Emotion Identifier: Recognizing the Feelings That You Experience
Feeling fine or okay isn't a genuine emotion, mate. The truth is, we often lack the emotional vocabulary to understand our true feelings. That's where a feeling wheel comes in handy. It helps us identify our emotions and better express them.
The Lowdown on Feelings Wheel
The feeling wheel is a powerful tool designed to help people recognize their feelings and communicate them more effectively. The idea of a feelings wheel was initially proposed by American Psychologist, Robert Plutchik in 1980. He called it the "Wheel of Emotions" and it consists of eight primary emotions such as joy, sadness, anger, disgust, surprise, fear, trust, and anticipation.
Later in 1982, Gloria Willcox created another concept, known as the "Feeling Wheel." Unlike Plutchik, Willcox's version presents six primary emotions on opposite sides of the wheel. The wheel is balanced between comfortable and uncomfortable emotions.
Overall, the feeling wheel has up to 72 possible feelings that you might experience, with each primary emotion having 12 feelings categorized under it.
How it Works
The feeling wheel consists of concentric circles. The central circle contains the basic emotions or core feelings. Just outside of it, is the secondary circle with the secondary feelings. Lastly, the tertiary circle contains the tertiary feelings.
Secondary and tertiary emotions are more accurate identifiers of your feelings compared to the circle of core emotions.
Winning Perks
Understanding and expressing our feelings is crucial for navigating life's complexities. The ability to identify our own feelings and those of others is a skill that contributes to emotional intelligence.
Fostering Emotional Awareness
With a visual representation of different feelings, individuals can pinpoint their feelings precisely. This heightens their awareness of their emotions, encouraging them to explore the experiences that arise from these emotions.
Developing Communication Skills
Rather than using vague expressions, the feeling wheel helps improve communication by providing emotional vocabulary and a visual framework. This can help individuals connect the dots, especially in interpersonal connections where feelings can be complex.
Encouraging Self-Reflection
The feeling wheel encourages self-reflection by prompting individuals to pause and re-examine their emotions throughout the day or week.
Building Empathy
With the feelings wheel, communication about feelings becomes more precise. This fosters empathy as individuals with shared feelings can comprehend and relate to one another better.
Honing Problem-Solving Skills
Identifying your feelings and understanding why you feel that way equips you with the ability to tackle challenges and form action plans. Thus, developing problem-solving skills.
Promoting Mental Well-Being
The wheel encourages individuals to handle their emotions in a healthy manner. Naming your emotions can empower you to understand and manage your reactions to situations.
How to Use it
To get started, download the feeling wheel PDF available here or search for a feeling wheel template online. Follow these five simple steps:
- Identify the Core Emotion: Look at the feeling wheel template and choose an emotion that resonates best with how you feel.
- Expand to Specific Emotions: Once you've identified the core emotion, select the exact word that accurately describes your specific emotion.
- Choose the Most Accurate Descriptor: Consider your current feelings and choose the emotion that resonates most accurately.
- Reflect on Triggers: Think about what might have triggered your feelings, based on the feeling words and the colors they are associated with.
- Express and Process Your Emotions: Once you've explored various emotions, take some time to process your feelings and express them through conversations, journalling, painting, or other creative outlets.
Feelings Wheel vs. Emotion Wheel
The main difference between the feeling wheel and the emotion wheel lies in their structure. Plutchik's emotion wheel has eight core emotions, while Willcox's feeling wheel has six core emotions, and fewer words to describe each emotion.
The feeling wheel, a tool designed by psychologists, helps individuals identify and express their emotions more effectively. It consists of primary, secondary, and tertiary feelings, providing a comprehensive list of up to 72 possible emotions a person might experience. By using the feeling wheel, one can foster emotional awareness, develop communication skills, encourage self-reflection, build empathy, hone problem-solving skills, promote mental well-being, and delve into personal-growth opportunities in health-and-wellness, lifestyle, relationships, education-and-self-development, and science. It serves as an essential instrument for enhancing emotional intelligence and emotional literacy.
