But other times, figuring out the trigger may be easy. It may not be a simple, single event either. Often, something triggers or causes you to feel the way you do. Try to figure out the triggerĮmotions often don’t just occur out of nowhere. Try to find the emotion that best describes how you are feeling at the moment. Identify the emotion closest to how you are feelingĮmotions closer to the center are more intense, core emotions are in the middle layer, and those furthest out are milder forms of emotions.īetween each spoke on the wheel are combined emotions. Some helpful tips for using the wheel include: 1. This means you can start where it makes sense to you. Benefits of using an emotion wheelĮmotion wheels are visual guides with no real start or endpoints.

Emotions that are closer together share more similarities with each other than those that aren’t near each other. Proximity also plays a role in understanding the Plutchik wheel. Emotions closer to the center represent more intense or stronger emotions. Emotions listed closer to the outside of the wheel represent mild emotions. His theory suggests that these core emotions can become milder or intensify. On his wheel, he broke down eight core or primary emotions into opposite pairs. One of the most famous examples is the Plutchik wheel that psychologist Robert Plutchik developed. It helps a person identify and work through their understanding of their or other people’s emotions. An emotion wheel is a type of visual aid that shows the complexity of emotions.

Emotional color wheel