Plutchik's theory of basic emotions (poster)
The psychologist Robert Plutchik developed an emotion theory during the 1960s to 80s, in which he assumes we have eight native basic emotions that developed evolutionary. All other emotions derive from these emotions. This poster by Markus Drews visualises Plutchik's theory. It was designed during Prof. Krohn's "Information Mapping" seminar at Fachhochschule Potsdam.
The final poster
This is the final poster. You can click on the image to enlarge or download a PDF file of the poster.
The following text is an explaination of the basic idea and the content areas of the poster.
Basic idea
Plutchik already describes a radial diagram similar to a colour circle when structuring the basic emotions in his book "EMOTION - A Psychoevolutionary Synthesis". Coming from this diagram I had the idea to visualise more of Plutchik's theory by tranforming it from a text in his book to a comprehensive poster.
(Don't get me wrong; Plutchik's book is also very comprehensive and I admire his good and clear writing style.)
Ten postulates
Plutchik describes his assumptions in ten postulates. These postulates also explain all diagrams on the poster. Not every postulate is suited for a visualisation and it's not useful to integrate all postulates in a single diagram. So the postulates are connected to four diagrams on the poster.
Basic emotions, similarity, intensity, opposites
Basic emotions in the circle are more or less similar o opposing to each other. The colours of the colour circle were only used in the words, not in the circle itself. These colours are then used throughout the whole poster. Intesities of different emotions, measured by Plutchik, are shown in a kind of "emotion cloud". This also clarifies that the word are just diffuse, fuzzy, culturally and subjectively used definitions, and that they are only valid in the English language.
Dyads - combinations of emotions
Emtion neighbours, one to three steps away from each other on the circle, can be combined to new emotions when they are felt simultanously. Plutchik calls them dyads. For example, joy and trust add up to love. Opposing emotions result in a conflict that can lead to a constraint in acting.
Event sequences
Events, after a cognitive appraisal, lead to an emotion. Our emotion causes a specific action that fits to the stimulus event. We have an evolutionary advantage because of this behavour.
Scientific basis
Plutchik's scientific basis is shown at the bottom of the poster as a visual basis for the diagrams. It contains the names of scientists on whose work Plutchik based his theory. Five groups represent the first five chapters in his book.
