Surprise!
An Instant of Suspension
Method of Investigation
Surprise, in my view, is also an experience that is difficult to capture phenomenologically — just like, for example, the state of flow or happiness (as plenitude) — but for different reasons.
Flow and happiness (as plenitude) are difficult for me to access because they are rare states and, in the case of flow in particular, it tends to dissolve the moment I attempt to observe it.
Surprise, in turn, is not necessarily rare, but it depends on a stimulus that is difficult to evoke voluntarily, making its occurrence unpredictable and difficult to isolate for investigative self-observation. In addition, it has a very short duration, being quickly replaced by another emotion.
Thus, the investigation of this emotion will be carried out on the basis of an imaginative reconstruction of its expression.
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Surprise
Surprise seems to be, in itself, an emotion without a defined valence. It is not properly positive (pleasant) nor properly negative (unpleasant). It appears to arise from an unexpected interruption in the course of experience, interrupting the predictable flow of events — and, for a brief moment, everything stops — like an instant of suspension (a hiatus in intentional continuity). Just a moment to perceive something outside the normal course of everyday life and to realize what it means.
Then, in the very next second, as soon as we truly understand what has happened, surprise gives way to another emotion. It is as if it opened the door, but what enters is something else.
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Examples:
1- Imagine someone suddenly approaching you and saying:
“I have a present for you!”
At that moment, the emotion of surprise may arise. If the present is something you have wanted for a long time, surprise quickly turns into joy.
Now imagine that the present is, in fact, just a joke — a prank played on you. If it is funny, what emerges is a sense of amusement, followed by laughter.
But what if it is a bad-taste joke, touching on a sensitive point — something you fear, something that exposes you, affects you, or humiliates you? In that case, surprise gives way to fear, shame, sadness, or perhaps anger.
And what if the surprise is the unexpected reunion with a person or a pet you have not seen for a long time and whom you have deeply missed?
What emerges immediately after the surprise? An experience of joy, or perhaps a certain sad-happiness accompanied by memories of what was lost during that time apart? A smile, tears, or even an absence of reaction that lasts longer than the suspension of surprise itself?
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2- Now imagine that someone from whom you would not expect a certain attitude responds in an ironic or sarcastic way, but with a remarkably well-crafted and/or witty argument. In that instant, there is a subtle inner shift: first comes the surprise — it is a moment for attention to reorganize rapidly in order to integrate what has just occurred.
Only after this initial moment does the meaning of the response begin to unfold affectively. Depending on the context, the moment, and the nature of your history and relationship with this person, the same remark may resonate in different ways: it may make you laugh or feel admiration for the intelligence and skill of the formulation; it may provoke irritation because of the impertinent tone; it may even evoke a slight sadness when what is said touches something sensitive. The experience acquires a more clearly defined emotional coloring.
Thus, surprise is like lightning⚡before thunder — brief, yet striking.
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Sensations and Reactions
Surprise is usually manifested as a quick, short inhalation, sometimes accompanied by an equally quick and brief sound, such as an “Oh!”, as a brief moment of pause.
In facial expression, the eyebrows rise, the eyes widen, and the mouth tends to open — slightly or widely, depending on how unexpected the situation is. It is what we commonly call being “left open-mouthed.”
There is a sensation of excitation in the head, especially in the face — as if the face “lit up” and placed the body in a state of attention — the head lifts into a posture of readiness, as do the shoulders, the chest, and the torso.
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Surprise × Startle
Sometimes the reaction of surprise may be thought of as close to a startle response, but there are many differences between them. Although both are responses to the unexpected, startle is related to simple sensory stimuli, such as a sudden loud sound or a rapid movement.
For this very reason, startle is a reaction that is easier to provoke; even when we know that a sound is about to occur, if we do not know exactly when it will happen, we may still experience it.
In startle response, there is the sensation of a sudden “cold shock” in the “stomach region,” a reaction close to that of fear. In addition, there is a protective movement: the body contracts and the eyes blink or close. The startle response also tends to be rapidly replaced by another emotion in sequence—such as relief or anger—or by the continuation of the initial sensation itself, which, if sustained, may transform into fear, among other affective responses.
In surprise, by contrast, something opens outward; the eyes seem to open in a curious way, attempting to identify the situation, and there is no specific immediate motivation for action. It appears to be, as previously mentioned, a momentary reaction of suspension in order to identify what has actually occurred. The motivation to act arises in the next moment, when another emotion takes its place.
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Note
Note 1: When I was writing the first version of this text, I accidentally left without saving it, and the surprise of returning and seeing the blank page was quite unpleasant.
However, in the very first moment there was a brief startle reaction, followed by surprise, which soon turned into guilt, expressed as anger and frustration (see here).
Note 2: In ‘Surprise: A Emotion?’, the philosopher Natalie Depraz carries out an extensive and meticulous phenomenological investigation of the experience of surprise.
See here how I described the flow of sensations involved in emotions in general.