What Is an Emotion Wheel?

Have you ever had problems describing your feelings precisely? When you’re joyful, sad, or angry, you could find it simple to say. But because we are complex creatures, we feel a variety of emotions. It can be challenging to remain completely objective about all of your feelings What Is an Emotion Wheel?.

Understanding your own feelings as well as those of others is one of the characteristics of emotional intelligence. A deeper comprehension of emotions can result in enhanced relationships, communication skills, and coping mechanisms.

A tool for recognising and comprehending emotions is an emotion wheel. Learn more about the evolution of the emotion wheel, its various iterations, and practical applications.

Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions

In 1980, American psychologist Robert Plutchik developed Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions, one of the most well-known emotion wheels.

As part of his psycho evolutionary theory of fundamental emotions, the wheel was created to assist illustrate various emotions. According to his theory, our fundamental emotions serve to set off our survival instincts and serve an evolutionary function. Additionally, he thought that because all animals and humans have similar midbrain (limbic system) activities, the concept of emotions applies to both.

8 Core Emotions

Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions is shaped like an octagonal flower with eight petals. It comprises of eight fundamental emotions that are arranged in pairs of polar opposites and placed across from one another:

Joy verses sadness
Fear versus rage
Surprise versus expectation
Entitlement versus acceptance

The second circle contains the main emotions, and each layer’s colour intensity corresponds to the strength of the associated emotion. While the emotions at the centre of the wheel are darker and more strong, those in the outside layer are softer and milder.

Different intensities of expression are possible for each basic emotion:

From calm to ecstasy, joy can be experienced.
Between acceptance and appreciation, there is trust.
It can manifest as timidity or terror.
Surprise can range from doubt to surprise.
Gloominess to mourning are all types of sadness.
Disgust includes dislike and abhorrence.
Anger can vary from irritation to wrath.
From interest to attentiveness, anticipation is present.

Combining Emotions

New emotions can be produced by combining various core feelings. Several instances include:

Love: Joy + Trust
Fear + Trust = Submission
Awe = Fear + Surprise
Disapproval is equal to Surprise Plus Sadness.
Remorse = Sadness + Disgust
disgust plus rage equals contempt
Aggression = Anticipation + Anger
Serenity plus interest equals optimism

Other Emotion Wheels

Even though Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions is one of the more well-known ones, you might not find it practical or useful. As a result, a few other emotion wheels have been created since.

Geneva’s Wheel

Geneva’s Wheel is shaped more like a rectangle with four major quadrants than like a wheel.

It classifies emotions into four groups:

Negative, Overly Controlling
Unfavorable
Low Control Favourable
High Control Favourable
Low Control

It depends on whether the emotion is pleasant or unpleasant, how much control you believe you have over it, what events led to it, and how much power you feel you have over it.

For instance, the sensation of surprise is classified as poor control since it lies on the line between pleasant and unpleasant. Surprises aren’t always pleasant, and it can be hard to keep that feeling under control. Anger and melancholy are both unpleasant emotions with different degrees of emotional control.

Junto’s Wheel

The Junto Institute developed Junto’s Wheel as a for-profit tool to assist companies in raising the emotional intelligence of their workforce. 5

It features a straightforward design that is simple to use and comprehend, consisting of three inner rings. The core of basic emotions is here: 5

Love
Fear
Anger
Sadness
Surprise
Joy

The feelings become increasingly complex and specialised as you approach the outside edge of the wheel. When attempting to comprehend the deeper levels of your initial feelings, this can be useful.

You might be angry, for example. However, after some introspection, you find you’re also experiencing feelings of resentment, frustration, and jealousy.

Tips For How to Use An Emotion Wheel

It works to lessen the strength and impact of our bad emotions to express them verbally.

How to Use and Emotion Wheel

You can learn how to comprehend your feelings by using an emotion wheel. To get you started, consider these suggestions:

Name that feeling: Maybe your day at work wasn’t so good. You experience unease and a lack of confidence. Find one or more emotions on the list that best describe the feeling while keeping an eye on the wheel. You may feel better in control of those feelings if you can express those feelings verbally.
Think about what’s making you feel this way: The next step is to look a little closer in order to identify possible reasons for these feelings. People frequently become emotionally charged as a result of a succession of encounters rather than a single event. Reflect on your day, the previous week, the previous month, or even the previous year. For instance, you might be depressed even when nothing depressing occurred that day. However, you haven’t seen your friends in weeks. You can be yearning for social interaction and feeling alone and lonely.
Once you’ve determined the causes of your feelings: you may take steps to control how you respond to them and deal with the triggers. This can entail altering your schedule, engaging in positive activities, talking to a friend about what has been happening, or journaling about it. You can sometimes move on from your emotions by accepting them for what they are and having clarity about them.

A Word From WinAspire

Long-term benefits of confronting and managing your emotions are enormous. 7 It can be beneficial to speak with a therapist or healthcare provider if you struggle to control your emotions. They can give you a greater understanding of who you are, assist you in creating strategies to enhance your mental health, and offer a secure environment in which you can explore your ideas and feelings.