Complex affect dynamics add limited information to the prediction of psychological well-being

Egon Dejonckheere (), Merijn Mestdagh (), Marlies Houben, Isa Rutten, Laura Sels, Peter Kuppens and Francis Tuerlinckx
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Egon Dejonckheere: KU Leuven—Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences
Merijn Mestdagh: KU Leuven—Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences
Marlies Houben: KU Leuven—Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences
Isa Rutten: KU Leuven—Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences
Laura Sels: KU Leuven—Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences
Peter Kuppens: KU Leuven—Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences
Francis Tuerlinckx: KU Leuven—Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences

Nature Human Behaviour, 2019, vol. 3, issue 5, 478-491

Abstract: Abstract Over the years, many studies have demonstrated a relation between emotion dynamics and psychological well-being1. Because our emotional life is inherently time-dynamic2–6, affective scientists argue that, next to how positive or negative we feel on average, patterns of emotional change are informative for mental health7–10. This growing interest initiated a surge in new affect dynamic measures, each claiming to capture a unique dynamical aspect of our emotional life, crucial for understanding well-being. Although this accumulation suggests scientific progress, researchers have not always evaluated (a) how different affect dynamic measures empirically interrelate and (b) what their added value is in the prediction of psychological well-being. Here, we address these questions by analysing affective time series data from 15 studies (n = 1,777). We show that (a) considerable interdependencies between measures exist, suggesting that single dynamics often do not convey unique information, and (b) dynamic measures have little added value over mean levels of positive and negative affect (and variance in these affective states) when predicting individual differences in three indicators of well-being (life satisfaction, depressive symptoms and borderline symptoms). Our findings indicate that conventional emotion research is currently unable to demonstrate independent relations between affect dynamics and psychological well-being.

Date: 2019
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DOI: 10.1038/s41562-019-0555-0

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