Emotions vs. Feelings vs. Moods

EMOTIONS

Emotions are chemicals released in response to our interpretation of a specific trigger. It takes our brains about 1/4 second to identify the trigger, and about another 1/4 second to produce the chemicals. Emotional chemicals are released throughout our bodies, not just in our brains, and they form a kind of feedback loop between our brains and bodies. They last for about six seconds; hence, making them illogical reactions to logical situations. Basically, emotions are physiological.

Emotions originally helped our species survive by producing quick reactions to threat, reward, and everything in between in their environments. Emotional reactions are coded in our genes and while they do slightly vary individually and depending on circumstances, emotions are generally universally similar across all humans and even other species. Example: you smile and your dog wags its tail.

FEELINGS

Feelings happen as we begin to integrate emotions, to think about them, to “let them soak in.”  We use the word “feel” for both physical and emotional sensation: we can say we physically feel cold, but we can also emotionally feel cold.  This is a clue to the meaning of “feeling”; it’s something we sense.  Feelings are more “cognitively saturated” as emotional chemicals are processed in our brains and bodies. Feelings are often fueled by a mix of emotions, and last for longer than emotions. Basically, feelings are cognitive.

Feelings are mental associations and reactions to emotions and are subjectively influenced by personal experience, beliefs, and memories. A feeling is a mental portrayal of what is going on in your body when you have an emotion and is the byproduct of your brain perceiving and assigning meaning to the emotion.  Feelings are the next things happening after having emotions, involve cognitive input, usually are subconscious, and cannot be measured precisely.

MOODS

Moods are more generalized.  They are not tied to a specific incident, but are a collection of inputs.  Moods are heavily influenced by several factors: the environment (e.g. weather, lighting, people around us), physiology (e.g. what we’ve been eating, how we’ve been exercising, how healthy we are), and finally our mental state (e.g. where we’re focusing attention and our current emotions). A mood can last minutes, hours, and even days. Basically, moods are a physiological and cognitive response to emotion and feeling, a combination.

THREE BASIC DIFFERENCES IN A NUTSHELL

Emotion vs. Feeling vs. Mood

1. Automatic vs. After Reasoning vs. Combination

2. Fast (occurs in 6 seconds) vs. Slow (realization occurs in minutes, hours, days) vs. Extended (could last for minutes, hours, or days)

3. Powerful vs. Less Instense vs. Contingent (on the above factors)