As the researchers put it, this strategy of "taking the good with the bad" might be the best for our health because we are able to deal with and process the negative emotions and possibly even find some good in bad experiences (Hershfield, Scheibe, Sims, & Carstensen, 2013). We get the benefits of negative emotions without so many of the pitfalls. Some research suggests that if we can feel some positive emotions along with our negative emotions, this might actually be the best option. In addition, whether or not we experience positive emotions along with our negative emotions makes a big difference (Hershfield, Scheibe, Sims, & Carstensen, 2013). Whether we express, suppress, or repress our negative emotions makes a big difference for our health (with suppression and repression being the less healthy choices). As you learned earlier, what we do with our negative emotions may be the most important thing. We might assume that negative emotions are bad for our health, but it's not quite that simple.
So instead of running from our negative emotions, we're better off learning to deal with and process our negative emotions in healthy ways. This is a big part of why avoiding negative emotions-or shoving them down with suppression or repression-isn't really good for us (and it may not even really work, but that's a more nuanced discussion). Sadness motivates sympathy and leads others to help us more (Keltner & Kring, 1998).Īs you can see, even though negative emotions feel bad, they have important functions that help us have experiences that make us feel better and even thrive in the longer term. Negative emotions like embarrassment motivate others to forgive us if we have done something wrong. Negative emotions like jealousy, for example, are thought to motivate us to restore important social bonds in the face of threats. But perhaps it's less obvious how other negative emotions motivate behavior. It's probably more obvious that fear motivates us to engage in either fight or flight in response to a threat or predator. The functions of negative emotions examples But it's also important to know that negative emotions have important functions and that may in fact be why they exist. The dictionary defines negative emotion as "an unpleasant, often disruptive, emotional reaction." Indeed, this is correct enough if we're thinking about our own experience of negative emotions.
According to emotion theorists, there is no agreed-upon definition of emotion.
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