Sources of variation in emotional awareness: Age, gender, and socioeconomic status

• Published in: Personality and individual differences 2016-01, Vol.89, p.28-33
• Main Authors: Mankus, Annette M., Boden, Matthew Tyler, Thompson, Renee J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age differences; Attention to emotions; Emotion differentiation; Emotional awareness; Emotional clarity; Gender differences; Socioeconomic status
• ISSN: 0191-8869; 1873-3549
• DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2015.09.043

The present study examined associations between emotional awareness facets (type clarity, source clarity, negative emotion differentiation, voluntary attention, involuntary attention) and sociodemographic characteristics (age, gender, and socioeconomic status [SES]) in a large US sample (N=919). Path analyses—controlling for variance shared between sociodemographic variables and allowing emotional awareness facets to correlate—demonstrated that (a) age was positively associated with type clarity and source clarity, and inversely associated with involuntary attention; (b) gender was associated with all facets but type clarity, with higher source clarity, negative emotion differentiation, voluntary attention, and involuntary attention reported by women then men; and (c) SES was positively associated with type clarity with a very small effect. These findings extend our understanding of emotional awareness and identify future directions for research to elucidate the causes and consequences of individual differences in emotional awareness. •Older age was associated with greater emotional clarity and less involuntary attention.•Women exhibited greater negative emotion differentiation than men.•Women reported greater voluntary and involuntary attention to emotion than men.•Higher socioeconomic status was associated with higher levels of type clarity.•Social and developmental influences might contribute to emotional awareness.