Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsThe Emotion QuizWho Is This Test For?About This Human Emotion TestWhat to Know About Human Emotions4 Types of Human EmotionsHappinessSadnessFearAnger
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
The Emotion Quiz
Who Is This Test For?
About This Human Emotion Test
What to Know About Human Emotions
4 Types of Human Emotions
Happiness
Sadness
Fear
Anger
Close
Emotions are a critical component of our daily lives and can often define the human experience. Take this free quiz to help you determine which emotion drives the way you experience the world and express your feelings.
This test is for anyone who is curious about which emotion is more dominant in the way you experience things or express yourself.
This test is designed to help you find out which of the four basic types of human emotions drives you.
Although emotions and the way we experience them can shift, the test is not meant to be a measure of your current mood. Each response corresponds to one of the four main emotions.
Emotions shape how we feel, perceive events, make choices, and mingle with others. Over the years, researchers and psychologists have debated the definitions of emotions and the number of emotional states that exist.
In the 1970s, a psychologist named Paul Eckman said there were six basic emotions all humans experienced. He named these as happiness, sadness, disgust, fear, surprise, and anger.
Psychologist and professor Robert Plutchik created the Wheel of Emotions, also called a feelings wheel. His theory was that basic emotions could be built on to describe more complex emotions and mixed emotional states. The wheel has basic emotions and several others that branch out and even combine to create new emotions. For example, disgust combined with anger equals contempt.
One 2017 study published inProceedings of National Academy of Sciencesidentified 27 different basic emotions.
A 2019 study published inFrontiers in Psychologyidentified four basic emotions. The research also discussed deeper layers of emotions where basic emotions can branch out.
The four main types of basic human emotions include happiness, sadness, fear, and anger. You can think of them as a foundation for the range of emotional states we experience. Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions includes these, with several others branching off from them.
Happinessis the most pleasant of the four basic emotions and the one we most often hope to experience. It’s associated with joy and well-being.
Even though it’s considered a basic emotion, happiness can be more complex. Happiness for one person can be completely different for another person. Sometimes we think certain things or circumstances will lead to happiness, but we end up being wrong.
Some research suggests happiness is linked to better health and potentially even living longer. However, expressing only happiness without the other emotions might indicate a denial of other feelings or issues.
Who doesn’t like to feel happy? We spend our lives trying to feel this way! Just remember that happiness is an emotion, and like all emotions, it isn’t constant. It’s okay to feel other things and know that you will feel happy again in the future.—AMY MARSCHALL, PSYD
Who doesn’t like to feel happy? We spend our lives trying to feel this way! Just remember that happiness is an emotion, and like all emotions, it isn’t constant. It’s okay to feel other things and know that you will feel happy again in the future.
—AMY MARSCHALL, PSYD
Is Happiness a Choice?
Sadnesscan be experienced as a temporary state that ranges in intensity, or it can be ongoing. For example, sadness that doesn’t go away is one of the two main symptoms of a major depressive episode. It’s associated with grief, feeling hopeless, or disinterest.
Coping with sadness might lead to behaviors like substance use and withdrawing from other people.
Everyone feels sad, lonely, disappointed, rejected, and low from time to time. If you have trouble shaking that feeling, or sadness comes around for you most days, a therapist might be able to help you."—AMY MARSCHALL, PSYD
Everyone feels sad, lonely, disappointed, rejected, and low from time to time. If you have trouble shaking that feeling, or sadness comes around for you most days, a therapist might be able to help you."
Your body might physically react to fear with tense muscles, a raised heart rate, and racing thoughts.
In the modern world, fear is often associated withanxiety. Although, fear is defined as an emotional response to an immediate threat and anxiety is considered a response to a perceived threat in the future.
Fear is an indicator that we might be in danger, but sometimes our minds alert us to danger that is not there. If you feel fearful a lot of the time, or experience fear that is not proportionate to the situation, a therapist might be able to help.—AMY MARSCHALL, PSYD
Fear is an indicator that we might be in danger, but sometimes our minds alert us to danger that is not there. If you feel fearful a lot of the time, or experience fear that is not proportionate to the situation, a therapist might be able to help.
Anger is an intense emotion associated with hostility, rage, and frustration. The cause of anger could be an injury, either real or imagined, or a believing an injustice has occurred.
This powerful emotion can be expressed as aggressive behavior intended to cause harm, but that’s not always the case. Anger can also be used as a constructive force to help us remove something unpleasant or harmful from our lives. However, anger that is intense or hard to control can negatively impact life and relationships and potentially be harmful to others.
Like happiness, research has found anger has an impact on health. It’s thought to be linked to developing chronic conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.
Anger can be an effective way for our brains to tell us something isn’t acceptable. But if you find that you struggle to control your behavior when you feel angry, anger management support can help you regulate this emotion in a healthy way.—AMY MARSCHALL, PSYD
Anger can be an effective way for our brains to tell us something isn’t acceptable. But if you find that you struggle to control your behavior when you feel angry, anger management support can help you regulate this emotion in a healthy way.
5 Sources
Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Gu S, Wang F, Patel NP, Bourgeois JA, Huang JH.A model for basic emotions using observations of behavior in drosophila.Front Psychol. 2019;10:445286. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00781
Lawrence EM, Rogers RG, Wadsworth T.Happiness and longevity in the united states.Social Science & Medicine. 2015;145:115-119. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.09.020
Kozlowska K, Walker P, Mclean L, Carrive P.Fear and the Defense Cascade: Clinical Implications and Management.Harv Rev Psychiatry.2015;23(4):263-87. doi:10.1097/HRP.0000000000000065
Staicu M, Cuţov M.Anger and health risk behaviors.J Med Life. 2010;3(4):372-375.
Anwar Y.Emoji fans take heart: Scientists pinpoint 27 states of emotion. Berkeley News. 2017.Gu S, Wang F, Patel NP, Bourgeois JA and Huang JH (2019) A Model for Basic Emotions Using Observations of Behavior inDrosophila.Front. Psychol.10:781. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00781Lee MA, Kawachi I.The keys to happiness: Associations between personal values regarding core life domains and happiness in South Korea.PLoS One. 2019;14(1):e0209821. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0209821Plutchik, R. (2001). The Nature of Emotions: Human emotions have deep evolutionary roots, a fact that may explain their complexity and provide tools for clinical practice.American Scientist,89(4), 344–350. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27857503Sachs ME, Damasio A, Habibi A. The pleasures of sad music: a systematic review. Front Hum Neurosci. 2015 Jul 24;9:404. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00404.Sutton, T.M., Altarriba, J.Color associations to emotion and emotion-laden words: A collection of norms for stimulus construction and selection.Behav Res48, 686–728 (2016). doi:10.3758/s13428-015-0598-8
Anwar Y.Emoji fans take heart: Scientists pinpoint 27 states of emotion. Berkeley News. 2017.
Gu S, Wang F, Patel NP, Bourgeois JA and Huang JH (2019) A Model for Basic Emotions Using Observations of Behavior inDrosophila.Front. Psychol.10:781. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00781
Lee MA, Kawachi I.The keys to happiness: Associations between personal values regarding core life domains and happiness in South Korea.PLoS One. 2019;14(1):e0209821. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0209821
Plutchik, R. (2001). The Nature of Emotions: Human emotions have deep evolutionary roots, a fact that may explain their complexity and provide tools for clinical practice.American Scientist,89(4), 344–350. http://www.jstor.org/stable/27857503
Sachs ME, Damasio A, Habibi A. The pleasures of sad music: a systematic review. Front Hum Neurosci. 2015 Jul 24;9:404. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2015.00404.
Sutton, T.M., Altarriba, J.Color associations to emotion and emotion-laden words: A collection of norms for stimulus construction and selection.Behav Res48, 686–728 (2016). doi:10.3758/s13428-015-0598-8
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