understand themselves more and the people around them.
It’s a great way to grow your emotional intelligence skill and help kids learn the skill. Remember that your emotions are valid, and wanting to understand them is great and a part of growing up.
I hope you will continue learning and growing into a better version of yourself every day.
Remember to love yourself and others around you.
