Relations Between Individual Differences in Emotion Differentiation and the Brain

This thesis examined the individual differences and underlying brain processes of emotion differentiation. Emotion differentiation (ED) is the ability to accurately identify and label distinct emotions. ED is linked to more effective emotion regulatio strategies and emotional well-being. This thesis explores the following research questions: (1) whether individuals high in emotion differentiation are more sensitive to the emotions expressed by others through correlation analysis, (2) positive emotionality is linked to greater relative left frontal alpha activity also reflecting more sensitive emotion differentiation abilities, and (3) the possibility that frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) moderates the hypothesized association between emotion differentiation and emotion discrimination. The results did not reveal evidence for these hypothesized relations. The implications for this research include focusing on cognitive and neural pathways to understanding emotional competence beyond emotion differentiation and discrimination. Acknowledging the limitations, this study extends the discussion of how best to measure emotion differentiation behaviorally and neurally.