Verified by 
"Cognition is a frail craft floating on a sea of emotion." —Donald L. Nathanson, M.D.
What’s your reaction to this statement? For many of us, it may appear to be an obvious truth.
We intuitively, and perhaps intellectually, know that our rational thoughts can be overwhelmed when our emotions are running high. We have phrases in our culture that indicate this kind of “knowing.”
Reflecting what it feels like to be emotionally hijacked, we have phrases like:
- He was out of his mind.
- I felt like I was in a fog.
- She couldn’t think straight.
- I completely lost it.
So what exactly are these emotions that seem to take over and rule us for an hour, a day, or a lifetime?
There are currently many debates about how many and what “emotions” humans possess. One recent study indicates we have a daunting 27 possible emotions to manage. The ever-evolving work that neuroscientists and academicians are doing to understand our affective experiences is exciting.
At the same time, in my experience of studying, teaching and practicing psychotherapy for over three decades, I believe we humans actually have a multitude of emotions or blends of emotions, based on our own unique life experiences. What makes approaching our emotional life less daunting is to begin to find language for the essential building blocks of those emotions: nine innate affects.
Affects: The Essential Foundations of Emotion
Like the letters of the alphabet that can be combined to create millions of expressive words, innate affects are the building blocks of our myriad emotions. With us from birth, affects are the essential, hardwired foundations for our later complex, nuanced, and varied emotions.
When an infant reaches approximately 8 months of age, the basic affects start to evolving into the experience of what we call “emotions.”
It's at this age, the “affects” begin joining with the child’s growing memory, perception, cognition, and the influences of the family and culture into which she’s born. Emotions are emerging.
Helpfully, having a foundational understanding and recognition of the nine innate affects gives us a starting point to understand the emotions they quickly evolve into, and with which we’ll be blessed and challenged throughout life.
Putting Feelings Into Words
“All wisdom is rooted in learning to call things by the right name. When things are properly identified, they fall into natural categories, and understanding becomes orderly.” —Confucius
“Putting feelings into words (affect labeling) has long been thought to help manage negative emotional experiences... Recent neuroimaging studies... suggest that affect labeling may diminish emotional reactivity along a pathway from... the amygdala." —Leiberman, Eisenberg, Crockett, et al., Psychological Science. 2007 May;18(5):421-8.
Beginning to “put feelings into words” helps the young child to share what he needs, make sense of his internal experience, and navigate his external world. Naming our feelings also empowers us in our adult world. But, for some of us who didn’t grow up with a language for our emotions, the effort to express what we’re “feeling” can seem overwhelming.
The good news is, whatever thousands of words we may have for our feelings, mastery of our experience can start with knowing just nine innate affects identified by psychologist Silvan S. Tomkins. As we start to give language to these nine building blocks, we have a foothold into understanding our more complex experiences.
Beginning Words: Identifying Nine Universal Affects
The nine basic affects which Tomkins identified are below. There are two positive, one neutral, and six negative affects. We experience them on a continuum of intensity, from mild to more extreme.
- Interest: Excitement
- Enjoyment: Joy
- Surprise: Startle
- Distress: Anguish
- Fear: Terror
- Anger: Rage
- Disgust
- Dissmell (a Tomkins neologism derivative of smell and the hunger drive; it’s an emotion calling for “distance”)
- Shame: Humiliation
As we move forward, this blog column will explore the social, biological, and evolutionary functions of each of these affects, still relevant today.
Further on, we will be exploring the many ways we can better recognize our own emotional experiences; learn to manage our emotions to enable problem-solving, innovation, and self-actualization; and, perhaps most critically, lay a healing foundation for self-compassion and empathy for others.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional or psychological advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Contact a qualified healthcare provider before implementing or modifying any personal growth or wellness program or technique, and with questions about your well-being. Copyright ©2019 Jennifer Lock Oman, LISW. All rights reserved.
