Emotions play an important role in how we think and behave.  The emotions that we feel every day can force us to act and influence the decisions that are made about life, whether they are big or small decisions. To truly understand emotions, it is important to understand the three critical components of an emotion.

Emotions are made up of a subjective component (how we experience emotion), a physiological component (how our bodies react to emotion), and an expressive component (how we behave in response to emotion).  These different elements can play a role in the function and purpose of our emotional responses.

Emotions can be short-lived, an emotional outburst that lasts more or less … like a fleeting or long-lasting sadness. But why do emotions exist and why are they so important?

Emotions help you get into action

When faced with a stressful situation, you may feel anxious about whether it will work out or not. The emotional responses you experience will make you take one action or another. You experience the motivation to take action and do something positive to improve the chances of that event being successful.

You can also start taking actions to experience positive emotions and minimize the likelihood of feeling negative emotions. For example, you can look for activities that give you a sense of happiness, satisfaction, and excitement. On the other hand, you are likely to avoid situations that can lead to boredom, sadness, or anxiety.

Emotions help us survive, thrive, and avoid danger

Emotions are adaptations that allow humans and animals to survive and reproduce.  When we are angry, you are likely to face the source of your irritation. When we experience fear, we are more likely to flee from the threat. When we feel love, we could find a partner and reproduce. Emotions play an adaptive role in our lives by motivating us to act quickly and take action that maximizes our chances of survival and success.

Emotions also help you to reflect effectively to see if how you are emotionally at a certain moment helps you to be better or not. If you are not feeling well emotionally, it is likely that you are looking for actions to be better.

You will make decision

Emotions have a great influence on the decisions we make, from what we decide to take for breakfast to the degree that you want to study and that will change my future. People with brain damage may experience emotions differently and may even have impaired ability to make good decisions.

Even in situations where we believe our decisions are guided purely by logic and rationality, emotions play a key role. Emotional intelligence, or our ability to understand and manage emotions, has been shown to play an important role in decision-making.

Emotions allow other people to understand us and we understand others

When we interact with other people, it is important to give clues to help them understand how we feel. These signals can involve emotional expression through body language, such as various facial expressions related to the particular emotions we are experiencing.

In other cases, it could directly imply how you feel. When we tell our friends or family that we feel happy, sad, excited, or scared, we are giving them important information that they can then use to take action.

You also understand others better because the facial expressions of those around you will give you information about how they feel. Social communication is an important part of our daily lives and relationships, and being able to interpret and react to the emotions of others is essential. It enables us to respond appropriately and build deeper and more meaningful relationships with our friends, family, and loved ones. It also allows us to communicate effectively in a variety of social situations.