Mood Dictionary: Discover Untranslatable Emotions

One of the many important aspects of leadership, work and life in general, is emotional intelligence. But what does that actually mean and how do we get there?

How do you gain more leadership qualities in the work field? How can you recognize and successfully play off any emotions that you may encounter? An interesting aspect that is often overlooked is debated in this great article, about being able to identify and describe a certain emotion which is referred to as “emotional granularity”. This dialog is followed up by its effect on how widespread your vocabulary is. Research shows that we do not all experience the same emotions and not all in the same way. The emotions we feel are simply influenced by our culture and where we grew up.

In other words, if your native language doesn’t have a word for a feeling, you are less likely to experience it because you would not understand the concept. Emotions are not always universal but are concepts that we learn from our surroundings in childhood. Thus, by expanding your knowledge on emotional words, you are able to grasp what you feel more accurately and deal with the problems causing it. In an ever-growing multinational working environment, being able to understand foreign emotions is an excellent tool when communicating to a diverse set of colleagues. Understanding what your colleagues feel and where it stems from, helps you reach new levels of sympathy and allows you to create smarter decisions. Such is the effect of having emotional intelligence.

Seeing the obvious importance of having emotional intelligence in the workplace, it was peculiar that there were few real studies done on it. Therefore, together with Utrecht University, 2DAYSMOOD carried out research on the most typical emotions that people experience at work across different cultures. In the second part of the study, we dove into how a person’s culture can influence their perception of emotions and emojis.

Aligned with our current research, we’re creating a mood dictionary of untranslatable emotions from all over the world. Be inspired by these feelings that help you reach emotional intelligence and become an empathizing super colleague. Start off locally with the Dutch “Uitwaaien”, that captures the feeling of taking a desired refreshing break. Then move on to the Spanish “Aficionado”, that teaches you about affection. With the Japanese “Otsukaresama”, you can show appreciation for your colleague’s hard work, and the Hebrew word “Firgun”, teaches you how to compliment with no ingenuine feelings in your heart.

Have a look at some amazing untranslatable emotions in this blog.