1.2 From Emotions and Feelings to Socio-emotional Skills

2. The Roots

We can refer to emotion as a multi-componential term, including subjective feeling, appraisals, reactions in the service of action preparation and expressions, action tendencies, and regulation (Scherer, 2005; Frijda, 2007).  For example, an appraisal of unfairness will result in anger, whereas appraisals of outcome uncertainty and outcome motive inconsistency will combine to produce a feeling of fear (Elfenbein & MacCann, 2017).

Although emotions and feelings are quite different, these terms are usually used interchangeably to explain how something, or someone makes us feel. However, it is better to think of emotions and feelings as closely related, but distinct instances – basically, they are two sides of the same coin.

When talking about emotions we must also consider their physiological side, the lower-level responses occurring in the subcortical regions of the brain (for example, the amygdala, which is part of the limbic system) (LaBar & Cabeza, 2006) and the neocortex (ventromedial prefrontal cortices, which deal with conscious thoughts, reasoning, and decision making) (Bechara, Damasio, & Damasio, 2000; Donoso, Collins, & Koechlin, 2014). Those responses create biochemical and electrical reactions in the body that alter its physical state. Emotions are physical and instinctive, instantly prompting bodily reactions to threat, reward, and everything in between. The bodily reactions can be measured objectively by physiological measurement and neuroimaging technology, the most common are pupil dilation, skin conductance, skin temperature, blood pressure, vasomotor, brain activity, and heart rate, and facial expressions.

While emotions are associated with body reactions that are activated through neurotransmitters and hormones, feelings are the conscious experience of emotional reactions. Originating in the neocortical regions of the brain, feelings are sparked by emotions and shaped by personal experiences, beliefs, memories, and thoughts  that are linked to that particular emotion. Strictly speaking, a feeling is the side product of the brain perceiving an emotion and assigning a certain meaning to it (LeDoux, 2012).