Based on research around the world, Paul Ekman concludes that people everywhere express six basic emotions universally. These six basic emotions are:
- Happiness (enjoyment)
- Sadness
- Fear
- Disgust
- Anger
- Surprise
Ekman's research, including studies with diverse cultures and isolated tribes, demonstrated that these emotions are recognized and expressed through universal facial expressions, supporting the idea that they are biologically innate rather than culturally learned
. Later, Ekman also considered adding emotions like contempt, but the original six remain the most widely accepted core basic emotions
. Each basic emotion corresponds to a distinct facial expression, which Ekman mapped in his Facial Action Coding System (FACS), used in psychology, law enforcement, and AI emotion detection
. These emotions evolved to serve specific survival functions, such as fear alerting to danger and disgust protecting from harmful substances
. In summary, Ekman's global research supports that six basic emotions are universally expressed and recognized by people worldwide.
