[alisey]

Every basic emotions researcher comes up with a different list. But most of the lists include some version of fear, anger, disgust, and joy (but not sadness). "Emotional Brain" by Joseph LeDoux, chapter 5 has more info on various lists. From the same book:

James Averill, a major proponent of social constructivism, describes a behavior pattern, called “being a wild pig”, that is quite unusual by Western standards, but is common and even “normal” among the Gururumba, a horticultural people living in the highlands of New Zealand. The behavior gets its name by analogy. There are no undomesticated pigs in this culture, but occasionally, and for unknown reasons, a domesticated one will go through a temporary condition in which it runs wild. But the pig can, with appropriate measures, be redomesticated and returned to the normal pig life among the villagers. And, in a similar vein, Gururumba people can act this way, becoming violent and aggressive and looting and stealing, but seldom causing harm or taking anything of importance, and eventually returning to routine life. In some instances, after several days of living in the forest, during which time the stolen objects are destroyed, the person returns to the village spontaneously with no memory of the experience and is never reminded of the event by the villagers. Others, though, have to be captured and treated like a wild pig - held over a smoking fire until the old self returns […]

Averill uses “being a wild pig” to support his claim that “most standard emotional reactions are socially constructed or institutionalized patterns of response” rather than biologically determined events.

[Retric]

There is another popular view that replaces 'emotions' with neurochemicals. Basically, serotonin is an actual chemical with actual biological effects which fit's closely with specific emotions.

In this view emotions are shorthand to describe an incredibly complex system and as such fit biology into a social context. However, people's responses to said emotions fall under social conventions.

EX: Hunger is something you can directly study. But, peoples responses to hunger vary widely.

PS: This also extends to things like chemical intoxication. The loss of coordination when drunk is inherent, singing drinking songs is a social response.