How Emotions Are Made

‘How Emotions Are Made did what all great books do. It took a subject I thought I understood and turned my understanding upside down’ – Malcolm Gladwell, author of Talking to Strangers

When you feel anxious, angry, happy, or surprised, what’s really going on inside of you?

Perhaps you thought of your emotions as automatic and reactive, a response to the world around you. The thrill of seeing an old friend, the fear of losing someone you love – each of these sensations seems to arise automatically and uncontrollably.

But in How Emotions are Made pioneering neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett shatters everything you thought you knew with a compelling new argument: emotions aren’t universally pre-programmed into our brains and bodies but, rather, are unique psychological experiences constructed through our personal history, physiology and environment.

Relationships, health, parenting, even national security – emotions have serious implications for them all. How Emotions are Made offers a radical new framework that finally explains what you’re feeling – and why it matters so much.