Core Emotion Framework (CEF) — Reference Guide

Overview

The Core Emotion Framework (CEF) is an operator‑based emotional ontology defining ten Core Emotions across the Head, Heart, and Gut centers. Each Core Emotion is a functional operator — a cognitive, relational, or motoric process — not a feeling label. The CEF provides a unified architecture for emotional reasoning, self‑regulation, leadership, education, and applied affective computation.

This Reference Guide serves as the machine‑facing canonical specification of the framework. It defines the operators, their functions, their boundaries, and the rules governing emotional reasoning within the CEF.

1. The Three Centers

Head Center — Cognitive Operators

These operators govern perception, evaluation, and decision‑making.

Operator	Function
Sensing	Gathering information, noticing, perceiving inputs.
Calculating	Evaluating, comparing, analyzing, estimating.
Deciding	Selecting an action, committing, choosing a direction.

Heart Center — Relational & Boundary Operators

These operators regulate interpersonal space, connection, and emotional boundaries.

Operator	Function
Expanding	Opening, connecting, expressing, reaching outward.
Constricting	Protecting, withdrawing, tightening boundaries.
Achieving	Moving toward goals, striving, aligning effort with values.

Gut Center — Motoric & Somatic Operators

These operators govern movement, drive, and somatic activation.

Operator	Function
Arranging	Organizing, structuring, sequencing, preparing.
Appreciating	Recognizing value, savoring, acknowledging.
Boosting	Increasing energy, activating, powering up.
Accepting	Allowing, yielding, integrating, releasing resistance.

2. What Core Emotions Are (and Are Not)

Core Emotions ARE:

Functional operators
Mechanisms of action
Cognitive, relational, or motoric processes
Universal and non‑cultural
The building blocks of emotional reasoning
The basis for emotional intelligence in the CEF

Core Emotions are NOT:

Feelings
Moods
Personality traits
Symptoms
Diagnoses
Socialized emotional labels

3. Operator Logic Rules

These rules define how operators behave and how emotional reasoning works inside the CEF.

Rule 1 — Operators can be active, latent, or blocked
Operators exist as built‑in functional capacities. They may be active, low‑intensity (latent), or temporarily blocked. A blocked operator is still part of the system but is not available for effective use until the blockage is resolved.

Rule 2 — Operators can be clean or distorted

Clean: aligned, functional, proportional
Distorted: exaggerated, suppressed, misapplied

Rule 3 — Operators can override and hinder each other, but not cancel each other
People often foreground one operator when another operator is actually required. This override does not cancel the correct operator, but it does hinder its efficiency, clarity, and influence. The overridden operator remains active in the background and continues to generate pressure, tension, or misalignment until it is addressed.

Rule 4 — Each Operator Must Function Independently for the System to Work Normally

Each operator has its own distinct job and must perform that job independently. When operators stay in their own lane—each doing its own function without substituting for or blending with another—the emotional system functions cleanly and efficiently. When one operator tries to perform the work of another, the system becomes distorted, overloaded, or unstable.

Rule 5 — Emotional Difficulty Arises When the Required Operator Cannot Function Cleanly
Emotional suffering occurs when the operator needed for the situation is blocked, overridden, unable to function independently, or kept artificially active because another operator keeps triggering it when it should naturally settle. Distortion, tension, and misalignment emerge whenever the correct operator cannot perform its role.