Emotion

Characteristic	Emotion	Mood
Cause	Specific trigger; reactive	Often unclear or unknown
Duration	Brief (seconds to minutes)	Longer-lasting (hours to days)
Intensity	Usually more intense	Usually less intense
Focus	Directed at a specific object/event	More general and not object-focused

Emotion: A brief state involving coordinated physiological, subjective, and behavioural responses.

Key features: brief duration, physiological changes, subjective feelings, and behavioural expression.

Emotion-inducing stimulus: An internal or external event that triggers an emotional response.

Physiological arousal: Bodily changes such as altered heart rate, breathing, and hormone levels.

Subjective experience: The personal feeling of the emotion, including its quality and intensity.

Behavioural expression: Observable signs of emotion, such as facial expressions, body language, and actions.

Anger: Perceived injustice, blocked goals, threats to self-esteem.

Fear: Physical danger, uncertainty, potential harm.

Sadness: Loss of something important, helplessness.

Disgust: Exposure to unpleasant stimuli or perceived violations of social norms.

Surprise: Unexpected events or novelty.

Happiness: Goal achievement, pleasant experiences, social connection.

The Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) regulates involuntary bodily functions involved in emotional responses.

Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS): Activates the fight-or-flight response, preparing the body to respond to threats.

Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS): Promotes rest-and-digest functions and helps restore the body to a balanced state after arousal.

Fight-or-Flight Response: A rapid set of physiological and behavioural changes that prepares the body to deal with perceived threats.

Amygdala: Detects emotional significance, especially fear and threat.

Hippocampus: Links emotions to memories and contextual information.

Hypothalamus: Regulates hormonal and physiological responses associated with emotion.

Insula: Processes internal bodily awareness and emotions such as disgust.

Concept	Key Point
Emotion	Brief, intense response to a specific trigger
Mood	Longer-lasting, less intense emotional state with no clear trigger
Emotion-Inducing Stimulus	Event that triggers an emotional response
Physiological Arousal	Bodily changes such as heart rate and breathing
Subjective Experience	Personal feeling of the emotion
Behavioural Expression	Observable emotional responses
SNS	Activates fight-or-flight
PNS	Restores balance through rest-and-digest
Amygdala	Fear and threat detection
Hippocampus	Emotion and memory links
Hypothalamus	Hormonal and physiological regulation
Insula	Bodily awareness and disgust