The Difference Between Moods and Emotions

Psychologist Paul Ekman makes an interesting distinction between moods and emotions. Moods can last a whole day, sometimes two days, while emotions can come and go in a minute or seconds. A mood activates specific emotions; when we are irritable, we are seeking an opportunity to become angry. We interpret the world in a way that permits or even requires us to be angry. Rarely do we know why we are in a mood. It just seems to happen to us.