Three Differences Between Emotions and Feelings

Emotions mostly originate in the limbic system and the most primitive part of the brain. On the other hand, feelings come from the frontal lobe. In other words, feelings result from abstract thinking. Emotions are innate and genetically determined as the result of evolution. Although it seems weird, there’s a maximum number of emotions we can have - there’s no maximum number of feelings we can have.

We verbally define feelings, while we define emotions psychophysiologically. Feelings originate from our interpretation of events and sensations. Emotions come from a nervous system response.

Emotions are characterized by being quite immediate. They represent the body’s alarm and survival system. In order to have a feeling, it’s necessary to think about what has happened (value the emotion), reflect on how we behaved, and thus begin to elaborate on it psychologically.

Because emotions come and go quickly, our body has another assessment and motivation mechanism: feelings. Feelings represent the remnants of emotions. One of the main differences between emotions and feelings is that a feeling develops little by little.