Let’s say we don’t react at all when we get a party we don’t expect, when someone gives us an unexpected gift, or when we hear a sudden noise while walking down the street. Six basic emotions! We are talking about surprise, a forgotten but fascinating emotion that appears in the face of something new.
The world of emotions is really interesting. We are used to recognizing joy, sadness, anger and fear, but in making this list we forget about surprise and disgust, although the latter has become important in films dedicated specifically to emotions, such as Funny Mind, for example.
- In this article we will explore the most ephemeral and.
- At the same time.
- Unexpected emotion.
- That is.
- Let us immerse ourselves in the world of surprise.
- We’ll find out what it is.
- Its features and its effects.
? Life is full of surprises; when you least expect it, do the things you least imagine happen?-Anonymous-
Surprise is a sudden emotion that comes in the face of a situation or context that the person does not expect, arrives and disappears at an absolute speed and quickly links to another emotion according to the situation.
But why is this link happening? Let’s imagine that we walk and all of a sudden we get mugged, or that we’re going home and someone’s waiting for us, without us nodding, with a bouquet of flowers, how would we react?Probably with surprise, but soon another emotion appears depending on the situation.
For example, in the case of aggression, we would react with anger or fear, and in the case of flowers with joy. So the surprise is in line with the context.
In addition, with the emotional reaction there is an increase in cognitive activity, allowing to analyze the factors associated with surprise, so the surprise is quickly linked to an emotion.
However, surprise is one of the basic emotions. With joy, anger, fear, sadness and disgust. In fact, they can be found in any culture!We know this thanks to Paul Ekman, a psychologist who specializes in the way we externalize our emotions.
The surprise is neither positive nor negative. It’s a neutral emotion Let’s look at some of its features:
However, surprise is important because it facilitates curiosity and learning, and can also affect beliefs about other events.
For example, when a person takes an unexpected position, the arguments become surprising and, in most cases, more persuasive.
Surprise facilitates both adequate emotional and behavioral emergencies in unexpected situations, eliminating residual activity from the central nervous system that can lead to interference in the right reaction to the event’s innovative requirements.
In addition, it has physiological and subjective effects. Let’s look at each of them:
The physiological effects are those related to the functioning of the organism, surprisingly there are two types of activations:
In addition, there is a characteristic body expression: the upper eyebrows and eyelids rise, the pupils dilate, the mouth is open and the jaw descends as a result.
The knees may bend slightly and our body bends if we are standing. In addition, these reactions can be accompanied by sounds or words like: Ah!Oh! Mmm
These are the effects based on each person’s judgments and feelings, their duration will depend on when the subsequent emotional reaction begins, making it easier to mobilize for another emotion.
The main subjective effect is the phenomenon called “empty mind”. That’s because the situation catches us off guard and because it is difficult to explain what is happening at that particular moment.
In addition, surprise is a difficult feeling to define because of the amount of stimuli that can cause it, on the other hand, in many cases surprise acts as a prologue or prelude to another emotion, that is, after feeling the surprise. , we often feel happy or angry.
Because of this prologue nature, it is perhaps the shortest emotion of all, something that does not diminish its importance on an evolutionary level.
Therefore, surprise facilitates processes that involve attention, as well as exploration behaviors and curiosity in strange situations, and does so by directing cognitive processes towards the current situation.
Although not commonly spoken, we often feel it. In fact, it is one of the key elements of viral advertising. Proof of this is the study published by the Ibero-American Journal of Communication and Education, conducted by Alberto Dafonte Gómez.
In this study, the most shared videos were analyzed and it was suggested that 76% of the most successful videos use surprise as a resource. Impressive isn’t it?
Besides, it’s an altruistic emotion. It facilitates the subsequent emotional and behavioral response from the analysis of the new situation, thus preparing us to move quickly to another emotion and the truth is that the ideal companion of surprise is joy.
“Life gives you surprises and surprises bring you to life. ” – Ruben-