Plutchik’s eight emotions
Psychologist Robert Plutchik proposed eight primary emotions and explored the idea that emotions can blend.
01 / Feel
Emotion
Matrix
Your feelings rarely arrive one at a time.
A question to enter with
What core emotions are combining to create this experience?
What the Emotion Matrix is
Not another wheel.
A way to look inside.
The Emotion Matrix grew from a recurring frustration: a single emotion word could be true and still leave most of the experience unexplained.
It offers a way to look inside a mixed feeling, to notice what it may be made of, what part of life it is speaking about, and how it is trying to move, without turning it into a diagnosis or a score.
The Emotion Matrix
The framework develops 28 named emotional families, four reflection domains, energetic signatures, and a practice for meeting each experience through Love, Grace, and Reason.
Look beneath the first word
Why can a happy
memory make you sad?
A happy memory can carry the joy of what happened and the sadness that it is no longer present in the same way. The memory hurts because it mattered, and feels warm for the same reason.
Joywhat was beautiful
Sadnesswhat is no longer here
An emotional familyNostalgic
Warmth and ache, held together.
The foundation
Eight beginnings.
Twenty-eight families.
The Emotion Matrix begins with the eight core emotions in psychologist Robert Plutchik’s psychoevolutionary theory. Each draws attention toward different information and carries a different impulse.
Across those eight foundations, there are 28 different ways for two emotions to meet. The Emotion Matrix treats each meeting as a broad emotional family rather than a rigid formula.
01
Joy
Aliveness · pleasure · warmth
Open toward what feels good02
Sadness
Loss · separation · longing
Slow down and honour what mattered03
Trust
Safety · acceptance · receptivity
Allow something to come closer04
Disgust
Aversion · rejection · misalignment
Create distance from what feels wrong05
Fear
Threat · vulnerability · uncertainty
Protect what may be at risk06
Anger
Violation · obstruction · force
Mobilize to protect or change07
Surprise
New information · interruption
Stop and update the picture08
Anticipation
Preparation · expectation · possibility
Look ahead and get readyPlutchik is the source of the eight-emotion foundation and the broader idea of emotional blending. He did not create the 28 family names shown here. The complete pairings map, selected labels, four domains, energetic signatures, and reflective process are the Emotion Matrix’s original developing extension. Explore Plutchik’s foundation
An original extension
Twenty-eight
emotional families.
Each family is given one familiar reference word so the map remains recognizable and usable, rather than becoming an encyclopedia of increasingly obscure terms.
The four domains are reflective lenses. The same emotional family may speak to more than one area depending on context.
Self
How do I relate to myself?
TriumphantJoy + Anger
AshamedFear + Disgust
RegretfulSadness + Anticipation
AnxiousFear + Anticipation
NostalgicJoy + Sadness
IndulgentJoy + Disgust
RemorsefulSadness + Disgust
Relationships
How do I relate to others?
LovingJoy + Trust
AdmiringSurprise + Trust
CuriousSurprise + Anticipation
ProtectiveTrust + Anger
SuspiciousDisgust + Anticipation
SubmissiveTrust + Fear
ResentfulSadness + Anger
Values
What matters most to me?
CompassionateSadness + Trust
ContemptuousDisgust + Anger
OutragedSurprise + Anger
RepulsedSurprise + Disgust
AverseTrust + Disgust
DelightedJoy + Surprise
DisappointedSurprise + Sadness
Belonging
Where do I feel part of something larger?
HopefulTrust + Anticipation
ExcitedJoy + Anticipation
HelplessFear + Sadness
AlarmedFear + Surprise
ThreatenedFear + Anger
AggressiveAnger + Anticipation
ThrilledJoy + Fear
The matrix in practice
One cancelled plan.
Several emotions.
A close friend cancels an hour before you are meant to meet. Their message is short and offers no explanation. Your first thought is immediate.
“I’m angry. They obviously don’t care about me.”
Before the story, notice.
Your chest drops. Your jaw tightens. You reread the message. One impulse wants to send an angry reply; another wants to disappear.
What might be underneath?
Surprise I expected the evening to happen.
Sadness I lost something I wanted.
Anger The way this happened feels inconsiderate.
Fear Does this relationship matter less to them?
Disappointed
Surprise + Sadness“I expected something different, and this loss matters.”
Resentful
Sadness + Anger“I was hurt, and something still feels unresolved.”
Relationships is speaking.
The domain asks where the feeling is speaking. Its energetic signature asks how it is moving through the body and attention right now.
What might be noticed
Disappointment may drop inward and deflate.
Anger may feel fast, pulsating, and forward, as if energy is pushing toward action.
Resentment may hold hurt inward while anger presses outward, creating sustained pressure.
Love This friendship matters, and my hurt is worthy of care.
Grace I do not have to resolve the feeling immediately.
Reason The cancellation happened; “they do not care” is an interpretation I cannot yet confirm.
“I was really looking forward to seeing you, so the last-minute cancellation was disappointing. Is everything okay? I’d like to reschedule, and I’d appreciate more notice when possible.”
The matrix does not prescribe one correct response. It creates enough clarity to choose.The movement of emotion
Every feeling
has an
energetic signature.
An energetic signature is the felt pattern of an emotion as it moves through the body and attention. It is not literal measurable energy. Anger may pulse quickly and push forward. Sadness may feel heavy and draw inward. These qualities can be noticed through Charge, Direction, Shape, and Impulse.
Charge
How activated?Low · rising · high · sustained
Direction
Where does it move?Toward · away · inward · forward
Shape
How does it organize?Expanding · diffuse · blocked · flowing
Impulse
What does it want to do?Connect · protect · prepare · repair
The centre
Meet what you feel.
Do not blindly obey it.
Emotion is information, but emotion is not the whole self. Love begins with worth. Grace allows movement. Reason supports wise choice. Together they offer a steady relationship to a feeling while it is still alive.
Love
Begin with worth. A feeling does not have to be pleasant, reasonable, or obeyed to be worthy of care and attention. Ask what is hurting, protecting, longing, celebrating, or trying to connect.
Grace
Allow the feeling to move. Emotion changes through time, rest, expression, relationship, and new information.
Reason
Look for context, pattern, evidence, consequence, and the response that is wise enough for the moment.
“Can I meet this feeling with Love, Grace, and Reason?”
A way to begin
From “I don’t know”
to a gentler question.
The goal is not speed or certainty. Begin with the closest word, then let the ingredients, context, and movement bring the experience into clearer view.
- 01
Pause
Notice the body, pace, impulse, thought, and situation before naming.
- 02
Start with the core
Ask which of the eight emotional foundations feel strongest.
- 03
Find a blend
Use the closest mixed-emotion word as a doorway, not a verdict.
- 04
Use the domain
Ask whether the feeling speaks most clearly about Self, Relationships, Values, or Belonging.
- 05
Notice movement
Explore its Charge, Direction, Shape, and Impulse.
- 06
Return to LGR
Meet it with Love, allow movement through Grace, and choose with Reason.
Want the wider context?
Curious about the history of emotional intelligence, the tests available today, and the frameworks already shaping the field?
Keep scrolling for a brief guide to the wider EQ landscape and a closer comparison with Six Seconds.
The wider landscape
What does EQ
actually measure?
EI means emotional intelligence and is common in research. EQ means emotional quotient and is widely used as its popular counterpart to IQ. In practice, the terms are often used interchangeably.
There is no single official EQ test. Different assessments begin with different definitions, so they measure different things.
A psychological construct
Peter Salovey and John Mayer publish their foundational paper describing emotional intelligence as a set of emotion-related abilities.
A mainstream idea
Daniel Goleman’s bestselling book brings emotional intelligence into public, educational, and workplace conversation.
A process for practice
Six Seconds develops its action-oriented framework: Know Yourself, Choose Yourself, and Give Yourself.
Several traditions
Ability, trait, self-report, and competency approaches continue to define and assess emotional intelligence differently.
Established assessments
Different tests.
Different questions.
An emotional-intelligence assessment evaluates abilities, traits, or competencies across situations. The Emotion Matrix does something else: it helps you examine a particular experience.
MSCEIT 2
A performance-based assessment of how a person recognizes emotional cues, understands their implications, and reasons with emotional information.
Official MSCEIT 2 overviewTEIQue & EQ-i 2.0
Self-report instruments examine perceived emotional traits, patterns, and aspects of emotional and social functioning rather than performance on emotion problems.
TEIQue EQ-i 2.0Six Seconds SEI
An assessment connected to a practical model of eight EQ competencies across awareness, intentional choice, and purpose.
Official SEI overviewAn EQ assessment may help you understand broader patterns across time.
The Emotion Matrix helps you slow down one experience and ask what is present now.Related framework
Emotional algebra.
Emotional anatomy.
Six Seconds is a useful reference point because both frameworks draw on Plutchik and treat emotions as information. Six Seconds places emotional literacy inside a wider model of EQ competencies and action. The Emotion Matrix stays close to the structure and movement of one lived emotional experience.
A metaphor helps make that difference visible. The Six Seconds combination chart works somewhat like emotional algebra, with the ordering of two ingredients producing different labels. The Emotion Matrix is closer to emotional anatomy. It keeps one broad family for each pair, then opens it to explore what is present, where it is speaking, how it is moving, and what might help. These metaphors are descriptive, not terminology used by Six Seconds.
LensSix SecondsEmotion Matrix
Primary purpose
Develop emotional-intelligence skills and put them into action.
Understand a lived emotional experience and choose a considered response.
Architecture
Three pursuits, Know Yourself, Choose Yourself, and Give Yourself, with eight measurable competencies.
Eight core emotions, 28 mixed-emotion families, four domains, energetic signatures, and LGR.
Use of Plutchik
A resource for emotional literacy within the wider EQ model.
The starting point for an original extension: 28 selected family names, four domains, energetic signatures, and LGR.
Mixed emotions
Its ordered combination chart can give the same two core emotions different labels when their order changes, and it includes same-emotion pairings.
Each distinct two-emotion pairing becomes one broad family. Weight, intensity, context, and movement supply the nuance.
Nuance
Uses a wider compound-feeling vocabulary and differentiates more expressions.
Uses one familiar reference word; intensity, balance, context, and movement carry the nuance.
How it moves toward action
Awareness develops into intentional choice, empathy, motivation, and purpose.
The experience is decomposed, located, felt energetically, and met through Love, Grace, and Reason.
Measurement
The SEI assessment measures the model’s competencies and connects them with development outcomes.
A reflective and educational framework; it does not calculate an EQ score and is not psychometrically validated.
Where they meet
Both treat emotions as useful information, value emotional literacy, recognize mixed feelings, and connect awareness with more intentional response.
Where they differ
Six Seconds develops broad EQ competencies. The Emotion Matrix enters closely into one experience: its ingredients, domain, movement, message, and possible response.
How they can complement
An assessment can illuminate recurring capabilities or patterns. A reflective map can help explore what is happening in a particular moment.
Read further:Salovey & Mayer’s 1990 paper APA definition Six Seconds EQ model Practicing EQ resource
The Emotion Matrix is a reflective and educational framework, not a psychological test, diagnosis, or substitute for professional mental-health care. It does not calculate an EQ score and has not yet been clinically or psychometrically validated. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Six Seconds, MHS, the London Psychometric Laboratory, or the assessment authors discussed here.
A principle to carry
“The goal is not to find the perfect word. It is to see what is present, understand how it is moving, and choose how to meet it.”
Go deeper
Meet the matrix
in practice.
The full matrices are designed to be explored slowly, with reflection, curiosity, and support. Workshops offer a guided place to begin.
Explore workshops →