Resting, happy, laughing, silly, nervous, tired, confused, sad, frustrated, and angry: these emotions and more play a critical role in how we live our lives, from influencing how we engage with others in our day-to-day lives to affecting the decisions we make. By understanding some of the different types of emotions, you can gain a deeper understanding of how these emotions are expressed and the impact they have on your behavior. 

“Emotions are motivational and informational, primarily by virtue of their experiential or feeling component,” Carroll E. Izardan wrote in Emotion Theory and Research. “Emotion feelings constitute the primary motivational component of mental operations and overt behavior.”