Robert Plutchik's

PSYCHOEVOLUTIONARY THEORY OF BASIC EMOTIONS

Postulates

1 ANIMALS AND HUMANS

The concept of emotion is applicable to all evolutionary levels and applies to all animals as well as humans.

Basic Emotions, Similarity, Intensity

2 EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY 3 SURVIVAL ISSUES

Emotions serve an adaptive role in helping organisms deal with key survival issues posed by the environment.

Emotions have an evolutionary history and have evolved various forms of expression in di erent species.

acceptance

4 PROTOTYPE PATTERNS 5 BASIC EMOTIONS 6 COMBINATIONS

delight serenity cheerfulness

tolerance

timidity apprehension

trust
admiration elation extasy fright terror

Dispite di erent forms of expression of emotions in di erent species, there are certain common elements, or prototype patterns, that can be identi ed.

joy
attentiveness expectancy

fear

dismay

There is a small number of basic, primary or prototype emotions.

panic uncertainty

amazement vigilance astonishment

All other emotions are mixed or derivative states; that is, they occur as combinations, mixtures, or compounds of the primary emotions.

anticipation
curiosity

surprise
distraction

7 HYPOTHETICAL CONSTRUCTS
Primary emotions are hypothetical constructs or idealized states whose properties and characteristics can only be inferred from various kinds of evidence.

interest

fury rage

grief loathing revulsion sorrow

Primary emotions can be conceptualized in terms of polar opposites.

OPPOSITES

anger
hostility annoyance

sadness

dejection

9 SIMILARITY 10 INTENSITY

disgust
aversion dislike boredom

gloominess pensiveness

All emotions vary in their degree of similarity to one another.

Each emotion can exist in varying degrees of intensity or levels of arousal.

Combinations & Opposites

A mixture of any two primary emotions may be called a dyad.
[often felt] [sometimes felt] [seldom felt]

Survival Issues
Organisms at all evolutionary levels face certain common functional survival problems .

PRIMARY DYADS
joy trust

SECONDARY DYADS TERTIARY DYADS

joy fear joy surprise

OPPOSITES
joy sadness

STIMULUS EVENT gain of valued object member of ones group threat unexpected event loss of valued object unpalatable object obstacle new territory

COGNITE APPRAISAL possess friend danger what is it? abandonment poison enemy examine

SUBJECTIVE REACTION
joy

BEHAVIORAL REACTION retain or repeat groom escape stop cry vomit attack map

FUNCTION gain resources mutual support safety gain time to orient reattach to lost object eject poison destroy obstacle knowledge of territory

love
trust fear trust

guilt
surprise

delight
trust sadness

con ict
trust disgust

trust fear

submission
fear surprise

curiosity
fear sadness

sentimentality
fear disgust

con ict
fear anger

alarm
surprise sadness

despair
surprise disgust

shame
surprise anger

con ict
surprise
anticipation

surprise

disappointment
sadness disgust sadness

?
anger

outrage
sadness
anticipation

con ict

sadness

remorse
disgust anger

envy
disgust
anticipation

pessimism
disgust joy

disgust

contempt
anger
anticipation

cynism
anger joy

morbidness
anger trust

anger

aggression
anticipation

pride
anticipation

dominance
trust
anticipation

joy

fear

anticipation

optimism

fatalism

anxiety

Scienti c Basis
Theories of Emotions: Psychoanalytic Theories Brain Function Theories Current Cognitive and Evolutionary Theories Early Behavioristic and Arousal Theories Major Traditions in the Study of Emotions
Sandor Rado

Paul Ekman
Paul D. MacLean George Mandler Karl H. Pribram Charles Brenner Joseph De Rivera Edward C. Tolman

Stanley S. Schachter
J. R. Millenson

Robert Leeper

Richard S. Lazarus
Marion A. Wenger

John Bowlby Magda B. Arnold

Paul T. Young

J. A. R. A. M. van Hoo

H. R. Conte
J. W. Papez

M. Sherman
Carrol E. Izard

Jos M. R. Delgado Manfred Clynes

Harold Schlosberg

Sylvan S. Tomkins

Charles Darwin

John B. Watson

William James

Walter B. Cannon

Burrhus F. Skinner

Siegmund Freud

Based on the Book EMOTION: A Psychoevolutionary Synthesis by Robert Plutchik; Harper & Row, Publishers (1980)

Visualization by Markus Drews, University of Applied Sciences Potsdam, Germany, February 2007

Supervised by Prof. Matthias Krohn