Emotional Clarity in Daily Life Is Associated With Reduced Indecisiveness and Greater Goal Pursuit

• Published in: Emotion (Washington, D.C.) D.C.), 2024-10, Vol.24 (7), p.1771-1775
• Main Authors: Eckland, Nathaniel S., Feldman, Rebecca L., Hallenbeck, Haijing Wu, Thompson, Renee J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Decision Making; Ecological Momentary Assessment; Female; Goal Orientation; Human; Male; Negative Emotions
• ISSN: 1528-3542; 1931-1516; 1931-1516
• DOI: 10.1037/emo0001384

Affect-as-information theory posits that understanding of one's emotions (i.e., emotional clarity) can be leveraged to make decisions and attain goals. Furthermore, recent work has emphasized the dynamic nature of emotional clarity and its fluctuations in daily life. Therefore, we sought to test how momentary emotional clarity, experienced in everyday life, would be associated with levels of indecisiveness and goal pursuit. Following affect-as-information, we hypothesized that emotional clarity would be associated with lower indecisiveness but greater goal pursuit. We also hypothesized that indecisiveness would be associated with less goal pursuit with momentary emotional clarity being a potential moderator of this association. Adults (N = 215, Mage = 44.3) experiencing a range of depression, a disorder characterized by indecisiveness, completed a self-report measure of indecisiveness and 2 weeks of experience sampling assessing momentary emotional clarity, goal pursuit, and negative affect. Momentary emotional clarity showed robust links to lower indecisiveness and greater goal pursuit that were not accounted for by negative affect. We did not observe a link between indecisiveness and goal pursuit. Emotional clarity appears to play a role in motivational and cognitive processes that unfold in daily life.