Emotion Knowledge
Emotional expertise matters for well-being.
Research suggests that people who identify and describe how they feel with nuance, people who know more about their emotions, and people who experience a greater range of emotions experience a range of beneficial outcomes including fewer mental health symptoms and fewer maladaptive behaviors (for a meta-analysis see O’Toole et al. 2019). Although these findings are robust, questions still remain about exactly how being an “expert” in your emotions leads to better outcomes. My work aims to clarify how emotional expertise affects our emotional experiences, social relationships and responses to stress.
Representative Work
Bonar, A.S., Bonar, A.S, MacCormack, J.K., Feldman, M. & Lindquist, K.A. (2023). Examining the role of emotion differentiation on emotion and cardiovascular physiological activity during acute stress. Affective Science, 4, 317-331. PMCID: PMC10247597