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Cited by 89Emotional Intelligence and PerformanceEmotions and Moral BehaviorPsychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction

Expertise in emotion: A scoping review and unifying framework for individual differences in the mental representation of emotional experience

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Hoemann, Katie, Nielson, Catie, Yuen, Ashley, Gurera, J. W., Quigley, Karen S., Barrett, Lisa Feldman·2021·Psychological Bulletin
DOI 10.1037/bul0000327PMC PMC9393910
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Abstract

Expertise refers to outstanding skill or ability in a particular domain. In the domain of emotion, expertise refers to the observation that some people are better at a range of competencies related to understanding and experiencing emotions, and these competencies may help them lead healthier lives. These individual differences are represented by multiple constructs including emotional awareness, emotional clarity, emotional complexity, emotional granularity, and emotional intelligence. These constructs derive from different theoretical perspectives, highlight different competencies, and are operationalized and measured in different ways. The full set of relationships between these constructs has not yet been considered, hindering scientific progress and the translation of findings to aid mental and physical well-being. In this article, we use a scoping review procedure to integrate these constructs within a shared conceptual space. Scoping reviews provide a principled means of synthesizing large and diverse literature in a transparent fashion, enabling the identification of similarities as well as gaps and inconsistencies across constructs. Using domain-general accounts of expertise as a guide, we build a unifying framework for expertise in emotion and apply this to constructs that describe how people understand and experience their own emotions. Our approach offers opportunities to identify potential mechanisms of expertise in emotion, encouraging future research on those mechanisms and on educational or clinical interventions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

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  • Individuals who construct instances of emotion lower in granularity represent a range of negatively or positively valenced experiences using the same emotion word.

    “Individuals who construct instances of emotion that are lower in granularity represent a range of negatively (or positively) valenced experiences using the same emotion word.[84][85][86]”

    From A new science of emotion: implications for functional neurological disorder (2022) · cites this paper as [84]

    In Results > Synthesizing Constructs Based on Features of Expertise (page unavailable), the review describes granularity as involving nuanced, precise emotion concepts that are specific rather than overlapping. This supports the general contrast with lower granularity, but the passage does not say that people with lower granularity use the same emotion word across a range of experiences of the same valence. (LLM, conf=0.78)

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Research works printed but not linked: 15

  1. Averill JR, & Thomas-Knowles C (1991). Emotional creativity. In Strongman KT (Ed.), International review of studies on emotion (Vol. 1, pp. 269– 299). Wiley.
  2. Barrett LF (2000, February). Modeling emotion as an emergent phenomenon: A causal indicator analysis [Conference session]. Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Nashville, Tennessee, United States.
  3. Boyatzis RE, Goleman D, & Rhee KS (2000). Clustering competence in emotional intelligence: Insights from the Emotional Competence Inventory. In Bar-On R & Parker JDA (Eds.), The handbook of emotional intelligence: Theory, development, assessment, and application at home, school, and in the workplace (pp. 343– 362). Jossey-Bass.
  4. Clore GL, & Ortony A (2008). Appraisal theories: How cognition shapes affect into emotion. In Lewis M, Haviland-Jones JM, & Barrett LF (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (3rd ed., pp. 628– 642). Guilford Press.
  5. Cooper RK, & Sawaf A (1997). Executive EQ: Emotional intelligence in leadership and organizations (Vol. 4). Grosset/Putnam.
  6. Ekman P (1972). Universals and cultural differences in facial expressions of emotion (Cole J, Ed., Vol. 19, pp. 207– 282). University of Nebraska Press.
  7. Freud S (1895). Project for a scientific psychology. International Universities Press.
  8. Frijda NH (1986). The emotions. Cambridge University Press.
  9. Lindquist KA, & Barrett LF (2008). Emotional complexity. In Lewis M, Haviland-Jones JM, & Barrett LF (Eds.), Handbook of emotions (3rd ed., pp. 513– 530). Guilford Press.
  10. Mayer JD, & Salovey P (1997). What is emotional intelligence? In Salovey P & Sluyter DJ (Eds.), Emotional development and emotional intelligence: Educational implications (pp. 3– 34). Basic Books.
  11. Nemiah JC, & Sifneos PE (1970). Affect and fantasy in patients with psychosomatic disorders. In Hill OW (Ed.), Modern trends in psychosomatic medicine (Vol. 2, pp. 26– 34). Butterworths.
  12. Scherer KR (1984). On the nature and function of emotion: A component process approach. In Scherer KR & Ekman P (Eds.), Approaches to emotion (pp. 293– 317). Lawrence Erlbaum.
  13. Tobacyk JJ (1980). Comparison of five measures of affective complexity derived from P-technique factor analysis. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 50(2), 1259– 1262.
  14. Tomkins SS (1962). Affect imagery consciousness: Vol. I. The positive affects. Springer.
  15. Tomkins SS (1963). Affect imagery consciousness: Vol. II. The negative affects. Springer.

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Authors
Hoemann, K., Nielson, C., Yuen, A., Gurera, J. W., Quigley, K. S., & Barrett, L. F.
Affiliations
  • KU Leuven (BE)
  • Northeastern University (US)
  • Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (US)
ORCID
Venue
Psychological Bulletin
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2021-11
Volume
147
Issue
11
Pages
1159-1183
ISSN
  • 0033-2909 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1455
DOI
10.1037/bul0000327
PMC
PMC9393910
OpenAlex
W4239221348
Cited by
83
References
438
Citations by year
2026: 18 · 2025: 12 · 2024: 16 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 5
FWCI
12.98
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Psychological Bulletin (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Lirias (KU Leuven) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
Funders
  • National Cancer Institute (U01CA193632)
  • National Institute of Mental Health (R01MH113234; R01MH109464)
  • National Institute of Aging (R56AG058745)
  • National Science Foundation (BCS1947972)
  • U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences (W911NF-16-1-019)
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (1F31HL140943-01)
  • Sponsor name not included
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotional Intelligence and Performance
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Emotions and Moral Behavior
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction
Keywords
emotional awareness, emotional clarity, emotional complexity, emotional granularity, emotional intelligence, individual differences, unified framework, emotional well-being
MeSH terms
Emotions, Humans, Individuality, Emotional Intelligence

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