Primary Emotions or Basic Emotions?

The Debate on Basic Emotions

How many emotions are fundamentally present in humans? The field of psychology has written extensively about this, but there is no unanimous consensus on the exact number. The same goes for how to classify them: are they basic emotions or primary emotions? Some argue that all emotions can be traced back to 4 basic emotions, while others claim there are 6 basic emotions. And then there are others who insist there are 7 basic emotions, and who differentiate between primary and secondary emotions. And then let’s add another term to the mix, there are 8 emotion groups. How can there be so many different perspectives on this, and what’s the right answer?

Basic Emotions: Unravelling the Controversy

Let’s start with the basics. Psychology identifies 4 emotions that form the core of all feelings: being afraid, angry, happy, and sad. So in other words:

• Fear
• Anger
• Joy
• Sadness

It’s often noted that 3 of them are negative, while only 1 is positive. This creates a division into two groups: positive and negative. This duality is also frequently used in alternative psychology, particularly in the division between love and fear, soul and ego, heart and head.

However, not all psychologists agree with this classification of 4 basic emotions. Some argue for 6 basic emotions, adding:

• Surprise
• Disgust

The reason for this disagreement lies in the fact that these emotions develop slightly later after birth. These 6 emotions are associated with six facial expressions that can convey these emotions. Another outlier is Shame, often paired with Guilt, described by advocates of 7 basic emotions as:

• Contempt

This emotion is perceived only when self-awareness has developed and is strongly connected to judgments of right and wrong. One might question if it is truly an emotion inherently present in us, but it is undeniably a deeply human experience. With this addition, we arrive at 7 basic emotions that are present in people all around the world. Interestingly, the expression of this last emotion appears quite similar to a combination of Disgust and Anger.

You might wonder why Love is often omitted from the list. This is possibly due to much of the research coming from English-speaking sources where Love and Joy are often attributed to the emotion of Happiness. Thankfully, this addition of Love is becoming more prevalent in Dutch. In the English research field, you often encounter classifications of 4, 6, or 8 basic emotions. In the case of 8 basic emotions, there is an opposing polar variant for each:

• Joy – Sadness
• Anger – Fear
• Trust – Distrust
• Surprise – Anticipation

Are you still following along with all these differing opinions? The question remains: Why would anyone want to categorise or classify emotions? To answer that, let’s first explore the term “primary emotions” to understand why we experience them.

The Function of Emotions: Primary Emotions

Primary emotions are not what you might assume them to be—they are not the same as basic emotions. This term doesn’t refer to which emotions are fundamentally present in us but rather to the way we emotionally react. Broadly speaking, we could say:

• Primary emotions are the initial (instinctive) response to something in the external world.
• Secondary emotions are emotional responses as feedback to what you mentally make of it afterwards.

For instance, imagine walking down the street and witnessing an owner treating their dog in an aggressive way. Your primary emotional response would be shock (fear) as it is an instinctive reaction to aggression. Your primal brain assesses how safe it is for you to continue walking down that street. Then, you start drawing conclusions about the situation, your own feelings, and form judgments about that man. As a result of these thoughts, secondary emotional responses emerge—contempt, anger, or perhaps sadness. Thus, we distinguish emotions stemming from our survival instinct and emotions stemming from our human brain which are primarily focused on personal identification.

Emotion Groups: Vera Helleman’s Insight

Now, returning to the question of why anyone would want to classify emotions, we come to the explanation of why Vera Helleman, the developer of Emotion Coaching, introduced the term “emotion groups.” She investigated and researched the purpose behind our fundamental emotions and the function of both primary and secondary emotional responses—or in other words: what do we do with them?

The Purpose of Emotions

As you read in the section about primary emotions, humans have an innate drive to survive both physically and at the level of identity. Emotions serve to protect our body, our identity, and even our soul’s path. Emotions speak to us on all three levels—physical, mental, and spiritual. The way they do this depends on the emotion. It’s not that humans have just 4, 6, 7, or 8 emotions; we experience many more. There are numerous nuances and combinations of basic emotions, often referred to as “sibling” emotions. These can be divided into 8 emotion groups. One could argue that these emotion groups are also subsets of basic emotions, but since there is no consensus on this classification, the foundation for the division of the 8 emotion groups is different—it lies in the purpose of the emotion. By this, we mean that each emotion type has a function to propel you forward in this earthly world. One could also say that emotion groups correlate with certain life themes. This has many advantages for therapeutic applications because emotions serve as a conduit for both emotion-based diagnostics and emotional guidance and healing.

Emotion Ladders

By categorising emotions into these groups, all basic emotions and their nuanced variations can fit in, allowing us to form emotion ladders. These emotion ladders serve as a therapeutic tool that helps clarify a person’s connection to themselves or their detachment from themselves. One person’s anger might be very healthy, while another person’s anger might be destructive.