What are Feelings?
Feelings are both physical and mental sensations that are triggered when we internalize emotions. Feelings are cognitively saturated emotion chemicals. They are the expressions of how we interpret the sensations that occur in our bodies.
Stated plainly, feelings are our subjective experiences. In other words, feelings are the way we experience emotions. Feelings can be categorized into two groups: positive and negative.
Positive feelings come from rewarding experiences, such as feeling happy or content. Negative feelings come from punishing experiences, such as feeling angry or sad.
Feelings are subjective experiences that vary from person to person and cannot be accurately defined as either good or bad. For example, one person may experience one feeling of happiness while another may experience that same feeling of anger.
The environment in which a person grows up has a lot of influence on how they evaluate their surroundings and their reaction to the same and to the people in those surroundings. If one goes through a lot of rejections, they tend to project that feeling even to otherwise very accepting situations.
What are Emotions?
Emotions are a universal language. They help humans understand each other and empathize with one another. If you have experienced a traumatic situation, for example, it is relatively easier to understand someone else going through a similar issue.
We all have emotions, but sometimes we are not always aware of all of them, either on purpose or because we don’t have some facts. Emotions correspond with facial expressions.
Emotions are a part of our everyday life. They can be very basic, like happiness, or more complex, like regret. Some people may not be aware of some emotions at all, which can lead to more problems in life. Different types of emotions that people have from time to time include:
- Happiness
- Sadness
- Fear
- Surprise
- Disgust
- Anger
A study found that people who display more emotions in their daily life have a better quality of life and are less likely to suffer from depression or anxiety.
Emotion is an integral part of human life. It shapes the way we think, feel, and behave. They inform how we react to situations and to each other as human beings.
Difference Between Feelings and Emotions
Feelings are hard to define because they are subjective. They depend on the person’s past experiences and cultural upbringing. We can try to describe feelings in a general way by looking at the words that people use when talking about them. For example, we might say that someone is “happy” or “sad” if they are experiencing those feelings at the time of speaking.
In contrast, emotions are universal human experiences that can be described in terms of good or bad. For example, happiness is considered to be a good emotion, while anger is considered to be a bad emotion.
Comparison Between Feelings and Emotions
| Parameter of Comparison | Feelings | Emotions |
| Origin | Are reactions to emotions depending on how you perceive a situation. | They are sensed by the body due to occurrences in the surrounding. |
| Dependence | Depend on the emotions you go through at that particular time. | Are independent |
| State | They are conscious efforts to understand yourself. | Sometimes they are not consciously indicated, you just find that you have them. |
| Control | They can be controlled. | They surface automatically in the presence of a stimulus. |
| Presence | It is the state of being aware that a certain emotion exists within you. | It is experienced. |