Last night at our self-care workshop, we asked the question,
Where do emotions and behaviors come from?
The answers, were nice and varied; none the same. It’s such a great question though, don’t you think? It would be great to hear from you as well.
Where do emotions and behaviors come from?
Then, would you tell us if it has qualified your worth? self-esteem? confidence?
Has it affected where you go for help with them?
Self-Care Tip #266 – Answer, “Where do emotions and behaviors come from?” for better self-care.
Friend to Yourself 
Hmmm…behavior seems easier to control than emotions,so I say emotions are inherited and behaviors learned.
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thanks suzicate. knowing your thoughts about this question helps us.
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They come from the magical goo of our DNA. I fall fairly heavily on the side of “nature” in the nature v. nurture debate. I do think nurture/environment matters only in the sense of how it interacts with our neurochemicals. If we have enough sets of stressors, for example, our actual chemistry may be changed. The stressors are external, but the chemicals in our body (with predispositions governed by our genes) are intrinsic.
As to why and how each “Self” ends up with its particular set of DNA…well, we probably need to hear from a mixture of biologists, statisticians, and theologians.
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thank u sarah. knowing your views help us. where did u get them from do you think?
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I took a sociobiology course/neuroscience course in college… I had an opening in my last quarter, and I took it pass/no pass, just for fun. Everyone on campus said Dr. Sapolsky is a legend—and they are right. It was one of my favorite classes, and I learned so much. If I had taken his course in my frosh or soph year, I might have gone in an entirely different direction with my studies. As it was, I had found his class reader in one of the houses I stayed in on campus one summer in the house library. I read it through cover to cover and made a decision to take his course before I left. He is one of the professors who seriously, seriously changed my life.
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sigh. what fun. i sense the hungry student in u and she is fierce!
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Both emotions and behaviors come from the brain. It is a balance of chemicals in the brain that make us who we are. Behaviors are mostly automatic responses to our emotions and feelings, such picking up a baby in your arms when it cries. They can be learned regardless if its response is a positive or negative feeling or emotions.
Strangely enough emotions also have the potential of becoming learn responses. I child that has seen war is likely to be less affected by the sight of a wounded soldier. Marie.
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thanks Marie. that response to life threatening events is definitely something that can “teach” our brain a different way to express itself.
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I’m one to say chemicals in the brain determine our emotions. Also how our transmitter nerve cells are formed and what they respond to. I also believe emotions are learned and at the same time are affected by our DNA like the comment above.
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Thank u clar! To the point n I think a view largely shared. Hugs
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