Cognitive Scientists Advise Assuming That Animals Have Feelings as Well

We should presume that animals have sentiments as well. From an ethical standpoint, this should guide our interactions with animals, academics from Leiden University and Utrecht University wrote in an opinion piece published on Thursday, March 10 in the scholarly journal Affective Science.

Many species of animals, according to a few world's finest behavioral experts, can have feelings.

However, because animals have emotions is a hotly debated topic, with some behavioral experts believing they do not.

According to psychology professor Mariska Kret (Leiden University) and behavioral biologists Jorg Massen (Utrecht University) and Frans de Waal, this is wrong (Emory University and endowed professor in Utrecht).

There is indeed a strong likelihood, based on evidence, that animals can also have feelings.

Feelings are our own interpretation to the emotions we express

(Photo : Warren Little/Getty Images)

First and foremost, there is a distinction to be made among emotions and feelings, as per Phys.org.

According to Massen, an emotion has three components: a physiologic one which dictates how your body reacts to a stimuli, a behavioral one that causes you to express feelings, and an intellectual one that causes you to make a decision.

It has been demonstrated that many species of animals exhibit emotions.

Feelings, according to Kret, may be viewed as as your subjective perception of your own feelings.

Negative emotions, for example, can make you unhappy.

Being ability to feel allows you to sympathize with another person's emotions and consider how you may assist them. And for that, a key cognitive component must be present: the ability to see things from the other person's point of view.

It is far more difficult to identify accurately which emotions an animal experiences since the test subject's perception plays a role.

Massen makes this form of study with individuals entails asking questions. Animals can be asked questions, but they cannot respond.

In fact, study into feelings is challenging even with humans on the one hand, we have difficulties understanding our own sentiments, and on the other side, we are prone to provide socially desired replies.

So, the question is if asking questions is the best technique to investigate emotions.

Also Read: Young Bonobos Regulate Emotions Like Humans

Difference between Feelings and Emotions

Humans are naturally emotional beings. We frequently discuss how much we are feeling.

According to Difference Between, throughout our lives, we will encounter millions of various feelings.

We will not be undisturbed by sentiments and emotions even during the course of a single day.

These two categories are frequently used interchangeably, yet there are distinctions between thoughts and feelings that, if understood, may help us better grasp what's going on within.

Depending on whose dictionary you check, the word "feeling" might have up to twenty distinct meanings.

Feeling can relate to something experienced as a result of outside stimuli responding with each of your five senses or to somebody's sensibility, attitude, or emotional perspective.

Feelings are supposed to last for a brief amount of time. When you touch a hot stove, you immediately remove the hand.

You are no longer heated after a few minutes. If someone leaps out underneath a corner, you will be shocked, but this will pass quickly.

Emotions are often said to be long-term states. It is a condition of awareness in which numerous interior feelings are felt. Emotions are typically triggered by a thought, memory, or external motivation and can alter our physical condition.

As a result, the primary distinction among both feelings and emotions is that sensations must be prompted by an external driving force, whereas emotions can be entirely internalized.

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