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Importance of Emotions
The Human Experience
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Sep
24
2010

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Importance of Emotions
Here are a few of the reasons our emotions are important in our lives. By theway, the first few chapters of Goleman’s 1995 book, Emotional Intelligence, have a good presentation on evolution and emotions.
Survival
Nature developed our emotions over millions of years ofevolution. As a result, our emotions have the potential to serve us today as a delicate and sophisticated internal guidance system. Our emotions alert us when natural human need is not being met. Forexample, when we feel lonely, our need for connection with other people is unmet. When we feel afraid, our need for safety is unmet. When we feel rejected, it is our need for acceptance which is unmet.Decision Making
Our emotions are a valuable source of information. Our emotions help us make decisions. Studies show that when a person’s emotional connections are severed in the brain, he can not makeeven simple decisions. Why? Because he doesn’t know how he will feel about his choices.
Predicting Behavior
Our feelings are also useful in helping us predict our own, and others’ behavior. Here isan article on the idea that feelings predict behavior.
Boundary Setting
When we feel uncomfortable with a person’s behavior, our emotions alert us. If we learn to trust our emotions and feelconfident expressing ourselves we can let the person know we feel uncomfortable as soon as we are aware of our feeling. This will help us set our boundaries which are necessary to protect our physical andmental health.
Communication
Our emotions help us communicate with others. Our facial expressions, for example, can convey a wide range of emotions. If we look sad or hurt, we are signalling to othersthat we need their help. If we are verbally skilled we will be able to express more of our emotional needs and thereby have a better chance of filling them. If we are effective at listening to the...