Are There Basic Emotions?

Paul Ekman University of California, San Francisco

Ortony and Turners (1990) arguments against tose !o ado"t te vie! tat tere are #asic
emotions are callenged$ Te evidence on universals in e%"ression and in "ysiology strongly
suggests tat tere is a #iological #asis to te emotions tat ave #een studied$ Ortony and Turners
revie!s of tis literature are faulted, and teir alternative teoretical e%"lanations do not fit te
evidence$ Te utility of te #asic emotions a""roac is also so!n in terms of te researc it as
generated
$
&n teir argument against #asic emotions,
Ortony and Turner (1990) distinguised t!o
!ays in !ic tat "rase as #een used'
(a) to descri#e elements tat com#ine to
form larger more com"le% emotions and (#)
to denote emotions tat are "resumed to
ave a #iological #asis$ 1 !ill not comment
on te first use, #ecause neiter & nor most
oter current researcers !o "osit #asic
emotions use te conce"t in tis !ay$ (y
focus instead !ill #e on te arguments and
evidence tat suggest tat emotions are a
"roduct of our evolution, !it some
#iological givens$ Tis "osition does not
deny te im"ortant role of culture and social
learning "rocesses in every as"ect of
emotion) te control of e%"ressions, te
sym#olic re"resentation of emotional
e%"erience, o! one evaluates emotion*
relevant situations, attitudes a#out ones
o!n emotions, o! one co"es !it
emotion, and so on)#ut it is not a totally
mallea#le system$ Tere are constraints as a
result of our evolution, and not te ones tat
Ortony and Turner suggested$
To ma+e my case & first consider findings
on universals in facial e%"ression$ & #elieve
tat Ortony and Turner (1990) mis*
understood te evidence$ & so! tat teir
alternative e%"lanation of te findings
contradicts +no!n facts$ 1 ne%t consider a
second ty"e of evidence for #asic emotions
)emotion*s"ecific "ysiology$ ,gain, 1
suggest tat Ortony and Turner e%aggerated
disagreements and too+ little note of te
areas of agreement in findings of emotion*
s"ecific autonomic nervous system (,-S)
activity$ & also descri#e some more recent
evidence, !ic tey could not ave +no!n
a#out, tat strengtens te #asic emotions
"osition$ Finally, 1 argue te merits of a
#asic emotions conce"tual frame!or+ in
e%"laining diverse findings and focusing
attention on .uestions tat need em"irical
ans!ers$
Facial /%"ressions
,ltoug tey ac+no!ledged some
agreement in te literature a#out !ic
emotions are #asic, and admitted tat some
of te disagreements tey em"asi0ed are
due to te ty"e of data an investigator
considered in "ostulating !ic emotions
are #asic, Ortony and Turner (1990)
concluded tat 1te landsca"e of #asic
emotions is close to #eing as disorderly as
Ta#le & im"lies2 ("$ 314)$ , careful reading
of te literature tey cited so!s tat tey
ave e%aggerated te matter, "articularly in
regard to facial e%"ression$ Facial
e%"ression as #een a focus since 5ar!in
(16789194:) for tose !o ado"t an
evolutionary "ers"ective on emotion$ (uc
of Ortony and Turners o!n argument rests
on teir idiosyncratic reading of "ast
findings on e%"ression$
-early 80 years ago, in revie!ing te
"revious 30 years of researc on o!
o#servers in ;estern cultures <udge te
emotion so!n in facial e%"ressions,
/+man, Friesen, = /lls!ort (1978) found
tat every investigator ad o#tained
evidence for si% emotions (a""iness,
sur"rise, fear, sadness, anger, and disgust
com#ined !it contem"t)$
1
Fifteen years
later, revie!ing su#se.uent researc on
facial e%"ression !it te furter re*
.uirement tat tere #e evidence of
universality. Fridlund$ /+man, and Oster
(1967) reaffirmed tis listing$ &n te "ast
fe! years tere as #een #ut one addition,
some evidence and argument a#out
distinguising contem"t from disgust
(/+man = Friesen, 1964,1966> /+man =
?eider, 1966> &0ard = ?aynes$ 1966> @icci
Aitti, Arigetti, Barotti$ = Aoggi*Cavallo$
1966)$
,re tere no more emotions tat ave
universal facial e%"ressionsC Tom+ins and
(cCarter (194D) re"orted !itin*culture
evidence and &0ard (1971) re"orted
evidence across literate cultures for te
recognition of interest and same$ & sare
Ortony and Turners (1990) dou#ts a#out
!eter interest is an emotion, and & ave
some reservations a#out te evidence on
same, #ut tis is not te "lace to discuss
te details of te findings relevant to
resolving tose matters$ For no! it is suffi*
cient to note tat tere is consistent
evidence, across investiga*