Time-based indicators of emotional complexity: Interrelations and correlates.

Abstract

Emotional complexity has been regarded as one correlate of adaptive emotion regulation in adulthood. One novel and potentially valuable approach to operationalizing emotional complexity is to use reports of emotions obtained repeatedly in real time, which can generate a number of potential time-based indicators of emotional complexity. It is not known, however, how these indicators relate to each other, to other measures of affective complexity, such as those derived from a cognitive-developmental view of emotional complexity, or to measures of adaptive functioning, such as well-being. A sample of 109 adults, aged 23 to 90 years, participated in an experience-sampling study and reported their negative and positive affect five times a day for one week. Based on these reports, we calculated nine different time-based indicators potentially reflecting emotional complexity. Analyses showed three major findings: First, the indicators showed a diverse pattern of interrelations suggestive of four distinct components of emotional complexity. Second, age was generally not related to time-based indicators of emotional complexity; however, older adults showed overall low variability in negative affect. Third, time-based indicators of emotional complexity were either unrelated or inversely related to measures of adaptive functioning; that is, these measures tended to predict a less adaptive profile, such as lower subjective and psychological well-being. In sum, time-based indicators of emotional complexity displayed a more complex and less beneficial picture than originally thought. In particular, variability in negative affect seems to indicate suboptimal adjustments. Future research would benefit from collecting empirical data for the interrelations and correlates of time-based indicators of emotional complexity in different contexts.

Anxieties about aging and death and psychological distress: The protective role of emotional complexity

“…High emotional complexity was found to be negatively associated with neuroticism (Ready, Anna, Åkerstedt, & Mroczek, 2012), and positively associated with adjustment (Carstensen, Pasupathi, Mayr, & Nesselroade, 2000) and resilience (Ong & Bergeman, 2004). Nevertheless, in a recent lifespan sample, two indices of emotional complexity, emotional co-occurrence and differentiation, were negatively related to measures of well-being (Grühn et al, 2013).…”

“…Yet, there is no agreement upon the theoretical or operational definition of emotional complexity. Two common psychometrically valid approaches to emotional complexity are either concerned with the extent to which individuals simultaneously experience different emotions (report of occurrence of positive and negative affect at the same time; Ong & Bergeman, 2004), or to how clearly they differentiate between them (express a varied and nuanced set of emotions; Grühn et al, 2013). The current study aims to examine if emotional complexity protects against the effects of existential anxieties on psychological distress throughout life, so that higher levels of emotional complexity can buffer the effect of aging and death anxieties on symptoms of psychological distress.…”

“…Emotional complexity is a multifaceted construct, considered as a personal asset and as an important indicator of adaptive emotional regulation among older adults (Bodner, Palgi, & Kaveh, 2012;Grühn, Lumley, Diehl, & Labouvie-Vief, 2013). Yet, there is no agreement upon the theoretical or operational definition of emotional complexity.…”

Attending to Nuanced Emotions: Fostering Supervisees' Emotional Awareness and Complexity

“…The construct of emotional complexity has been defined in multiple ways (Ready, Carvalho, & Weinberger, 2008), and it has been postulated as a multifaceted (Ready et al, 2008) and/or latent (Grühn, Lumley, Diehl, & Labouvie-Vief, 2013) construct. Various researchers have identified different (although somewhat overlapping) elements of the construct.…”

Components of cultural complexity relating to emotions: A conceptual framework

“…The concept of emotional dialecticism is one of two operational definitions of emotional complexity. The second definition, emotional differentiation, refers to the ability to experience emotions in a highly differentiated manner with a greater variety of negative and positive discrete emotions (Grossmann & Ellsworth, 2017;Grossmann, Huynh, & Ellsworth, 2016;Grühn, Lumley, Diehl, & Labouvie-Vief, 2013). A similar concept of emotional granularity (Kashdan, Barrett, & McKnight, 2015;Lindquist & Barrett, 2008) denotes the verbal ability of individuals to express emotional experiences with precision and specificity.…”