Robert Plutchik
Tanveer 1
Khudai Tanveer
Jodi Bowen
IB TOK #2
Nov 16, 2014
Robert Plutchik
Robert Plutchik was a psychologist and an educational professor at the University of
Einstein. His primary fields of work and interest was the complex world of emotions. He went on through his life to create the Psychoevolutionary Theory of Emotion, which earned him respect and honor throughout his field and the world.
His theory revolved around his postulate that all emotions come from the primary eight: anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise, anticipation, trust, and joy. To further examine and explain this he goes on to stating that all other emotions are mere dilutants of the fundamental eight. The legendary professor/psychologist had much more to say on the topic of emotions. He continued his life work by introducing the Plutchik wheel, which took his theory and gave a physical representation of it. The threedimensional cone starts in the middle with the fundamental eight emotions and from there emotions are added to the outer portions according to which emotion mixes to which emotion to create what new emotion. He further complicates/ explains that emotions have a range of intensity as well. This is demonstrated in his cone by the intensity of colors. Plutchik’s theory on emotion is not limited to their formation and fundamental but also to the notion for their existence. His theory for emotions revolves around his belief that emotions are there in all animals, including humans, to trigger survival techniques. This alludes that
Tanveer 2
emotions are not in fact a means of extra fulfillment but instead serve a purpose throughout the lives of humans. They serve to trigger our body into action. He says that each emotion has a specific trigger to attend to; for instance, fear as an emotion triggers the fly or fight instinct.
His theory is furthered and summarized by his ten postulates. The first being that there are only eight fundamental,
Khudai Tanveer
Jodi Bowen
IB TOK #2
Nov 16, 2014
Robert Plutchik
Robert Plutchik was a psychologist and an educational professor at the University of
Einstein. His primary fields of work and interest was the complex world of emotions. He went on through his life to create the Psychoevolutionary Theory of Emotion, which earned him respect and honor throughout his field and the world.
His theory revolved around his postulate that all emotions come from the primary eight: anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise, anticipation, trust, and joy. To further examine and explain this he goes on to stating that all other emotions are mere dilutants of the fundamental eight. The legendary professor/psychologist had much more to say on the topic of emotions. He continued his life work by introducing the Plutchik wheel, which took his theory and gave a physical representation of it. The threedimensional cone starts in the middle with the fundamental eight emotions and from there emotions are added to the outer portions according to which emotion mixes to which emotion to create what new emotion. He further complicates/ explains that emotions have a range of intensity as well. This is demonstrated in his cone by the intensity of colors. Plutchik’s theory on emotion is not limited to their formation and fundamental but also to the notion for their existence. His theory for emotions revolves around his belief that emotions are there in all animals, including humans, to trigger survival techniques. This alludes that
Tanveer 2
emotions are not in fact a means of extra fulfillment but instead serve a purpose throughout the lives of humans. They serve to trigger our body into action. He says that each emotion has a specific trigger to attend to; for instance, fear as an emotion triggers the fly or fight instinct.
His theory is furthered and summarized by his ten postulates. The first being that there are only eight fundamental,