Emotional Intelligence Activity Using Inside Out

Inside Out is a Pixar animated film created with the mindset of teaching both children and adults about the inner workings of the mind. Various topics covered in this movie are: personality development, memory development, parental conflict, emotional regulation, and co-regulation. The movie provides a fantastic opportunity to teach clients and their families about emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence can be defined as one’s ability to understand the feelings of others and themselves leading to strengths of regulation. Individuals successful at learning and understanding emotional intelligence are able to build relationships, reduce stress for themselves and team members, and understand how to discuss the conflict. Employers often seek to hire and promote candidates who are proficient in emotional intelligence.

Building this skill-set is important for adults, but even more important for children. Below is a guide with prompts that clinicians or parents can follow along with to help develop emotional intelligence using the movie, Inside Out. Have these specific scenes queued up, play them, and then ask and answer the prompt with your client/child. Or watch the movie in its entirety first, and then revisit scenes that stuck out the most for the client/child.

Key lessons from this prompt guide:

• All emotions are important and helpful at times.

• We can have more than one feeling about an event.

• Sadness is important and can foster connection with other people.

• Feelings about past events can change over time.

• Expecting someone to be happy all the time is impossible.

• Emotions may look a little different for each person.
  
  

Inside Out Movie Prompt Guide

Introduction to Riley and The Emotions (3 minutes and 36 seconds)
Timestamp: 00:01:02 – 00:04:38

• When we meet Riley, most of the time Joy is in charge of her thoughts and personality. What emotions do you feel most often?

• What are the jobs of each of these emotions? (i.e. Joy, Sadness, Disgust, Fear, Anger).

Memories and Personality Islands (2 minutes and 42 seconds)
Timestamp: 00:04:38 – 00:07:20

• How are the glowing balls, or “core memories” made? What is one of your “core memories”? Why does that memory stick out to you? What emotion would you associate with that memory?

• What do the core memories have to do with Riley’s personality?

• What personality islands do you have?

Riley’s Big Move (6 minutes and 59 seconds)
Timestamp: 00:07:20 – 00:12:19  

• Riley and her family go through a lot of changes when they move from Minnesota to San Francisco. Have you ever gone through a big transition like Riley? (Even just transitioning from elementary to middle school).

• Joy begins to show difficulty controlling the board when Riley moves. What do you think this could mean? Do you think this has anything to do with the other emotions getting stronger or weaker?

Sadness Changing Memories (3 minutes and 28 seconds)
Timestamp: 00:12:19 – 00:15:47

• When Sadness touches one of the happy core memories, she colors it blue. What do you think is going on then? Is it possible that our current moods can color our past memories or how we define our personality?

• Do you think that the core memories were changed forever or was there a temporary filter on them?

Faking Happiness (4 minutes and 17 seconds)
Timestamp: 00:15:47 – 00:20:04

• When Riley’s mother tells her that she is helping her parents by being their “happy girl”, Riley feels pressure to only show them her joy and hides her true feelings from her parents. What do you think of this? Is this a fair expectation? Have you ever felt pressured to act happy when you weren’t?

• What happens when you try to force happiness or “fake happy”? What is the difference between trying to be “happy-all-the-time” and “prioritizing positivity” or looking on the bright side? Is “faking happiness” for you or for other people?

Riley’s First Day of School (6 minutes and 48 seconds)
Timestamp: 00:20:04 – 00:26:52

• Riley faces a huge challenge when starting a new school. Each emotion had a different reaction to the things that happened to Riley: Fear imagined all of the catastrophes that could happen to her, Disgust was worried if she would fit in, Joy was excited by all the possibilities of being new, Anger was sensitive to whether she was being treated fairly by others, and Sadness imagined how Riley might “never be happy” because “I’m not good enough”. Which one of those emotions is closest to how you deal with new challenges?

• Sadness has touched a memory before, but Joy was able to remove it from the projector. While at school, Sadness touches a memory again but this time, it doesn’t budge when Joy tries to pull it down. Why do you think that is?

Riley’s Anger (3 minutes and 16 seconds)
Timestamp: 00:26:52 – 00:30:08

• If you look closely at Riley’s parents’ emotion control boards, her mom’s board is controlled by Sadness and her dad’s is controlled by Anger. What do you think this means?

• When we get a glimpse of mom and dad’s emotion control boards, it looks like they work well with each other compared to Riley’s board. What do you think this means?

• When Riley gets angry at the dinner table, how did that help her situation? How could she have expressed her emotions to her parents in a helpful way?

• What are the lessons you have learned from being angry?

• Have you seen examples of where anger has been helpful to people?

• How have you been able to work with your anger and use it in a constructive way? (i.e. I feel myself getting frustrated, I think I need to take a break).

• Do you know what triggers your anger? Do you have any ideas of other ways to cope with that trigger?

• Riley thought her parents wouldn’t be ok with her getting sad, which made her really unhappy. What do you do when you have feelings that you don’t think are ok to share?

Personality Islands (3 minutes and 7 seconds)
Timestamp: 00:30:08 – 00:33:15

• Riley’s islands begin to crumble after the core memories are affected. Is it possible to create new islands? How?

• How does the island being shut down affect Riley’s personality?

• If you pay close attention, you notice Riley going through depression as the islands crumble. Sadness makes a comment about how if Joy doesn’t get back to Headquarters, she cannot feel happy. How is it that Riley is depressed without Sadness in Headquarters (answer: depression can be a lack of emotions, not just overwhelming sadness).

Long Term Memory (4 minutes and 19 seconds)
Timestamp: 00:33:15 – 00:37:34

• This is the second time long-term memory is introduced but the movie doesn’t really explore what it is. Based on what you’ve seen, what do you think it is?

• As Joy and Sadness are journeying through the long-term memory, Sadness changes several memories on the walls. What do you think this means for the future?

• During this time, we really get a thorough glance at Sadness’ features. What are some signs Sadness shows that she is sad?

• In long-term memory, we are introduced to the memory workers. What is their job? We also see memories that are faded and turned grey/black, what do you think this means?

Bing Bong and Imagination (3 minutes and 54 seconds)
Timestamp: 00:37:34 – 00:41:30

• Bing Bong shows us how he helped make Riley’s childhood fun by using imagination. How has your imagination helped you? Did you ever have an imaginary friend?

• Bing Bong uses creative thinking and creative problem solving to help Sadness and Joy. It was Bing Bong who suggested taking the Train of Thought. How have you used creativity to problem solve?

Loneliness (1 minute and 31 seconds)
Timestamp: 00:41:30 – 00:43:01

• Riley is having a hard time fitting in and is experiencing loneliness. Have you ever experienced feeling lonely? How did you cope?

Bing Bong – Trouble (49 seconds)
Timestamp: 00:43:01 – 00:43:50

• As we get to know Bing Bong more, we see that he is leading Sadness and Joy to some very bad decisions as he tries to help. Has your imagination ever led you to make some not-so-good decisions?

Imagination Land (1 minute and 30 seconds)
Timestamp: 00:43:50 – 00:45:20

• If you had your own Imagination Land, what would it look like?

New Hockey Team (1 minute and 48 seconds)
Timestamp: 00:45:20 – 00:47:08

• Fear tries to use a non-core memory to power up hockey island but it only works briefly, why do you think that is?

• As Riley becomes increasingly frustrated, her self-talk becomes very negative. How could Riley have used reframing to change her self-talk to positive or change how she views the situation?

Imagination Land Destroyed (3 minutes)
Timestamp: 00:47:08 – 00:50:08

• Gradually, Imagination Land starts getting destroyed as Riley is going through a lot of life changes. What do you think this means? (answer: Riley is making room for a new personality as she is growing up and maturing).

• As Bing Bong sits feeling very upset about not being remembered by Riley anymore, Joy tries to cheer him up but it doesn’t work. Sadness steps in and uses empathy to help Bing Bong. Why do you think Sadness was helpful and Joy was not?

• Have you ever experienced a time where someone was more focused on trying to make you feel happy instead of listening to what the situation was like for you? What was it like not feeling heard or understood?

Anger’s Idea of Running Away (1 minute and 23 seconds)
Timestamp: 00:50:08 – 00:51:31

• Anger gets an idea that running away back to Minnesota will solve all of Riley’s issues. Have you ever wanted to just run away from your problems?

• Anger’s idea is a very drastic and impulsive decision that can put Riley in a very unsafe situation. Has Anger ever led you to make an impulsive decision that was dangerous or ended in consequences?

Dreams (3 minutes and 51 seconds)
Timestamp: 00:51:31 - 00:55:22

• Riley’s movies appear to be scripts of bits of her day. What are your dreams like?

• Riley often has nightmares during times of high stress. Has this ever happened to you? What did you do when you woke up to feel better?

Subconscious (4 minutes and 33 seconds)
Timestamp: 00:55:22 – 1:00:25

• The subconscious is where they store Riley’s deepest fears. What are some of your fears?

Running Away (7 minutes and 29 seconds)
Timestamp: 1:00:25 – 1:07:54

• Anger leads Riley to make several very impulsive, not-so-good decisions (i.e. stealing money from her mom, taking a bus by herself to Minnesota). How could Riley have gotten her needs met without engaging in impulsive, unsafe decisions?

• How does Riley stealing her mom’s money affect Riley’s mom?

• What emotion do you think would be controlling mom’s emotion board when she finds out Riley stole from her? What about when she finds out Riley ran away?

Joy Begins Experiencing Sadness (3 minutes and 12 seconds)
Timestamp: 1:07:54 – 1:11:06

• If you look closely, you might notice a blue glow around Joy. In the movie, Joy is often in conflict with Sadness. While sitting in the pit of forgotten memories, Joy begins experiencing sadness even though Sadness is not there. Is it possible that sadness is needed to fully experience joy?

• What purpose does sadness serve in your life?

• When Joy goes to wipe her tears off of the happy memory, it turns blue. How is this possible? When have you experienced both sadness and happiness at the same time?

• Joy eventually realized the importance of Sadness. Why do you feel that other emotions are important?

• When Riley felt her connection to Minnesota fading, Riley got angry at her parents and friends, and later felt a deep sadness, even crying in class. After losing a hockey game, she was at first sad but then felt joyful when her teammates embraced her. Which of these moments do you most relate to?

Bing Bong’s Sacrifice (2 minutes and 34 seconds)
Timestamp: 1:11:06 – 1:13:40

• Bing Bong sacrifices himself so that Joy can help make Riley feel happy again. Have you ever lost someone or something very important to you? What was this experience like for you?

Runaway Riley (6 minutes and 26 seconds)
Timestamp: 1:13:40 – 1:20:06

• While running away, Riley makes several unsafe decisions. What are some decisions you noticed? (answer: walking alone with no one knowing where she is, taking the bus alone at night, ignoring her mom’s phone calls)

• Riley’s mood board begins to go from bright white to dark and the emotions are not able to control the board anymore (i.e. take the idea bulb out, buttons not working anymore). What do you think this means? (answer: Riley is losing control of her emotions, the depression is causing Riley to no longer experience emotions.)

• Sadness is the only one who is able to take the idea light bulb out of the emotion board. Why do you think that is? (answer: Sadness is the strongest emotion Riley is feeling at the moment).

• What emotions do you think Riley’s parents are feeling once they realize Riley ran away?

Riley’s Return (2 minutes and 55 seconds)
Timestamp: 1:20:06 – 1:23:01

• Sadness touches Riley’s core memories when she returns home. How does this affect Riley’s dynamics with her parents?

• When Riley shares her sadness with her parents, they tell her they’ve been missing Minnesota to. Are there any adults in your life who help make the hard emotions a little bit easier to deal with?

• How can talking about your emotions help?

New Memories and Islands (2 minutes and 2 seconds)
Timestamp: 1:23:01 – 1:25:03

• When Joy and Sadness both touch the emotion control board, a new blue and yellow ball is created. What do you think this means?

• Riley gets whole new personality islands. Have your islands changed over time? What personality islands did you have when you were younger and what islands do you have now? What islands do you think you will have when you get older?

• If you take a look at the emotion control board, they replace the console with a longer one, where all the emotions have a place to act at once rather than have just one dominating at a time. What do you think this represents?

• What are some things you have learned in therapy that helped you be more in control of your emotion board?

End of the movie -  Other Peoples’ Emotions
1:25:03

• We get to see inside Riley’s parents’ heads and a random boy she sees during a hockey game. Do you notice anything different between each character’s head? How can you take this information and apply it to your life?

Post Movie Discussion:

• What emotions do you feel are easy to express?

• Do you think that our society values certain emotions over others? Which ones?

• Are some emotions bad? Are there any feelings that aren’t ok, that you don’t ever want “in charge”?

• What happens when we try to suppress tough emotions? What can we do instead?

• What are some ways you cope with Sadness? Anger? Fear? Disgust?

• Do you think they were missing any feelings? (the film didn’t show “surprise” for example).

• Joy and Sadness were in conflict during much of the film. What do you think of their relationship?

• Sadness got blamed for a lot of things that went wrong. Do you think that was fair? What is sadness good for?

Hopefully, this guided prompted assisted you, your client, or your family member in learning about and fostering emotional intelligence. If you tried this activity, let us know in the comment section below!

For anyone interested in learning more ways to use Inside Out therapeutically, watch this episode of Cinema Therapy titled, “Toxic Positivity.”

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