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What's basic about basic emotions?

A Ortony1, T J Turner

  • 1Institute for the Learning Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60201.

Psychological Review
|July 1, 1990
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

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The concept of basic emotions as fundamental building blocks is widely assumed but lacks empirical support. This study questions the notion of basic emotions, suggesting alternative frameworks for emotion research.

Area of Science:

  • Psychology
  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Science

Background:

  • Theories of emotion often assume a limited set of basic emotions.
  • This assumption is linked to beliefs in specific neurophysiological and anatomical substrates for basic emotions.
  • Psychologically, basic emotions are considered primitive elements composing complex emotions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To examine the validity of the concept of basic emotions.
  • To determine if basic emotions serve as elementary psychological primitives.
  • To question the empirical and theoretical defensibility of basic emotions in emotion research.

Main Methods:

  • Critical analysis of existing theories and claims regarding basic emotions.
  • Examination of biological and psychological perspectives on basic emotions.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Presentation of an alternative approach to understanding emotional phenomena.

    • Main Results:

    • No coherent, nontrivial notion of basic emotions as elementary psychological primitives was found.
    • The idea that basic emotions explain other emotions lacks substantial empirical or theoretical backing.
    • The concept of basic emotions may be an article of faith rather than a scientifically supported basis for research.

    Conclusions:

    • The widely held view of basic emotions as foundational building blocks is scientifically questionable.
    • The postulation of basic emotions may hinder significant progress in emotion research.
    • Alternative frameworks are needed to explain the phenomena currently attributed to basic emotions.