Psychologist Nico Frijda was a renowned researcher. In 2006 he presented a work in which he raised what he believed were the laws of emotions, with the aim of setting fixed guidelines on this.
Emotions are difficult realities to categorize. Even more complicated is finding common emotional patterns from one individual to another. However, based on extensive research, Frijda has postulated that there are general rules that can be universally applied.
- The researcher himself noted that.
- As with all rules.
- There are also exceptions in this case; however.
- In its view.
- There are more fixed models than discrepancies; although Frijda has established 12 laws on emotions.
- They can actually be summed up in seven.
- Are:.
“We cannot forget that small emotions are the great captains of our lives and we obey them without realizing it. -Vincent Van Gogh-
For Frijda, emotions are the result of specific situations, they do not appear spontaneously, oblivious to anything, but arise from specific scenarios; to the extent that these scenarios exist only in the imagination, they are always associated with real situations.
Therefore, two similar situations generate the same type of emotional response. Then a loss leads to sadness and a gain to happiness. Regardless of the type of loss or gain, the emotional response is always the same.
This is one of the most interesting laws of emotions, he posts that people react emotionally to what they see as real, not to what is real, but to what we consider real.
It is the way to interpret reality that arouses emotions, not reality itself, so, for example, we can break down to cry watching a movie or be afraid to imagine a danger that did not appear in reality.
In this case, there are three laws of emotions: addiction, comparison and change. The law of addiction says that we always get used to our circumstances and consider them “normal,” even if they are not. The emotional response to the usual is not very intense.
The law of comparison indicates that we always compare the intensity of our emotional responses, consciously or unconsciously, while the law of change emphasizes that when faced with something new, the emotional response is more intense.
It is one of the most confusing laws of emotions, posing that it is much harder to get used to negative situations, the emotional response in this case is that of resistance and the application of the law of addiction is more relative.
With positive situations the opposite happens, we get used to it much more easily. Therefore, and because we get used to them, positive emotions tend to become less intense until they disappear.
Negative experiences tend to maintain their emotional power for a long time and the impact they produce can last for several years. Emotions are still there, even if the situation has passed.
This remains unchanged until a similar situation arises and can be positively reassessed, i. e. it must be properly revived and resolved for negative emotion to disappear.
The closing law says that emotions tend to forge an absolutist idea of reality. When the intensity of the emotion is very high, everything is seen in black and white. There’s only one side of the problem.
Another law of emotion is attention to consequences, this law emphasizes that people can shape their emotions based on the consequences they can cause, for example, it is possible to be very angry, but not attack unless the consequences are not serious.
The law of the lightest burden says that people can change their emotions if they interpret situations differently. People tend to look for interpretations that help them more protect themselves from negative emotions. For example, “if I’m going through this bad situation, it’s because something good is going on. “
The law of greatest gain indicates that we seek to reinterpret situations to gain an emotional benefit from this new vision, for example, we are afraid of heights and assume that people who challenge this fear are truly irresponsible.
Frijda’s laws of emotions contribute to this long work of understanding human emotions, and although this researcher postulates them as laws, in fact they have not been established as such by all schools of psychology, however, this does not diminish the validity of your conclusions.