List of Emotions & Feelings: 15 Different Types

What Are Emotions?

Emotions are reactions to external and internal messages from our environment, social interactions, and bodies.¹ People generally respond with happiness, joy, or excitement when met with positive situations, while stressful or upsetting events can trigger sadness, anger, or frustration. Additionally, individuals often make decisions based on their feelings, meaning emotions play a critical role in everyday life.

In short, emotions are a complex interplay of a subjective experience (i.e., a triggering event), bodily response (i.e., butterflies in your stomach or anxiety), and behavioral response (i.e., smiling, yelling, or laughing). Generally, emotional intelligence helps individuals understand when different emotions are appropriate or inappropriate, depending on the situation and societal norms.

The Emotional Spectrum

Emotions occur on an endless spectrum of intensity and expression. In addition, every person experiences these feelings differently, making them even more complicated to understand and measure.² For example, innumerable responses can stem from one group facing the same situation.

However, many theorists categorize emotions as primary and secondary. Generally, primary emotions include those that every human experiences, such as happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, anger, and surprise. These feelings are universal across ages, genders, and societies.

Secondary emotions are responses to or a combination of primary reactions, like frustration, envy, or jealousy. For example, someone may feel embarrassed about showing anger toward another person.

List of 15 Emotions & Feelings

Developing a comprehensive list of emotions is difficult, perhaps even impossible. However, recognizing the basic spectrum of feelings can help you understand, articulate, and manage your emotions more effectively.

Below is a list of 15 common emotions:

1. Happiness

People feel happy when they connect with a positive situation, activity, or other person. For instance, someone may find happiness in socializing with loved ones or recalling a childhood memory. This emotion often manifests as a “lightness” in the body, almost as if physically uplifted by a pleasurable event.³

2. Sadness

While uncomfortable, sadness is an essential emotion. People feel sad for many reasons, such as loneliness, negative self-talk, rejection, or grief and loss. We may also experience this emotion when our loved ones encounter distress or after hearing about unfortunate events. We often feel sadness as a sense of slowness and depression in the body.³

3. Anger

Like sadness, we often try to avoid anger and the associated distress. Mad emotions can trigger a burning restlessness in the body, further compounding the upset toward a situation or person. Unaddressed or pent-up anger can fester and seep into our interactions with others, leading to relationship conflict, toxicity, and even violence.

However, anger is not “bad.” In some cases, anger represents self-advocacy and justice when targeted toward events that invalidate our boundaries, values, or self-beliefs. When used to enact positive change, anger can be an influential and driving force. For this reason, recognizing the difference between unhealthy and healthy anger is essential for emotional regulation.

4. Fear

Among the most crucial feelings and emotions is fear. Fear prevents us from making rash decisions or placing ourselves in danger. Being afraid is an instinctive emotion we all need to survive and thrive.

Still, fear can become unhealthy. For example, people may avoid situations or opportunities because they fear public speaking, social interactions, or specific objects (i.e., phobias). In these cases, our bodies may enact the fight or flight stress response, leaving us anxious, worried, and restless.

Fear can impede our ability to pursue positive change, healthy relationships, or self-growth. Because of this, consider if your reaction to a stressor is irrational next time you experience fear. Does this situation result in immediate danger? Re-evaluate your response if the answer is “no.”

5. Disgust

As with fear, disgust is a type of emotion that can steer us away from unhealthy objects or behavior. For instance, we may feel disgusted after seeing mold on our food, triggering our brain to think, “I shouldn’t eat that.” Other times, witnessing poor morals or injustice can cause disgust.

Unfortunately, many individuals feel disgusted about themselves. They may view aspects of their bodies, personalities, or situations as flawed or “less than.” In severe cases, self-loathing can stem from disgust.

6. Surprise

People feel surprised when encountering unexpected events. Like other types of emotions, surprise can be a positive or negative experience. For example, a happy surprise could be a visit from a loved one or winning a prize. An unpleasant surprise could mean receiving a medical diagnosis, breaking something, or being scared during a movie.

We typically experience a startled response or jumpiness when surprised, sometimes causing a “glitch” in our problem-solving cognitive processes. We may hesitate to respond or freeze before our brain has time to encode the incoming information. For this reason, taking a moment to settle and regroup allows us to respond appropriately when surprised.

7. Contempt

Contempt refers to feeling that something or someone is unworthy or unimportant. Contempt in relationships is harmful, often manifesting as a disregard for the needs, wants, or opinions of others. What causes these feelings varies, but many people may view someone as contemptible because of unresolved anger, frustration, or resentment.

A physical example of contempt could include mockery, name-calling, sarcasm, or eye-rolling. These behaviors often stem from internal disapproval, disrespect, or disdain toward another individual. Unfortunately, contempt can erode relationships, especially marriages.

8. Love

When we experience love, our bodies produce positive hormones. We feel euphoria as we connect with cherished family members, children, partners, or friends. Love reminds us of our place in our communities and environments.

Love comes from a place of vulnerability, as social bonds develop through mutual sharing and appreciation. Physical expressions of love differ depending on the relationship and person, but many show this emotion through hugs, holding hands, or kissing.

9. Jealousy

Jealousy is an emotion driven by the desire to obtain what others have. For example, people can envy belongings, characteristics, jobs, or social connections, believing they are more deserving of these things. In some cases, this emotion stems from anger and contempt, making for a perfect example of how our feelings connect.

Jealousy can intensify and worsen when left unaddressed. Feeling envious of someone for something you lack does more harm than good. Focusing on what you do not have can lead to low self-esteem, self-hatred, and contempt for your own life. Instead, pay attention to and build on your strengths to pursue positive changes.

10. Guilt

People feel guilt for behaving outside their values, morals, or expectations. Other times, we may feel guilty for not doing something. We may try to compensate for these feelings by constantly apologizing or attempting to “make up” for a mistake. Guilt can also come from remorse, as in survivor’s guilt.

Guilt is similar to anxiety in that you may feel a pit in your stomach or muscle tension. Allowing these emotions to grow can leave you restless and contribute to mental health issues, including low self-esteem, symptoms of depression, and stress.

11. Shame

Shame often results from festering guilt. We can feel shame for innumerable reasons, such as repeatedly falling short of personal or external expectations, being bullied for our differences, or feeling unworthy of love. These emotions can seep into every aspect of our lives, possibly leading to depression, isolation, and relationship problems.

Unfortunately, shame is rarely justified, as we frequently internalize false self-beliefs. For example, growing up with neglectful or uninvolved parents can leave us believing we do not deserve attention, care, or support. In turn, we feel ashamed of ourselves and the qualities our caregivers disregarded or ridiculed.

12. Gratitude

Gratitude means deeply appreciating something or someone, such as nature, the kindness of others, our families, or the lives we’ve built. Many positive emotions, like happiness, joy, and satisfaction, can accompany gratitude. Practicing gratitude could mean noticing your breath and appreciating how your body functions. You can also show this emotion by telling someone you value and cherish them.

13. Loneliness

Loneliness develops when we cannot connect with others, whether because of distance, poor relationship dynamics, or isolation. We can also experience loneliness if we feel misunderstood, even in the presence of others. This emotion can lead to long-term problems, including hopelessness, substance use, and even physical illnesses.⁴

14. Apathy

Apathy can be a distressing emotion. Individuals often feel numb, losing pleasure in activities they once enjoyed. Many may struggle with a lack of motivation or a disconnect from others. We can experience apathy for many reasons, but this reduced pleasure in life often stems from mental health conditions like depression or anxiety.

15. Embarrassment

People can feel embarrassed after deviating from societal norms, making mistakes, or facing rejection. This emotion often comes from a fear of judgment, meaning someone may fear the reactions and opinions of others based on their behavior. Ruminating thoughts, anxiety, isolation, or depression often accompany embarrassment. Embarrassment can manifest physically as blushed cheeks, stuttering, sweating, or rapid heartbeat.

Why Managing Emotional Reactions Is Important

The list of emotions and feelings can seem never-ending and daunting to someone starting their self-awareness journey. However, recognizing and understanding the different types of emotions is essential for increasing emotional intelligence and improving relationships. Allowing your feelings to overwhelm you can cloud your judgment and affect your decision-making abilities. Additionally, not validating how others feel leads to conflict, disdain, and contempt.

You can start recognizing emotions in your body by paying attention to what precedes your reactions. For example, anxiety can feel like tense muscles, an increased heart rate, or a desire to leave the situation. These early signs can help you prepare for a stressful event and respond appropriately.

How Emotions Impact Mental Health

When emotions are ignored, it communicates to our body system that this emotion is unsafe, intensifying it. When emotions are unsafe, they do not complete themselves, meaning they linger in the body. This can lead to depression, anxiety, or other mental health concerns. Without expressing our emotions with others, our relationships with others can lead to increased loneliness or depression.

Proper emotional regulation techniques allow a person to feel emotions while making effective reaction decisions. Emotion regulation is a strategy that allows people to influence not only which emotions they feel but also how intensely they show up and how their body reacts to them.(5) Learning these techniques can allow us to have these important emotions in a way that we can feel in control.

When to Seek Professional Support

We can gain more control over our emotions and feelings by understanding and regulating our reactions to situations. Exploring these feelings alone can be scary, but finding the right therapist can assist you in your self-discovery journey. Therapy can help you explore your triggers and identify healthier ways to respond when feeling stressed, overwhelmed, or angry.

Using an online therapist directory makes the process of locating a provider simpler. These tools filter therapists based on location, specialty, insurance coverage, and modalities so you can choose the perfect fit. Online therapy options are also available if you prefer at-home care or have limited access to mental health resources. Don’t wait to seek support–you can improve your well-being by learning healthy coping and emotional regulation skills.