Surprise: a fleeting and unexpected emotion

Let’s imagine that we don’t react at all when they give us a party we don’t expect, when someone gives us an unexpected gift, or when we walk down the sidewalk and hear a loud noise. We would be leaving aside one of the six basic emotions! We talk about surprisea forgotten but fascinating emotion that arises in the face of novelty.

The world of emotions is truly interesting. We usually recognize within emotions: joy, sadness, anger and fear. However, when making the list we usually forget about surprise and disgust, although the latter has taken center stage in films expressly dedicated to emotions, such as Insight out (backwards/intensely).

In this article we are going to explore the most fleeting and at the same time unexpected emotion. That’s right, we will immerse ourselves in the world of surprise. We will know what it is, what its characteristics and effects are.

Surprise, what is it about?

Surprise is a sudden emotion that appears in a situation or context that the person does not expect.. It comes and goes absolutely quickly, and is quickly linked to another emotion that is congruent with the situation.

But, Why is there a link? Imagine that we are walking and suddenly someone attacks us or that we are arriving at our house and someone is waiting for us without us knowing it with a bouquet of flowers, how would we react? Surely with surprise, but then according to the situation, for example, in the case of the assault with anger or fear, and in the case of flowers with joy. So, the surprise is consistent with the context.

Furthermore, hand in hand with the emotional reaction, there is an increase in cognitive activity. Which allows us to analyze the factors associated with surprise. Thus, surprise is quickly linked to an emotion.

However, Surprise is one of the basic emotions. Along with: joy, anger, fear, sadness and disgust. In fact it can be found in any culture! We know this thanks to Paul Ekcman, a psychologist who is an expert in how we externalize our emotions.

Features of surprise

Surprise is neither positive nor negative, it is a neutral emotion. Let’s look at some of its features:

It is the shortest emotion of all.It occurs suddenly.It can be generated by novel stimuli.It can occur when there is a sudden increase in stimulation.Surprise is the reflection of a reality: in our future there is much that is unpredictable.It intensifies when the situation is important to us.It is marked by the emotion that follows.It facilitates attention to new stimuli. It can occur when the activity that is being carried out at the moment is interrupted.

However, Surprise is important because it facilitates curiosity and learning. In addition, it can affect beliefs about other events. For example, when a person takes an unexpected position, the arguments become surprising and, most of the time, more persuasive.

Effects of surprise

Surprise facilitates both emotional and appropriate behavioral appearance in unexpected situations. To do this, it eliminates the residual activity of the central nervous system that could interfere with the appropriate reaction to the novel demands of the event. In addition, it has physiological and subjective effects, let’s look at each of them:

Physiological

Physiological effects are those that are related to the functioning of the body. In surprise there are two types of activations:

Activation of the autonomic nervous system. There is a decrease in heart rate, peripheral vasoconstriction and cephalic vasodilation, a sudden increase in skin conductance, and dilation of our pupils occurs.Activation of the somatic system. There is a momentary increase in neuronal activity that can be detected by desynchronization. Although, if the response is nonspecific or prolonged, desynchronization involves the entire cerebral cortex, and becomes tonic.

Besides, There is a characteristic body expression. Our eyebrows and upper eyelid are raised, our pupils dilate, our mouth opens and our jaw drops. Our knees can bend a little and our body tilt if we are standing. And, we can accompany it with sounds or words like: aha, oh, mmm…

Subjective effects

These are the effects based on each person’s judgments and feelings. Its duration will depend on the moment in which the subsequent emotional reaction begins. Thus, it facilitates the mobilization of another emotion.

The main subjective effect is the phenomenon called “blank mind.” This happens because the situation catches us off guard and because it is difficult to give an explanation for what is happening right at that moment.

Besides, Surprise is a sensation that is difficult to define due to the number of stimuli that can cause it. On the other hand, surprise often acts as a prologue or prelude to another emotion. That is, after feeling surprised we often feel happy or angry.

Perhaps because of this nature of a prologue, it is perhaps the shortest emotion of all. Something that does not diminish its importance at an evolutionary level. Therefore, surprise facilitates attentional processes, exploration behaviors and curiosity in strange situations. It does this by directing cognitive processes to the situation at hand.

Now, although it is not commonly talked about, we experience it frequently. In fact, it is one of the keys to viral advertising. Evidence of this is the study for the Ibero-American scientific journal of communication and education made by Alberto Dafonte Gómez, in which he analyzes the most shared videos, and suggests that 76% of the most successful videos use surprise as a resource, incredible, right?

Besides, It is an altruistic emotion. It facilitates the subsequent emotional and behavioral reaction based on the analysis of the novel situation. Thus, it prepares us to quickly move on to another emotion. And the perfect companion of surprise is joy.

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