Plutchik's psychoevolutionary theory of basic emotions has ten postulates. Plutchik argues for the primacy of these emotions by showing each to be the trigger of behaviour with high survival value, such as the way fear inspires the fight-or-flight response. He considered there to be eight primary emotions- anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise, anticipation, trust, and joy. Plutchik proposed a psychoevolutionary classification approach for general emotional responses. His research interests included the study of emotions, the study of suicide and violence, and the study of the psychotherapy process. He authored or coauthored more than 260 articles, 45 chapters and eight books and edited seven books. from Columbia University and he was also a psychologist.
Robert Plutchik (21 October 1927 – 29 April 2006) was a professor emeritus at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and adjunct professor at the University of South Florida.
