How Recognizing Joy Supports Emotional Literacy
Exploring the shades of joy and why naming emotions helps children build resilience.
As part of this week’s PAC activities, the EMBRACE Project invites families to explore the concept of joy through the “Name the Emotions” quiz. The activity draws on Robert Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions, a widely used psychological framework that identifies eight primary emotions and shows how they relate to one another. Within this model, joy appears on a spectrum ranging from calm serenity to intense ecstasy, positioned opposite sadness on the emotional wheel.
Understanding joy as a spectrum rather than a single feeling helps children and adolescents develop richer emotional awareness. Research in emotional development shows that when young people can differentiate between nuanced feelings, such as serenity versus excitement, they become better at recognizing their needs, communicating them to others and forming stable relationships. This ability to identify emotions with precision, also known as emotional granularity, plays an important role in wellbeing and adaptive coping.
This week’s quiz encourages parents, guardians and young people to reflect on one central question: “Joy is considered most similar to… serenity, ecstasy, hope or gratitude?” Each of these emotions is connected yet distinct. By comparing them, children learn how joy interacts with other positive states, such as calmness, enthusiasm and appreciation. These reflections promote curiosity about emotional experience and support open conversation between family members.
Discover how recognizing emotions builds emotional literacy in our new JOY Quiz:
English: https://www.menti.com/aliadz4695kc
Romanian: https://www.menti.com/al7twy1drob8
Emotional literacy is one of the foundations of mental health, and developing it early equips young people with tools they continue to use throughout adolescence and adulthood.
The Joy Quiz is part of the EMBRACE Project’s broader effort to strengthen families’ ability to talk about emotions in accessible ways. Through online activities, social media content and structured tools for parents, the project provides opportunities for intergenerational learning and shared reflection at home.
The EMBRACE Project is carried out in partnership with Fundatia Serviciilor Sociale Bethany (FSSB), Fundatia de Sprijin Comunitar (FSC), Asociatia “Bună Ziua, Copii din România”` (BZRO), Federatia Organizatiilor Neguvernamentale pentru Copil (FONPC), and Evolutionary Archetypes Consulting SL (EAC). Together, the project partners support emotional literacy and children’s wellbeing across Romania, Spain and the wider European community.
