2.Human qualities and emotions

Human Experiences Overview

• Exploration of qualities and emotions associated with human experiences.

• Distinction between individual and collective human experiences.

• Texts represent human qualities and emotions arising from experiences.

Understanding Human Qualities

Definition

• Patterns of behaviour, thought, and emotion defining individuals.

• Unique combination creates individual personalities.

• Built up over time, consistent across experiences.

Nature vs. Nurture

• Questioning origins of human qualities:

  • Nature: Inherent traits.

  • Nurture: Influenced by life experiences.

• Analyze characters in texts for intrinsic qualities vs. those shaped by experiences.

Characteristics and Changes

• Human qualities evolve over time.

• Example: Consistently anxious individuals vs. temporary anxiety.

• Personal histories shape characters’ traits.

Role of Characterization

• The author's method of revealing character qualities.

• Characters illustrated through actions and reactions, not merely descriptive labels.

  • Example character: Ella showing resilience through challenges.

The Big Five Personality Traits

• Openness: Creativity, intellect, appreciation of art.

  • Example: Oliver as an aesthetic enthusiast.

• Conscientiousness: Dependability, organization.

  • Example: Cathy as a conscientious worker vs. Lazy Larry.

• Extraversion vs. Introversion: Sources of energy and social behavior.

  • Example: Ebony (extroverted) vs. Iris (introverted).

• Agreeableness: Compassionate or antagonistic qualities.

  • Example: Anthony (agreeable) vs. Arthur (antagonistic).

• Neuroticism: Emotional stability.

  • Example: Nelly (neurotic) vs. Ella (stable).

Beyond the Big Five

• Cultural variations in personality theories:

  • Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory and other global perspectives.

• Dark Triad: Machiavellianism, narcissism, psychopathy; traits representing dark aspects of personality.

  • Example characters exhibiting these traits.

Emotions Associated with Human Experiences

Understanding Emotions

• Emotions as subjective, psychological, and physiological experiences.

• May vary greatly among individuals.

Definition Components

1. Subjective: Unique emotional reactions to experiences.

   • Example: Different responses to travel.

2. Psychological: Triggered by mental states affecting emotions.

3. Physiological: Physical responses correlate with emotions.

   • Example: Heart rate increases with fear.

4. Pleasure and Displeasure: Emotions range from positive to negative.

   • Examples: Euphoria, happiness, grief.

Emotional Models

• Plutchik’s Emotional Color Wheel: 8 primary emotions, each with potential intensity variations.

  • Examples: Mixing emotions, such as surprise with sadness = disapproval.

Interplay of Qualities, Emotions, and Experiences

Influence of Experiences on Emotions

• Positive experiences lead to pleasurable emotions; negative experiences result in adverse feelings.

• Emotions can influence behavior and shape experiences actively pursued.

• Example: Happy individuals seeking social gatherings; sad individuals avoiding them.

Collective Human Experiences

• Emotions can become shared experiences through social contagion.

• Example: Mass hysteria during disease outbreaks.

  • Explore recent examples of collective emotional responses.

Conclusion

• Understand connections between human qualities, emotions, and experiences.

• Essential for crafting insightful analyses and creative narratives in literature.