Infer Emotions from Belief-Like Statements

In my previous post about how to recognize a belief in a transcript, I ended with the guideline to ask yourself:

This is how you will recognize a belief. I listed examples in three boxes labeled Opinions, Guesses, and Preferences, Etc. (which included statements of fact and complaints). The one other thing to watch out for is emotion. Emotion is something we do want to capture in the mental model. As humans, according to our various cultures, we tend to veer away from stating our emotional states outright. (Half the time we aren’t even sure of our emotional state, anyway, right?) It should be no surprise that our emotions can come out as sentences that sound like beliefs at first glance.

Do your best to recognize these beliefs as the emotions they truly are, and re-cast the labels into an emotional state. The new labels will greatly clarify what’s going on behind the statement, even if it’s an inference on your part. Your team (and your gut feeling) will help you decide if the emotion you re-cast is a valid one.