Emotion has three basic components or parts:  

(i) Physiological changes: When a person feels an emotion certain changes take place in our body such as increase in heart rate, blood pressure, pupil size is increased, perspiration takes place, breathing is faster and the mouth may become

dry. Think about the last time when you went to the examination centre to write your exam or when you were angry at your younger brother. You may have experienced these bodily changes.

(ii) Behavioural changes and emotional expression: Refer to the outward and noticeable signs of what a person is feeling. These include facial expressions, bodily postures, and gestures with the hand, running away, smiling, frowning, and slumping in a chair. The six primary emotions in facial expressions are: fear,

anger, sadness, surprise, disgust and happiness. This means that these emotions are easily recognized in people from all over the world.

(iii) Emotional Feelings: Emotion also includes the personal/individual feeling. We can label the emotion felt as: happy, sad, angry, disgusted and so on. Labelling of a feeling is shaped by past experiences and the culture one belongs to. On

seeing a person with a stick in his/her hand we may run away or prepare ourselves to fight, whereas, if a well known singer is in your neighbourhood you will go to the place to hear him sing your favourite songs.

Cognition or understanding of the situation is the most important part of emotional experiences. Some psychologists feel that we think and then feel, while others believe that our emotional reactions are so fast that thinking about the situation does not arise. Attempt Activity 3 to check which explanation is

correct according to you? Human emotions involve so many things, past experience, culture, individual differences therefore at times we may first act and then think about it.