What we feel, and why — a sourced, plain-language reference to human emotions, from the six basic emotions to the complex feelings built from them.
Human emotions are complex: they shape how we think, behave, and connect with others. List of Human Emotions is a free, sourced reference covering 18 emotions — what each one is, what triggers it, how it shows, and how it relates to the others.
Most psychologists, following Paul Ekman, recognise six basic emotions widely regarded as universal and innate: happiness, sadness, anger, fear, disgust, and surprise. Robert Plutchik showed how these combine to form the more complex emotions, such as love (joy + trust) or contempt (anger + disgust).
Use the emotions explorer to find the feeling you're curious about.
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