Sadness is the longest living emotion.

The number of human emotions is not infinite, and all of them can be measured. If you want to find out what the duration of a mental state, it turns out that The absolute winner for longevity is the same sadness-yearningThis is what most of the songs are about.

If you compare the duration of a bad mood, which arose, for example, because of a quarrel with a neighbor, with feelings of shame, surprise, irritation and even boredom, you get 240 times longer. In addition, sadness often accompanies memories of traumatic events - death or other accident. These memories are strong, so it takes longer to return from the depths of longing to a “neutral” emotional state.

In order to determine the duration and effect of 27 different emotions, the University of Leuven (Belgium) surveyed 233 university students. Young people and girls were asked to recall recent emotional episodes and assess their duration. The study participants also reported what measures they took to cope with a particular uncomfortable feeling that temporarily took over the nerves.

On average, sadness lasts 120 hours. Unpleasant emotions like disgust and shame go away in about 30 minutes.

In second place in duration is hatred. She usually owns a person for about 60 hours before cooling down. In third place is a feeling of joy with a duration of 35 hours. For about a day or so, our biological clock gives us hope and frustration. Enthusiasm for people on average lasts six hours.

In the list of the shortest-lived emotions were shame, surprise, fear, tenderness and relief.. And what for many centuries have complained of prosperous earthlings is boredom. Scientists from Belgium explain this by the fact that when people are bored, time for them subjectively slows down. But not objectively.

Usually, experts explain, the time of excitation and attenuation of a particular emotion depends on how important the event that caused it is for a person. Guilt lasts longer than shame, anxiety longer than fear. In general, as the well-known formula says, grief is not a problem.

P.S. And remember, just by changing our consumption – together we change the world!