Emotions are a central aspect of our lives. Poets, novelists, playwrights, artists, and composers, have tried to capture the essential experience of emotions for hundreds of years. Philosophers have even debated for millennia what emotions are, and how they might relate to reason, and our wishes and desires.
 
In the 19th century, psychology emerged as a science. Emotions played an important part in most psychological theories explaining human mind and behavior. However, as it turned out, psychology initially had a difficult time dealing with the complexity of emotions. In the early 20th century, an influential school of thought - behaviorism - emerged that decided not to deal with the complexities of the mind and emotion research faded out of focus.

However, in the last 50 years emotion science has come back with force. At the outset of the 3rd millenium, psychology transforms into a multidisciplinary endeavor encompassing neuroscience, biology, as well as social sciences. In consequence, our understanding of emotions is growing dramatically.

I study emotions in the laboratory and I have been teaching the psychology of emotions for two decades. Based on my own fascination with the topic and the experience I have accumulated, I intend this web site as a modest collection of resources on emotion science, as well as an outlet for some of my thoughts on the matter. Perhaps some of this content is useful for students or others curious about emotions. Go to the blog here!