States of enjoyment

Enjoyment can be felt mildly, extremely, or somewhere in between. The least intense state of enjoyment is sensory pleasure that can progressively, escalate to rejoicing, compassion/joy, amusement, schadenfreude, relief, peace, pride, fiero, naches, wonder, excitement, and ecstasy. The following figure shows a graph of each state of enjoyment and its intensity:

Now we will see what each of them represent:

• Sensory pleasure: This refers to enjoyment derived through one of the five physical senses: sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell. The possible actions resulting from this state are savor and seek more—both actions are constructive actions as they are useful responses to the emotion felt.
• Rejoicing: This refers to a warm, uplifting feeling that people experience when they see acts of human goodness, kindness, and compassion. It is also called elevation. The possible actions resulting from this state are savor, seek more, exclaim, engage/connect, and indulge. The first four actions are constructive actions as they are useful responses to the emotion felt. Indulge in rejoicing is ambiguous as it could either be a useful response to the emotion or it could cause harm.
• Compassion/joy: This refers to the enjoyment of helping to relieve another person's suffering. The possible actions resulting from this state are engage/connect, savor, seek more, and exclaim. All four actions are constructive actions as they are useful responses to the emotion felt.
• Amusement: This involves light, playful feelings of enjoyment and good humor. The possible actions resulting from this state are engage/connect, exclaim, maintain, seek more, and indulge. The first four actions are constructive actions as they are useful responses to the emotion felt. Indulge in amusement is ambiguous as it could either be a useful response to the emotion or it could cause harm.
• Schadenfreude: (a German word) This involves enjoyment of the misfortunes of another person, usually a rival. The possible actions resulting from this state are engage/connect, exclaim, gloat, maintain and seek more. All the five actions are destructive actions as they could cause harm.
• Relief: This is when something is expected to be unpleasant, especially the threat of harm, but is avoided or comes to an end. The possible action resulting from this state is exclaim, which is a constructive action.
• Peace: This is an experience of ease and contentment. The possible actions resulting from this state are engage/connect and maintain—both constructive actions.
• Pride: This involves deep pleasure and satisfaction derived from one's own achievements or the achievements of an associate. The possible actions resulting from this state are seek more, engage/connect, exclaim, indulge and savor—the action of seeking more pride is a constructive action, though, all the remaining actions are ambiguous.
• Fiero: (an Italian word) This is an enjoyment of meeting a difficult challenge. The possible actions resulting from this state are maintain, seek more, engage/connect, indulge, savor, and gloat—the action of maintaining fiero is a constructive action, though gloat fiero is a destructive action as it could cause harm and the other actions are ambiguous.
• Naches: (a Yiddish word) This involves joyful pride in the accomplishments of one's children or mentees. The possible actions resulting from this state are engage/connect, exclaim, savor and gloat; the first three actions are ambiguous and gloat is a destructive action.
• Wonder: This is an experience of something that is very surprising, beautiful, amazing, or hard to believe. The possible actions resulting from this state are engage/connect, exclaim, savor, seek more, and indulge; the first four actions are constructive actions. Indulge in wonder is an ambiguous action.
• Excitement: This is a powerful enthusiasm. The possible actions resulting from this state are engage/connect, exclaim, maintain, seek more, and indulge; the first four actions are constructive actions. Indulge in excitement is an ambiguous action.
• Ecstasy: This is rapturous delight. A state of very great happiness, nearly overwhelming. The possible actions resulting from this state are maintain, savor, and indulge; the first two actions are constructive actions. Indulge in ecstasy is an ambiguous action.