10 surprising psychological facts about feelings and emotions

How do the emotions we feel influence us? Ten psychological facts you should know.

Human beings are emotional beings, and for that reason we can sometimes we can seem irrational at times..

In fact, our emotional side even influences us in making important decisions. As Antonio Damasio said: "emotion is a necessary ingredient in almost every decision we make". The truth is that emotions and strong feelings are capable of moving the world. That is why today's post is dedicated to this topic.

10 psychological facts about the feelings and emotions of human beings

1. Without realizing it, we are affected by other people's moods

Almost without realizing it, we are deeply affected by other people's moods. Experts call this phenomenon "emotional contagion". This is a natural process involving mirror neurons, which allow us to reflect other people's emotions, as concluded by Ginger Blume's research conducted in 2007.

2. Emotional pain hurts the same as physical love

In recent years, neuroimaging studies have shown that the regions involved in the processing of pain the regions involved in processing physical pain overlap with those related to emotional pain and social distress (Jaeger Blume, 2007). and social distress (Jaffe, 2013).

3. There is a phobia of falling in love: philophobia.

The fear of being in love is called Philophobia. This condition is part of the anxiety disorders and affects the social and emotional life of the person who suffers from it. In severe cases, the philophobic may not only avoid potential lovers, but may also stop relating to co-workers, neighbors, friends and family members.

• To learn more about this disorder, you can visit our article: "Philophobia or the fear of falling in love".

4. When we hug, we release oxytocin.

Do you know why hugging feels so good? Because when we hug, we release a hormone called oxytocin.. This hormone plays a major role in building trust and has an important role in social interactions.Reptiles release oxytocin during sex, but mammals produce it all the time. This is why reptiles stay away from other reptiles except when mating, while mammals form attachments with family members, litters or herds.

5. Different daily experiences can deplete one's ability to resist moral temptations.

Do we always act the same in the face of temptation? Apparently not. One study (Kouchaki, 2013) states that. people are more prone to have less self-control when they are tired. On the other hand, another study concluded that people have less self-control as the workday progresses (Barnes et al. 2014).

These results could be linked to another study, from Florida State University, which states that restoring glucose to an optimal level often improves self-control. And it turns out that in 2009, Stanford University School of Medicine found that circadian rhythms are directly related to the mechanism that process Blood sugar. Thus, fatigue could be associated with decreased willpower in the face of immoral temptations.

This could occur in both directions. That is, people would tend to behave immorally when they are tired due to lack of self-control. But lack of self-control can also affect people, causing them to let their guard down and succumb to immoral temptations.

6. Emotional desensitization of parents can be bad for children.

The desensitization is defined as the decrease in emotional responsiveness to a negative or aversive stimulus after repeated exposure to it. to it. In a recently conducted study, it was shown that when parents become desensitized about violence and sex in movies, they become more permissive about their children's exposure to these types of movies (Romer, 2014).

7. Chocolate is the love drug

Chocolate has been considered an aphrodisiac, but it has also been baptized as the love drug. And it is not precisely because we are used to giving chocolates together with flowers to show love to our partner. But then, what is the reason? Chocolate contains tryptophan, a chemical that helps produce serotonin, the neurotransmitter related to happiness, and plays an important role in mood, emotional well-being and the proper balance of appetite and sleep.

In addition, chocolate also contains phenylethylamine, a neurotransmitter involved in promoting attraction, and stimulates brain areas related to pleasure. In heartbreak, the levels of these two substances decrease. That is why, when a romantic partner leaves us, we gorge ourselves on chocolate to make up for this deficit..

8. Psychological science affirms that there are four emotions and not six.

Ever since the American psychologist Paul Ekman first proposed that there were a total of six basic emotions, this has been the popular belief. According to Ekman, the emotions were: sadness, happiness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust..

Now, a study published in Current Biology and carried out by researchers at Glasgow University in the United Kingdom, affirms that there are 4 basic emotions.

• To learn more about this study, in this article by psychologist Bertrand Regader we explain: "Study shows that the basic emotions are four, and not six as previously believed".

9. Mirror neurons are related to empathy

Mirror neurons are key to the harmonization of individuals with the environment, as they allow us to capture the emotions of others, not through conceptual reasoning but through direct experience. The reason you blush when you see someone when they are being humiliated, or identify with a person when they are crying, is because of mirror neurons. Ramachandran states that these neurons give us the ability to empathize, that is, they make us feel what others feel.

10. Laughter and humor are a form of therapy.

There are many types of psychological therapy. One of them is laughter therapy, an alternative therapy that consists of creating situations that encourage laughter and humor.. In this way it is possible to relieve physical and emotional tensions. The benefits of laughter therapy are many.

• To learn more about this form of therapy, just click on this link: "Laughter therapy: the psychological benefits of laughter".

Bibliographical references:

• Gadenne, V. (2006). Philosophy of psychology. Spain: Herder.
• Papalia, D. and Wendkos, S. (1992). Psicología. Mexico: McGraw-Hill
• Triglia, Adrián; Regader, Bertrand; García-Allen, Jonathan (2016). Psicológicamente hablando. Paidós.