Emotion Dictionary | Glossary of Terms
Here are some terms you may encounter during the Managing Emotion program and evaluation surveys and what they mean. The list of terms and definitions has been provided in alphabetical order (i.e., sorted from A to Z).
Aggression
Spoken or physical behaviour that is threatening or involves physical or psychological harm to someone or something.
Anger
A strong feeling that makes you want to hurt someone or be unpleasant because of something that happened which you perceive to be frustrating, unfair, or unkind.
Anxiety
An uncomfortable feeling of nervousness or worry about something that is happening or might happen in the future.
Appraisal
The thoughts we have about a situation or event. Appraisal (or Reappraisal/Cognitive change) is also known as the fourth stage in the process model of emotion regulation. Strategies may include recognising whether an appraisal is helpful or unhelpful, focusing on helpful appraisals which align with how you want to feel, challenging unhelpful appraisals, and changing appraisals so that they are more helpful.
Appreciation
The act of recognizing or understanding that something is valuable, important, or as described.
Arousal
The experience of increased physiological or psychological activity.
Asexual
A person who experiences little or no sexual attraction to others and/or a lack of interest in sexual relationships/behaviour. They may or may not experience emotional, physical, or romantic attraction. Asexuality differs from celibacy in that it is a sexual orientation, not a choice. People who are asexual may call themselves ace.
Ashamed
Feeling guilty or embarrassed about something you have done or about a quality in your character.
Attention
Attention refers to taking notice of someone or something. Attention (or Attention deployment) is also known as the third stage in the process model of emotion regulation. We can focus or distract our internal and external attention in ways that help to manage our emotions.
Bisexual
A person who experiences sexual, romantic, physical, and/or spiritual attraction to more than one gender, not necessarily at the same time, in the same way, or to the same degree.
Blue
Feeling ‘blue’ refers to experiencing emotions of sadness or gloominess.
Calmness
The feeling or quality of being peaceful, quiet, and without worry.
Composure
The feeling or quality of being calm, confident, and in control.
Contempt
A strong feeling of lack of respect for someone or something.
Criticism
The construction of a judgement about the negative qualities of someone or something. Criticism can range from impromptu comments to a written detailed response.
Dejected
To feel unhappy, disappointed, low-spirited or lacking hope.
Depression
An emotional state ranging from unhappiness and discontent to an extreme feeling of sadness, pessimism, and lack of hope for the future, that interferes with daily life.
Disapproving
To express an unfavourable opinion or judgement on someone or something.
Discouraged
To feel disheartened or deprived of courage or confidence.
Disgust
A strong feeling of disapproval and dislike or aversion at a situation or an object’s behaviour or attributes.
Distress
A feeling of extreme worry, sadness, or pain.
Downregulate
The act of decreasing unhelpful emotions in a situation.
Emotion
Subjective internal states which we often experience through a variety of bodily sensations or symptoms. Emotions can be reactions to internal stimuli (such as thoughts or memories) or events that occur in our environment.
Emotion regulation
The ability to effectively manage and respond to an emotional experience.
Envy
The feeling that you wish you had something (e.g., a quality or possession) that someone else has.
External attention
Being aware of the things around in your environment. It can be helpful to pay attention to the things around you that increase helpful emotions (upregulate) or decrease unhelpful emotions (downregulate) in a situation.
Fear
An unpleasant emotion caused by the threat of danger, pain, or harm. Fear is a basic, intense emotion aroused by the detection of imminent threat, involving an immediate alarm reaction that mobilizes the organism by triggering a set of physiological changes.
Fixate
To become overly focused or attached on something.
Flaw
An imperfection, weakness, defect, or blemish that detracts from the whole or hinders effectiveness.
‘Flying off the handle’
To suddenly become very angry about something and behave in an uncontrolled and irrational way.
Gay
Used in some cultural settings to refer to a man who has a romantic and/or sexual orientation towards men.
‘Giving you a hard time’
To make things difficult or unpleasant for someone.
Goal setting
The process of deciding what you want to achieve, or what you want someone else to achieve, over a particular timeframe and making a plan of active steps that can be taken to help reach the desired outcome.
Gratified
An emotional state of satisfaction following the fulfillment of a desire or the meeting of a need.
Guilty
A painful appraisal of having done (or thought) something that is wrong, such as causing harm to another person, and is often accompanied by a readiness to take action to undo or mitigate this wrong.
Happiness
An emotion of joy, gladness, satisfaction, and well-being.
Helpful appraisals and responses
Appraisals and responses that help support us to achieve our goals.
Heterosexual
A person who is sexually attracted to people of the opposite sex.
Impatient
Not wanting to put up with or wait for something or someone. People who are impatient may show a tendency to be quickly irritated or provoked.
Inadequacy
A lack of confidence that makes you feel unable to deal with a situation.
Internal attention
Being aware of your own emotions, thoughts, and physiological responses. Engaging in internal attention can help with acknowledging your emotional experience, and then deciding what to do next to re-orient yourself to the goal at hand.
Intersex
Refers to people who are born with genetic, hormonal or physical sex characteristics that do not conform to medical norms for ‘male’ or ‘female’ bodies. Intersex people have a diversity of bodies and identities.
Intolerant
Unable or unwilling to endure.
Irritation
The state of feeling annoyed, impatient, or slightly angry.
Judgemental
Tendency to have or display an overly critical point of view.
Lesbian
Usually refers to a woman who has a romantic and/or sexual orientation toward women. Some nonbinary people also identify with this term.
Lonely
Feelings of isolation despite wanting social connections. It is often perceived as an involuntary separation, rejection, or abandonment by other people.
Love
A complex emotion involving strong feelings of affection and tenderness towards a person, object, or situation.
Mindfulness
The awareness that arises from paying attention in the present moment non-judgmentally and on purpose.
Negative emotions
Emotions that we typically find unpleasant to experience (e.g., sadness, fear, and anger) and are evoked to express a negative effect towards an event or person.
Negative self-beliefs
The unfavourable views we hold about ourselves.
Neutral
A feeling of indifference that is impartial and non-judgemental.
Non-binary
A person whose gender identity does not fall within the binary genders of man or woman. Someone who is non-binary might experience their gender as both male and female, or experience their gender as neither male nor female.
Obsess
To think about something unceasingly or persistently.
Positive emotions
Emotions that we typically find pleasurable to experience (e.g., happiness, joy, and amusement) and are evoked to express a positive effect towards an event or person.
Pride
A feeling of pleasure and satisfaction that you get because you or people connected with you have done or got something good.
Rejoice
To feel or show great happiness about something.
Reprimanded
To tell someone officially that they have done something wrong or inappropriate.
Resilience
The process and outcome of successfully adapting to difficult or challenging life experiences, especially through mental, emotional, and behavioural flexibility and adjustment to external and internal demands.
Response
Our behavioural reaction to a situation.
Response modulation
Response modulation is the fifth stage of the process model of emotion regulation. It refers to efforts to modify an emotion after it has been fully generated to influence how you subsequently feel. This may include trying to suppress your emotions or taking actions to help down-regulate an unhelpful emotion (e.g. mindfulness and relaxation, taking part in a positive activity, being weary of wildcard responses).
Sadness
The feeling of being unhappy that is usually aroused because something bad has happened, such as the loss of something that is highly valued.
Self-efficacy
The belief we have in our own abilities to face challenges, to strive for goals, and to take charge over the way we experience the world around us.
Self-evaluation
The process of observing and analysing our own actions or performance.
Shame
An unpleasant emotion arising from the loss of honour and respect in oneself from the sense of there being something dishonorable, immodest, or indecorous in one’s own conduct or circumstances.
Situation
A set of circumstances that someone finds themself in.
Situation modification
Situation modification is the second stage in the process model of emotion regulation. It refers to changing something about a situation that you are in to help improve or manage your emotional experience.
Situation selection
Situation selection is the first stage in the process model of emotion regulation. It refers to deciding whether to avoid or approach a specific situation based on whether the response would be helpful or unhelpful to your goal.
SMART goals
Goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-specific.
‘Snap back’
To recover quickly and easily from an illness or period of difficulty.
Stimulus
A thing or event that triggers a physical or behavioural reaction/ response.
Surprise
An unexpected event, or the feeling caused when something unexpected happens.
Tenderness
The quality of being gentle, loving, or kind.
Transgender
A person whose sense of personal identity or gender does not correspond to the sex they were assigned at birth, or does not conform to gender stereotypes.
Unhelpful appraisals and responses
Appraisals and responses that hinder our goals.
Upregulate
The act of increasing helpful emotions in a situation.
Wallowing
To indulge or surrender into the experience of a particular emotion.
Wildcard responses
Responses which may seem like a good idea at the time but may also lead to various negative consequences.