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The 8 types of joy and how to identify them

The 8 types of joy and how to identify them

March 28, 2024

Among all the wide range of emotions that we can get to experience, probably the one we are all looking forward to experiencing is joy. It is a fundamental emotion whose presence not only gives us pleasure but also seems to facilitate our life in all aspects and domains and also usually means that everything or at least something that we care and hope is working as we would like.

But the truth is that we do not always feel joy for the same things or in the same way, or sometimes this can be superficial or manifest despite being non-existent, or even be a sign that something is working incorrectly. It is because of that we can talk about different types of joy , which we will see throughout this article.


  • Related article: "The 8 types of emotions (classification and description)"

What is joy?

Joy is one of the basic and most important emotions of the human being , being also one of the most gratifying and appetizing. It is a sensation that is linked to the existence of a series of activations and physiological effects (among them an increase in the cardiac and respiratory rate and the secretion of hormones and endorphins) and that usually occurs based on an experience (either this or internal) that the subject values ​​at a cognitive level as favorable.

Usually generate behavioral manifestations typical as the smile (being the sincere joy the only emotion that in that act generates the activation of certain ocular muscles), or the laughter. It usually appears associated and is one of the fundamental parts of the concepts we call happiness, fulfillment or well-being.


Regardless of the well-being it generates, joy is a profoundly adaptive emotion: it facilitates exploration and contact with others and with the environment, as well as stimulating creativity and mental flexibility. It has been observed that it accelerates the processing of information and that it facilitates the search for new and more effective methodologies.

It makes socialization and community life easier and also favors the repetition of the behaviors that have generated this sensation. Likewise, joy favors the observation of more information than each of the elements that are part of the situation, something that in turn can cause attention to detail to be lost and even commit more risks in the performance.

In fact it has been observed that feeling joy is positive for health, since it improves our immune system, is linked to better cardiac recovery after coronary events and improves the prognosis of the subject in a large number of disorders, diseases and injuries. It also diminishes or counteracts the reactions of negative emotions, such as anxiety or sadness.


Different types of joy

Most people and generally we think of joy as a unique and unitary concept, not being usual to stop talking about the possible existence of types of joy. However, it is possible to make a brief classification based on their suitability in relation to the situation experienced or even the level of realism with which it is experienced.

1. Authentic joy

We understand by authentic or felt joy that kind of joy that is truly experienced by those who say do it, there is a positive mood in which there appears a physiological activation and excitement and a feeling of happiness, desire to experience and well-being. This sensation appears naturally and is expressed fluently to the outside , being the product of a situation or achievement considered positive by the subject.

2. Hilarious joy

The hilarious joy is that which appears as a result of the sense of humor or physiological reactions that do not necessarily appear in a situation of happiness and well-being but after the capture and processing of stimuli or generally unexpected situations that we find comical . It is one of the most frequent types of joy.

3. Derivative of hedonism

Joy can have different origins, and participates in phenomena as relevant as the perception of happiness. As far as this is concerned, can become happy and experience joy based on different aspects . One of them derives from the experimentation of pleasure, obtained through the satisfaction of the most basic needs and desires of the person, as well as the avoidance of what generates discomfort.

4. Derived from eudaimonia

Along with hedonism, another of the causes of happiness and joy that is usually part of it is what is known as eudaimonia: in this case you experience well-being and joy derived from the fact of working on your own development and search of objectives and purposes. It is about the joy that self-realization produces.

5. Feigned

We understand by feigned joy that set of samples of a positive, expansive and even happy mood that is intentionally carried out and without there really being an emotionality that justifies them, such happiness being a falsification generated with some kind of purpose. So we are really before someone who is not really feeling joy. To recognize it, the most effective thing is to notice whether there are discrepancies between the gestures of the mouth and those of the eyes when smiling.

6. Cynic

It is a kind of joy very similar to the feigned one and that in fact could be considered a subtype of this, the cynical joy is that joy manifested as a mask or defense mechanism in order to avoid showing another emotion , generally negative.

7. Pathological: manic and hypomanic states

It is likely that at a general level whenever we imagine the presence of joy we do it in a context in which it is positive, it improves our mood and facilitates our well-being, being usually caused by a beneficial event that gives rise to this emotion.

However, it is also possible to find people who experience a type of joy that is not normative but pathological, which is beyond the control of the situation and that it can become overflowing and be maladaptive and even dangerous .

This is what happens in some pathologies such as manic episodes typical of bipolar disorder, some cases of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders or after substance poisoning. More than authentic joy, we would be talking about situations of euphoria, in which expansiveness, logorrhea and an increase in the speed of thought emerge. In these circumstances it is possible to lose control of the situation and suffer a decrease in judgment and risk analysis, to the point where delusions of greatness, irritability and hostility to others may even appear.

8. Paratímica

It is understood as such a type of joy which is considered pathological because it appears that emotion is a situation that does not correspond to something that the subject generates joy or that appears at a time or in a situation that should not generate it (no it is necessarily a situation in which socially it is considered improper, that also, but even the emotion of joy appears even though what happened may actually be sad for the subject itself) or in which the physiological expression does not accompany the felt emotion.

9. Moria: empty joy

Another type of happiness, present among other cases in people with brain injury, brain tumors, cognitive deterioration or dementias, is the moria. It is understood as such a positive and expansive mood but empty in content , which appears without there being a reason for such joy. It is common for people with this symptom to want to joke, eccentric behavior and extreme joviality regardless of context.

Bibliographic references:

  • Segarra Echebarría, R. and Eguiluz Uruchurtu, I. (2013) .Introduction to psychopathology. Editorial Panamericana Medical. Chapter 8
  • Ekman, P. and Friesen, W. (1969). The repertoire of nonverbal behavior: Categories, origins, usage, and coding. Semiotic, 1, pp. 49-98.

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