Metaemotions

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Feelings about one's own emotions, leading to self-reflection and insight into emotional states
2. Emotions that arise in response to experiencing other emotions, often influencing behavior and decision-making
3. The complex psychological experience of evaluating and responding to one's emotional responses towards different situations

Etymology: "Metaemotion" is a plain compound: the Greek prefix "meta-", here meaning something like "beyond" or "about itself," attached to "emotion." The emotion half took a longer road. It comes from Old French "esmouvoir," which descends from Latin "exmovēre," a blend of "ex-" (out) and "movēre" (to move), so the original sense was something like stirring up or moving outward. English borrowed it through Middle French "esmouvoir" and the noun "emotion," which is why the word carries the sense of a body being stirred rather than a calm state of mind. The "meta-" part does the work of the coinage. A metaemotion is an emotion directed at another emotion: feeling anxious about being sad, or feeling guilty about feeling jealous. The prefix follows the same pattern as "metacognition," where "meta-" marks a thought turned back on itself.

Synonyms: emotional awareness, emotional intelligence