New Ideas in Psychology

[ Feelings ] [ Model of Emotion ] [ Influence of Value ]

[ Compound Emotions ] [ Unconscious Ideas ]

No feeling or emotion is permanent.

There is a constant oscillation between the positive and negative feelings. Emotions are constantly changing, in part because feelings change, and in part due to the constant stream of ideas that flow in the unconscious mind. At the conscious and subconscious levels of mind we can focus on an unconscious idea and use it to pursue a trend or theme about something that interests us at that moment. Hence we can make an emotion last whilst we follow that trend. [ The previous article outlined the differences between the subconscious and unconscious minds ].

The difference between the flow of ideas at the conscious and the subconscious levels is mainly related to the issue of change. The conscious flow is easy to change, especially when we are in social company, but the subconscious flow seems to have a life of its own and is highly resistant to conscious attempts to change it. In social company or if we are idealistic we can give preference to whatever conscious ideas appeal to us, and hence control our conscious emotional response. But on our own, without the influence of others or of idealism, the subconscious mind usually exerts priority in emotional response. If the conscious mind is not dominant, that is, if we do not value what we are doing at any particular moment, then the subconscious mind is dominant (and so we may become subject to uncontrollable moods).

What we value about life, about relationships, about ourselves, has a strong influence on our range of emotions that we regularly experience.

As I show on the next page, emotions can be grouped into complementary pairs. I call these pairs ‘binaries’. On the previous page, following the definition of emotion, I used two examples of binary emotions. I paired anger and fear together, and then love and hate together. Another binary is vanity and self-pity.
What determines the choice of either emotion in a pair ? For example, what governs a person, at a particular moment, in their selection of either anger or fear as their response to something? The choice is not a random one. The choice revolves around the dominating influence of value.

We put a value on emotional experience. By either liking or disliking (desiring or not desiring) things, relationships, situations, etc we put a value on them. At any particular moment we may either like or dislike something ; but this liking and disliking can take many forms.
For example, the way that we like that something may lead us to choose between anger, love or vanity as our response. Anger allows us to dominate the situation ; love enables us to harmonise with other people ; vanity lets us feel important. The way that we dislike it may focus on fear, hate or self-pity. So if our desire to dominate is uppermost then we choose anger, whereas if our desire to avoid being dominated is stronger then we choose fear.

I generalise about the way we usually handle the situations that we find ourselves in. At any particular moment we are focusing on a trend of thought, with a relevant emotion being experienced. Then there is some change in the situation that needs an emotional response from us. Sometimes we can consciously choose our response, particularly if the situation is a pleasant one. But more often than not we act subconsciously. The value that we place on the situation at that moment determines which emotion will be felt.

For example, if we are feeling discontented, we will place little positive value on our present experience ; then when we have to respond to something we are more likely to choose some form of hostile or fearful response.

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Copyright © 2002 Ian Heath
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