Basic and Complex Emotions: State of the Art and New Horizons

Emotions constitute a fundamental area of inquiry in psychological science, reflecting their pervasive influence on cognition, behavior, and interpersonal interactions. While considerable advancements have been made in elucidating the representation and neural underpinnings of basic emotions, the study of complex emotions remains fragmented and less systematically approached.

The prevailing literature mainly addresses basic emotions with well-established theoretical models, but for complex emotions, investigations often rely on qualitative methodologies, frequently situated within clinical contexts, and lack the rigorous use of experimental paradigms. Recent debates have further highlighted the need to refine our understanding of how basic and complex emotions interact, how context shapes emotional experience, and what neural mechanisms differentiate or integrate these emotional states.

This Research Topic aims to foster a comprehensive dialogue among psychologists, neuroscientists, and philosophers of mind to advance current knowledge on basic and complex emotions. The principal objectives include clarifying how complex emotions are mentally and neurally represented, investigating experimental paradigms that could bridge qualitative and quantitative research, and dissecting the role of context in emotional processing. Contributors are encouraged to explore unresolved questions about the organization of emotions, the transition from basic to complex emotional states, and the interdisciplinary implications of recent theoretical and empirical advances.

To gather further insights into the boundaries and interrelations of emotional states, this Research Topic welcomes empirical studies, systematic reviews, and perspective articles examining, but not limited to, the following themes:

• The role of basic emotions and their impact on non-verbal communication
• The representation of complex emotions in the mind and in the brain
• The debate on the role of the context in defining emotions
• The relationship between complex emotions and states
• The relationship between emotions and language

Accepted article types include Original Research, Systematic Reviews, and Perspective Articles.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Registered Report
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Complex emotions, Basic emotions, Emotional Stetes

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.