A theory of emotion based on a universal model

Abstract The complexity of emotions has thus far limited our understanding of them. To obtain a clear understanding of the nature of emotion, this paper proposes a novel emotion theory and establishes a universal model of the conscious world in the human brain, the substanguage and interaction model (SIM). Based on an analysis of the possibilities of the interaction process in the SIM, two basic emotions that are indecomposable factors within all emotions—hope and fear—are identified. A questionnaire survey reveals that this basic emotion exhibits high acceptability. Based on emotion theory, this paper reasonably explains the phenomena of facial attraction and infantile facial preference and discusses the psychological reasons for phonocentrism, the phenomenon of preferring the spoken word over the written word. In addition, this paper explores the possibility of artificial intelligence possessing self-emotions. Emotions are relevant to many areas of human knowledge, as well as to everyone’s daily lives, and the simple, clear way to understand emotions provided in this paper may be instructive for everyone.