Why is it that the word "emotional" is only used to describe negative emotions?

Interesting thought.

I see emotions as encompassing the entire spectrum, happy, joyful, as well as the unhappy ones, sadness, anger. Maybe it is because many people get stuck in the negative emotions and therefore the labeling has become more associated with the less than positive side.

It’s easier to observe those stuck in unhealthy degrees of emotional response than the opposite.

Emotions are healthy and natural as long as they ( especially the negative ones) don’t run your life.

A healthy balance between emotional and rational, logical, approaches to life and relating is, obviously, optimum.

My take on this is that most positive emotions read as happiness, so most people just jump to describing the emotion as happy.
But negative emotions are usually much more complicated and are often multiple emotions bundled together (or are at least more commonly read this way). Rather than describe all of the feelings that said person is experiencing, people find it much easier to simply to say that they are “emotional.”

I think people see being overly expressive of their emotions as a bad thing, thus whenever someone does get emotional, it is seen as childish and inappropriate.

Showing too much of any emotion seems annoying lol. Too happy: what’s up with that guy? is he on drugs? Too sad: what’s up with that guy? is he on drugs? Too mad: what’s up with that guy? is he on drugs? Lol.

When I’m describing a film or video series and I use the word emotional, it means it’s convincing and poignant.

Honestly I use emotional more in a positive sense than a negative one. If ever I was to use it to describe a person it would bring connotations of femininity, which in my opinion is great! Women are more emotional, which brings way more good into the world than bad.

@KatawaGrey I don’t think everyone will feel the way you do about the use of ‘emotional’.

Because how else would the field of psychology punish you for breaking away from the stoicism our culture values so greatly?

In Star Trek TOS emotions are pitched as good things. Emotional Dr. McCoy is a foil to logical Spock (who doesn’t realize that emotion is not the opposite of logic).

It’s their way of saying “drama queen or king” in a way that they perceive you will understand what they mean. As for me, I think emotions are positive since it means you are expressing yourself and aren’t emotionally blocked or rigid in anyway.

Some people and some cultures find emotions “messy”.

People who are being overly emotional, in sadness, anger, jealousy or other ‘negative’ emotions, bring down the mood of the situation, so social convention naturally tends to discourage such behaviour via direct or implied criticism.

It is so pervasive and effective, that nobody need actually make the criticism. We all know nobody wants to see us crying or shouting.

In contrast, emotional outbursts of positivity are generally not considered detrimental to most social situations, unless taken to the extreme. And, even if one is annoyed by them, dissatisfaction is generally not voiced due to the very same pressures, described above, against manifesting negativity publicly.

There is no ‘need’ to comment on people being emotional in a socially acceptable way, so it is rare to hear, and such a comment would imply that the person in question does not normally behave in that way.

I think it works pretty well.

I think it depends on the person and how comfortable they are with their own self and their emotions. If someone is uneasy with how they percieve themselves, or insecure then they may be uncormfortable with others expressing emotions. Then its a negative thing to them when others show what they’re feeling when the it’s a rough situation, like grief or sadness. Those are tough things to deal with, so they’d rather not have to be in a tough situation where some else is dealing with those emotions.

Hm. It’s how I use the word, that’s true. When I want to say someone is emotional in a positive sense, I tend to use the word ‘sensitive, feeling’. Strange. Although, I guess the word ‘sensitive’ can be read as a negative term as well but not by me.

Maybe it’s because I’m brainstorming on a piece I’m writing on emotional intelligence and related ideas, but I think part of it is a general lack of emotional intelligence and interpersonal skills. Maybe it’s because our society has shoved positivity down our throats for a while, and happiness (or at least the display of it) is default, and therefore those are the ones people feel the need to point out: the unacceptable ones.

I don’t actually think that is true. I have seen emotional applied to people who were so happy they were crying, for example.

Because emotions are considered weak (by some), so if you’re showing them, you’re weak, which is bad.

I don’t see it as being “only negative” emotion. However, I don’t appreciate people who are overly happy about apparent good fortune without due consideration of how that came about. That is, to be “joyous” that one is, for example, a resident of the great state of Connecticut, without a consideration of what makes Connecticut great (and how it could be so much better) is a foolish emotionalism.

But at least it’s ‘positive’.

In my observation, especially in sports, many people are overly emotional happy when their team wins or scores.

In the UK, the word “emotional” is derisive as in an “emotional display” meaning negative. It’s a shame. When Diana the Princess of Wales died and people got “emotional” they were skewered and called “ridiculous”. Anyone who gets “emotional” is lobbed into the big bin of the “unstable”. A public display of emotion (crying) is usually considered weak and sometimes ridiculed as being “over the top”...especially if it is tears. However, if you get emotional at a football (soccer) game, tear up the stands, and generally act up, scream and rage on…that’s okay. Rage and anger is okay. Getting weepy is a no-no.

(No, I don’t get it…either.)

@DarlingRhadamanthus When I first read this question, I thought of the crown and this saying

@SpatzieLover…....Yes, that’s been resurrected since the economic crisis and it is sold everywhere and on everything.

I agree that you must have your wits about you and that England behaved splendidly during the war when its future was in great peril. But what has happened with the complete stifling of emotions it has led to a lot of inner turmoil. I think (my own opinion) that it has possibly led outwardly in destructive behavior and lots of drugs and alcohol to numb the emotions that are bottled up and never allowed out.

Society loves taking a term meant to describe something and turn it into something derogatory. Think about terms like schizophrenic, passive aggressive, psychotic etc.

I don’t think it is, @KatawaGrey.

In some contexts a display of excess emotion is embarrassing, but not always. And who decides what’s excessive?

“The family held a celebration to welcome their son home from Afghanistan. It was a very emotional reunion.”
“The science teacher gave an emotional acceptance speech on receiving the Teacher of the Year award.”
“The wedding of those two brave lovers who had endured so much to be together was an emotional experience for everyone.”

@Jeruba , The connotation is different when it is the person who is being described as emotional, especially when applied as a general description, as in, “He is very emotional.” The same holds for the word sensitive.

In that sense it is a negative, then, @LostInParadise, as “emotional” in that context is akin to saying “volatile” – there’s good emotion and bad emotion, and when they take over, either one is “irrational”. I prefer to avoid “very emotional” people.

@DarlingRhadamanthus, I don’t know how well I would succeed in England, then. I am MUCH too emotional. I would make a lousy poker player. When I “feel” anything, the entire world knows within seconds!