The Pan-Affect Chart

The Pan-Affect Chart is a useful overview of all of the main affects (i.e. pleasant or unpleasant sensations) that we experience throughout our lives, and which motivate most of our actions and decisions. They are grouped by category, with pleasant sensations written in green text and unpleasant ones in red. This information was excerpted from the free book The Sudist Way, which contains a more detailed version of this chart. Suggestions and feedback are welcome below.

Physical activity drivers

Pleasant physical activity

Physical restlessness
Physical effort

Physically resting

Physical fatigue

Thermal drivers

Pleasant core warming

Low core temperature

Pleasant core cooling

High core temperature

Pleasant surface warming

Low surface temperature

Pleasant surface cooling

High surface temperature

Nutritional drivers

Pleasant scents and flavours

Unpleasant scents and flavours

Satisfying hunger

Hunger pains
Stomach overfulness

Quenching thirst

Thirst pains
Stomach overfulness

Breathing

Shortness of breath

Urinating or defecating

Urge to urinate or defecate

Relief from expelling irritants

Nausea and indigestion
Urge to cough
Urge to sneeze
Urge to gag

Other physical safety drivers

(no opposites)

Headaches
Musculoskeletal pains
Unpleasant sounds
Unpleasant brightness
Other surface pains Other physical pains

Scratching an itch

Itching

Mental activity drivers

Pleasant mental stimulation
Mirth

Boredom
Curiosity
Mental effort

Mentally resting

Mental fatigue

Social drivers

Pleasant touch

Longing for touch

Caring for others

Compassion

Feeling cared for

Feeling uncared for

Retribution

Anger

Sexual drivers

Sexual attraction

Sexual curiosity

Sexual activity

Sexual desire
Sexual overactivity

Being in love

Lovesickness

Expectation drivers

Satisfaction with self

Disappointment in self

Satisfaction with others

Disappointment in others

Non-specific drivers

Joy

Dysphoria

Imagination drivers (past, present, future)

Remembering pleasure

Remembering pain

Imagining pleasure

Imagining pain

Anticipating pleasure

Anticipating pain

v1.2. Reproduction (in whole or in part) of this chart must attribute sudism.org as the source.

The free book The Sudist Way contains a more in-depth version of this chart.

4 Comments

    • Hi Pat. Thanks for the positive feedback! May I ask what kind of practice you run? You can use this chart as much as you’d like. However, if you reproduce it entirely in your app, website, or other medium, please include a brief attribution and link to sudism.org alongside the chart. I hope it serves you well and any suggestions for improvement are welcome. Take care.

      • Hi! I meant in my own personal practice, as in for myself, not as a professional. The way that you’ve broken down the categories, with their respective pleasant and unpleasant sensations, is very enlightening. If at any point I figure out a way to implement this in my emotion wheel app, I would go beyond just providing attribution and link. Thanks again!!

        • I’m glad you find it useful! I spent quite a bit of time working on this chart and it has gone through several iterations. If you ever have any question or suggestions about it, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Also, my forthcoming free book “The Sudist Way” provides more detail on each of the feelings described in this chart–I can send you a copy if you’re interested. Take care.

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