Surprise is a sudden emotion that occurs when an unexpected or unexpected event occurs. It lasts a few moments and is immediately followed by the manifestation of other emotions.
Some authors consider surprise a neutral emotion. This is because it is caused by a new and unexpected situation, which disappears very quickly to be immediately replaced by other emotions. Even fetuses in the womb react surprisingly to loud noises with the so-called “Moro reflex”, a start accompanied by the opening of the arms.
Surprise is neither positive nor negative: it is an expression. neutral. The general characteristics of which can be summarized as follows:
- It is the shortest emotion of all.
- It occurs suddenly.
- It can be provoked by new stimuli.
- It can occur following an increased and sudden stimulus.
- Surprise is the reflection of a reality: there are many unpredictable aspects in our future.
- It intensifies when the situation has a certain importance for us.
- It is underlined by the following emotion.
- Promotes attention when faced with new stimuli.
- It can occur following the interruption of the activity carried out.
This emotion is also associated with a typical bodily expression: arched raising of the eyebrows, exaggeratedly wide eyes, the pupils dilate, we open the mouth and the jaw drops, hence the expression "to gape". The knees may bend slightly and the body, if we are standing, may tilt. All this could be accompanied by sounds or words such as: “ah”, “oh”, “mmh”…
It is the shortest emotion of all, but it is no less important from an evolutionary point of view.
From an evolutionary perspective, surprise is an emotion associated with survival: for primitive man, any unexpected stimulus could prove to be a threat and, in fact, the facial expression of surprise includes the opening of the eyes to widen the field of vision and the opening of the mouth to ensure deep breathing and facilitate muscular effort in the event of escape. In fact, it stimulates attentional processes, the tendency towards exploration and curiosity when faced with unknown situations, helping associative learning of the triggered events. It is believed to be advantageous for humanity because it would facilitate the memory of the event. In fact, cognitive attention focuses on the event that causes the surprise and the latter consequently remains imprinted in the minds of individuals.