Emotions :-

Emotion is a mental state associated with the nervous system brought on by chemical
changes variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavioral responses, and a
degree of pleasure or displeasure.
Emotion is often intertwined with mood, temperament, personality, disposition,
and motivation.
Emotions can be defined as a positive or negative experience that is associated with a
particular pattern of physiological activity. Emotions produce different physiological,
behavioral and cognitive changes.
Emotions are complex. According to some theories, they are states of feeling that result
in physical and psychological changes that influence our behavior.
The physiology of emotion is closely linked to arousal of the nervous system with
various states and strengths of arousal relating, apparently, to particular emotions.
Emotion is also linked to behavioral tendency. Extroverted people are more likely to be
social and express their emotions, while introverted people are more likely to be more
socially withdrawn and conceal their emotions. Emotion is often the driving force
behind motivation, positive or negative. According to other theories, emotions are not
causal forces but simply syndromes of components, which might include motivation,
feeling, behavior, and physiological changes, but no one of these components is the
emotion. Nor is the emotion an entity that causes these components.
Emotions involve different components, such as subjective experience, cognitive
processes, expressive behavior, psychophysiological changes, and instrumental
behavior.
The Oxford Dictionary definition of emotion is "A strong feeling deriving from one's
circumstances, mood, or relationships with others." Emotions are responses to
significant internal and external events.
Emotions can be occurrences (e.g., panic) or dispositions (e.g., hostility), and short-
lived (e.g., anger) or long-lived (e.g., grief).
Importance/Significance of Emotions :-

Emotions can play an important role in how we think and behave. The emotions we feel each day
can compel us to take action and influence the decisions we make about our lives, both large and
small. In order to truly understand emotions, it is important to understand the three critical
components of an emotion.

There are three parts to an emotion:

1. A subjective component (how you experience the emotion)

2. A physiological component (how your bodies react to the emotion)
3. An expressive component (how you behave in response to the emotion).

These different elements can play a role in the function and purpose of your emotional responses.

1. Emotions Prepare the Body for Immediate Action:-

Emotions prepare us for behavior. When triggered, emotions orchestrate systems such
as perception, attention, inference, learning, memory, goal choice, motivational priorities,
physiological reactions, motor behaviors, and behavioral decision making. Emotions
simultaneously activate certain systems and deactivate others in order to prevent the
chaos of competing systems operating at the same time, allowing for coordinated
responses to environmental stimuli. For instance, when we are afraid, our bodies shut
down temporarily unneeded digestive processes, resulting in saliva reduction (a dry
mouth); blood flows disproportionately to the lower half of the body; the visual field
expands; and air is breathed in, all preparing the body to flee.

2. Emotions Influence Thoughts:-

Emotions are also connected to thoughts and memories. Memories are not just facts that
are encoded in our brains; they are colored with the emotions felt at those times the
facts occurred. Thus, emotions serve as the neural glue that connects those disparate
facts in our minds. That is why it is easier to remember happy thoughts when happy, and
angry times when angry. Emotions serve as the affective basis of many attitudes,
values, and beliefs that we have about the world and the people around us; without
emotions those attitudes, values, and beliefs would be just statements without meaning,
and emotions give those statements meaning. Emotions influence our thinking
processes, sometimes in constructive ways, sometimes not. It is difficult to think critically
and clearly when we feel intense emotions, but easier when we are not overwhelmed
with emotions.

3. Emotional Expressions Facilitate Specific Behaviors in Perceivers:-