The Emotion Wheel was created by Robert Plutchik to help organize complex emotions and so that people could more easily gain clarity, identify, and label their emotions. We’ll dive into the specific emotions in the emotion wheel, and how to use it, but first let’s talk a bit about what an emotion is.
What is an Emotion?
Emotions prepare us to respond to a perceived or real environmental stimulus (e.g., being chased by a mountain lion or thinking that a friend is angry can both produce fear, causing us to retreat).
Theories Behind the Emotion Wheel
Evolutionary: emotions evolved to enhance survival by prompting appropriate reactions to the environment
- Social constructivist: emotions are not innate, but are socially and culturally constructed
- Plutchik’s emotion wheel uses an evolutionary perspective on emotion
- Emotions are incredibly powerful
How to Use the Emotion Wheel
Useful tool in individual therapy, group settings, or on your own to identify, generate, and explore the complexity of emotions
- In therapy, it can be a visual cue to discuss and label one’s emotions or try to generate an emotion that has been suppressed
- To help people regulate their emotions, it is a visual aid for converting emotions from negative to positive
The Emotion Wheel
Created by Robert Plutchik to visualize the complexity of emotions and help people identify and label their emotions
- There are 8 primary emotions, represented by primary colors, that vary in intensity
- The middle of the emotion wheel reflects the maximal levels of arousal of each emotion
- Grief, Loathing, Terror, Vigilance, Rage, Admiration, Amusement, Ecstasy
- Emotions placed closer to each other in the wheel are deemed more similar
Why Does the Emotion Wheel Work?
Using clear emotion labels to express oneself helps people to have more awareness of their emotions and communicate with others about their needs.
- People who use more granular language to describe their emotions tend to be more psychologically healthy and resilient (Tugade, Fredrickson & Barrett, 2004).
- Emotion wheel allows people to do this more easily by using colors, shapes, and symbols to help people dig deeper into their emotions
Components of Emotion in the Emotion Wheel
Emotions are coordinated with the body’s physiological responses
- They are also associated with facial, verbal, and/or behavioral expressions
- The subjective feeling component of emotion refers to our experience of emotions
- When we talk about our emotions, the subjective feeling is typically what we think of and describe
The Functions of Emotions in the Emotion Wheel
Each emotion serves an evolutionary function
- Plutchik identified the following survival behaviors as triggered by each emotion:
- For example, the feelings of fear/terror result in withdrawing behaviors that are meant to protect oneself
- In current times, fear or terror can result from psychological threats of rejection
