Ekman, P. (1984). Expression and the Nature of Emotion. In Approaches to emotion. http://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107415324.004

I plan to read and write more about emotions, as I am interested in the topic of self-possession vs. being possessed (or overwhelmed) by emotions. I wonder whether the use of ownership-related terms in this field is metaphorical, or rather points to a fundamental aspect of human experience: the fact that one must first possess oneself (one’s own body and actions) in order to possess other things. Many philosophers (Locke comes to mind, but also Hegel and Aristotle) have drawn this relationship between self-possession (or self-governance, being master of oneself) and personhood (being an agent in the world with the capacity to possess and own stuff).

In this article (a classic), Ekman distinguishes emotions from other reactions (mainly reflexes) and other affective phenomena, such as moods, emotional traits and affective disorders.

He also establishes 10 main characteristics of emotion:

1. There is a distinctive pan-cultural signal for each emotion.
2. There are distinctive, universal, facial expressions of emotion that can also be traced phylogenetically.
3. Emotional expression involves multiple signals.
4. The duration of emotion is limited.
5. The timing of emotional expression reflects the details of a particular emotional experience.
6. Emotional expression can be graded in intensity, reflecting variations in the strength of the subjective experience.
7. Emotional expression can be totally inhibited.
8. Emotional expressions can be convincingly simulated.
9. Each emotion has pan-human commonalities in its elicitors.
10. Each emotion has a pan-human pattern of the autonomous nervous system (ANS) and central nervous system (CNS) change.