People sometimes evaluate their emotions; for instance, they feel ashamed for having been angry or, to give another example, they feel that their sadness is important and necessary. The present article reviews such evaluations of emotion. First, through the organization of related concepts, three viewpoints emerge that suggest clear explanations of the concept and the mechanisms of evaluating emotions: (1) the evaluation of emotion involves elements of 'doing', that is, elements that are distinct from simple awareness, attention, and so on, (2) it is necessary to discriminate between one's own emotions and other's emotions, (3) evaluations of emotion hold true for the entire range of positive and negative evaluations. Second, in the process of emotional experience, the evaluation of emotion has been presented as not only a one-time emotional process (Kennedy-Moore & Watson, 1999) but also as traits that affect the entire emotional process. Third, the formation of evaluation of emotion as discussed. The response of parents to children's emotions (e.g., anger) caused another (secondary) emotion (e.g., shame) in children, and the repetition of this pattern in the course of the developmental process was instrumental in triggering the shift from the experience of secondary emotions to the evaluation of emotions.
