Emodiversity is the variety and relative balance of emotions a person experiences. Just as biodiversity describes the mix of species in an ecosystem, emodiversity describes the mix of emotions in daily life. It can be measured with one-time emotion questionnaires (a snapshot of recent experience) or with repeated measures (daily diaries, EMA/ESM), by examining how many different emotions occur, how often they occur, and how evenly they are distributed.
What's emodiversity?
1
Because people don’t just feel “good” or “bad.” Emotional variety is common in everyday life. In a study that tracked emotions in real time via a smartphone app in more than 10,000 people, individuals reported feeling multiple emotions in the same moment more than half the time, and about one third of moments involved mixed emotions—at least one positive and one negative emotion at the same time.
Why study it?
2
Across studies, higher emodiversity has often been linked to indicators of better adjustment, including higher wellbeing and better mental and physical health markers. Some work also connects emodiversity to more adaptive coping, richer social functioning, and better functioning at work. These patterns are not always consistent across samples, measures, time windows, or emotion sets, and most evidence is correlational—so more work is needed to clarify whether emodiversity is a cause, a consequence, or a byproduct of wellbeing and adjustment.
What has emodiversity been associated with?
3
Most findings are correlational, and more emodiversity is not automatically “better.” In some contexts, high diversity may reflect instability, stress, or rapidly changing demands.
Interpretation depends on the time scale, which emotions are included, intensity and frequency patterns, and the person’s situation—potentially explaining why some studies find negative links with wellbeing and why boundary conditions matter.
Why keep studying emodiversity?
5
Researchers have proposed several (non-exclusive) hypotheses:
1. More emotion = more information.
Different emotions may carry different signals about goals, threats, and social situations. A more diverse emotional profile may reflect more nuanced appraisal—helping people make sense of complex events, integrate conflicting goals, and choose actions that fit the situation.
2. More emotion = more flexibility.
Having access to a wider set of emotions may support more flexible responses. At work, for example, pride can motivate you to achieve more or demonstrate competence, while gratitude helps you appreciate others. If you’re stuck in just one emotion—say pride—you might push yourself too hard or overlook support around you. If you’re always grateful, you might downplay your own contribution and miss chances to take charge and grow. Feeling both pride and gratitude can keep you balanced: you can value others’ input without minimizing your own.
3. More emotion = more resilience.
In ecosystems, biodiversity can increase resilience because a single threat is less likely to wipe out the whole system. By analogy, emodiversity may reduce the risk that a single emotion—especially distressing states like acute stress, anger, or sadness—dominates for too long. For instance, prolonged sadness may contribute to withdrawal, whereas sadness mixed with anger (though unpleasant) might keep people engaged and mobilized. A similar logic may apply to positive emotions: because people adapt quickly to repeated positive experiences, a more diverse set of positive emotions may be less prone to “wearing off.”
Why might emodiversity matter?
4
Researchers have proposed several (non-exclusive) hypotheses:
1. More emotion = more information.
Different emotions may carry different signals about goals, threats, and social situations. A more diverse emotional profile may reflect more nuanced appraisal—helping people make sense of complex events, integrate conflicting goals, and choose actions that fit the situation.
2. More emotion = more flexibility.
Having access to a wider set of emotions may support more flexible responses. At work, for example, pride can motivate you to achieve more or demonstrate competence, while gratitude helps you appreciate others. If you’re stuck in just one emotion—say pride—you might push yourself too hard or overlook support around you. If you’re always grateful, you might downplay your own contribution and miss chances to take charge and grow. Feeling both pride and gratitude can keep you balanced: you can value others’ input without minimizing your own.
3. More emotion = more resilience.
In ecosystems, biodiversity can increase resilience because a single threat is less likely to wipe out the whole system. By analogy, emodiversity may reduce the risk that a single emotion—especially distressing states like acute stress, anger, or sadness—dominates for too long. For instance, prolonged sadness may contribute to withdrawal, whereas sadness mixed with anger (though unpleasant) might keep people engaged and mobilized. A similar logic may apply to positive emotions: because people adapt quickly to repeated positive experiences, a more diverse set of positive emotions may be less prone to “wearing off.”
Why might emodiversity matter?
4
5
Most findings are correlational, and more emodiversity is not automatically “better.” In some contexts, high diversity may reflect instability, stress, or rapidly changing demands.
Interpretation depends on the time scale, which emotions are included, intensity and frequency patterns, and the person’s situation—potentially explaining why some studies find negative links with wellbeing and why boundary conditions matter.
Why keep studying emodiversity?
2
Because people don’t just feel “good” or “bad.” Emotional variety is common in everyday life. In a study that tracked emotions in real time via a smartphone app in more than 10,000 people, individuals reported feeling multiple emotions in the same moment more than half the time, and about one third of moments involved mixed emotions—at least one positive and one negative emotion at the same time.
Why study it?
3
Across studies, higher emodiversity has often been linked to indicators of better adjustment, including higher wellbeing and better mental and physical health markers. Some work also connects emodiversity to more adaptive coping, richer social functioning, and better functioning at work. These patterns are not always consistent across samples, measures, time windows, or emotion sets, and most evidence is correlational—so more work is needed to clarify whether emodiversity is a cause, a consequence, or a byproduct of wellbeing and adjustment.
What has emodiversity been associated with?
1
Emodiversity is the variety and relative balance of emotions a person experiences. Just as biodiversity describes the mix of species in an ecosystem, emodiversity describes the mix of emotions in daily life. It can be measured with one-time emotion questionnaires (a snapshot of recent experience) or with repeated measures (daily diaries, EMA/ESM), by examining how many different emotions occur, how often they occur, and how evenly they are distributed.