Feeling

Feeling is the subjective experience of internal states. It encompasses emotions, moods, and physical sensations, and is the phenomenological aspect of affect. In common usage, “feeling” can refer to both emotional states and visceral sensations.

Emotions are complex events involving appraisal, cognitive labeling, bodily arousal, and expressive behavior. Feelings, by contrast, refer to the conscious experience of these states. Affects describe the broader quality of experience and mood refers to longer-lasting, diffuse emotional states.

Interoception—the sensing of internal bodily signals—helps generate feelings. Brain regions such as the insula, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex participate in feeling and regulation. Neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin modulate the intensity of feelings.

Feelings include both affective experiences and physical sensations (pain, warmth, fatigue). Basic emotions (happiness, sadness, fear, anger, surprise, disgust) are often distinguished from social or self-conscious emotions (guilt, pride, shame, embarrassment).

Cultural and linguistic contexts shape how feelings are interpreted and expressed. Feelings influence decision making, memory, and social communication, and are central to psychotherapy and emotional education. Assessment relies on self-report, experience sampling, and observer-rated behavior.

In technology and AI, simulations of feeling may support interaction but do not entail conscious subjective experience. The study of feeling spans psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and anthropology, reflecting its central role in human experience.