What are affect emotions and moods explain how emotions and moods are different from each other?

When we are trying to deal with the world of emotion, we can often forget or be confused about the differences between moods and emotions. Knowing what are moods and what are emotions, and getting clear on the differences may help us understand ourselves, and understand others better. So what are moods versus emotions?

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What are moods? Moods stay for a while

In general, the differences are fairly straightforward. Paul Ekman in his accessible book ‘Emotions Revealed’, says that moods are generally emotional feelings. They can last for an extended period of time, say at least one or two days. When we have these moody periods, they often feel like stages that we are going through and they are hard to shift. They often seem like they are brought on by circumstances; pressure at work, pressure at home, money trouble.

Emotions come and go quickly

In contrast, emotions are things that tend to come and go quite quickly. We can think of these emotions as being positive or negative (although the idea of negative emotions is a myth). They're also much more likely to be caused by immediate circumstances; something that someone just said, something that you witnessed or some memories that you had.

Emotions are likely to be sharper than moods, and also more varied; while we can have a great range of exquisitely different emotions, we tend to have moods which are more generalised — a good mood, a bad mood.

Small things we experience can change our emotions quickly, and we can experience more than one emotion at once, and these can reflect different parts of us.

Affects – what we actually feel

The third part of the equation here is Affect. Affect is the physical sensations you have when you have emotions. These are the butterflies in the stomach that we experience with anxiety, the muscular tension that anger can bring, or the ache in the heart we have with grief.

These Affects can be the thing we notice about emotions, and the thing that we can find most distressing about them. I've written more about Affect before.

Moods and emotions

We can experience moods and emotions at the same time, but emotions seem to ‘sit on top’ of moods. For instance, whilst in a bad mood is quite possible to have brief feelings of happiness and joy. Similarly, when a good mood, it is still possible to feel sad or angry feelings. However, it is much more likely that your mood will influence the emotion you feel. So it's not really a question of moods versus emotions; instead it's more moods and emotions.

If this happens, the emotion may have the same flavour as the mood. In this way, our emotions are susceptible to the mood we are in, and this also make us more likely to interpret our environment in particular ways and distort our thinking. When we are in a bad mood, it is much easier to misinterpret things in the light of this bad mood.

Understanding what are moods and emotions – and their differences – takes time and practice. When you do, you can sometimes see that the anger and frustration you are feeling isn’t caused by the people around you but by a mood you have been feeling before you walked in the door and that they shouldn't be blamed. I've written before on what you can do when you're in a bad mood.

Let me know what you think in the comments. If you thought this was interesting, I have a written a similar post called Thinking About The Past.

– Tim Hill

Disclaimer and purpose

Learn how moods, feelings, and emotions can impact your life

While most of us have a general idea of what it means to be in a good mood versus a bad mood, we might find it more difficult to explain the difference between moods, feelings, and emotions. Put simply, emotions can turn into moods, moods can affect emotions, and feelings are how we interpret our emotions.

Learning the definitions of mood, feelings, and emotions—and how they interact and influence each other—can help us manage them when they affect our lives. Let's start with some definitions.

Emotions

Emotions, which originate as sensations in the body, are intense feelings (exhilaration, terror, despair) that last only seconds to minutes. They are controlled by chemicals our brains release in response to a trigger or event—basically our body's response to whatever is happening around us. The chemicals go throughout our body, forming a feedback loop between our body and brain, creating emotion. Emotions are always based on an external stimulus, and almost always come and subside quickly. In addition to being specific and a reaction to something, emotions have corresponding and universal facial expressions and body language.

Feelings

While emotions start as sensations in the body, feelings are generated from our thoughts about those emotions. Or in other words, feelings are how we interpret emotions and let them sink in. We use the word, "feel," for both physical and emotional states. For instance, we can "feel cold" both physically and emotionally. Feelings can be diluted or distorted by the stories we've unconsciously created based on past events or experiences.

Moods

A mood is a state of mind or a general feeling that can influence your thoughts, behaviors, and actions. Moods tend to be less intense than emotions and do not necessarily depend on an event or trigger. Rather than being how you feel in each moment, your mood is how you feel over time.

Moods are influenced by the environment, diet, exercise, physical health, and what you choose to think about. They can last minutes, hours, or days, and they have no unique corresponding nonverbal facial expressions or body language.

How do they work together and why does it matter?

Emotions, feelings, and moods all work together to impact how we perceive and live in the world around us. For instance, when we are in a bad mood, we tend to experience sadness, anger, and/or fear, and when we are in a good mood, we tend to experience happiness and/or hope. If we are sad, angry, and afraid, we may then feel worthless and like our life doesn't matter.

Conversely, strong feelings or emotions can affect your mood.

In the end, it's more about how you function in the world than understanding the differences between emotions, feelings, and moods.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by strong emotions, feelings, or moods, consider talking to a therapist about how they might be affecting your life.

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