Being with others and feeling happy: Emotional expressivity in everyday life

An experience sampling study assessed the relation between psychological functioning in daily life and emotional expressivity as measured by the emotional expressivity scale (EES). Four hundred and twenty-nine participants carried personal digital assistants that signaled them 8 times daily to complete questionnaires assessing affect, activities, and social contact. As predicted, participants high in emotional expressivity were more likely to have elevated state positive affect, but not negative affect. These participants were also less likely to be alone and more likely to demonstrate better social functioning when with others. Cross-level interactions indicated that emotional expressivity moderated the association of social context and functioning in the moment. The findings support the validity of the EES as a measure of emotional expressivity and demonstrate the utility of experience sampling for describing personality traits in daily life.

► We assessed daily life functioning with emotional expressivity scale (EES) ratings.
► High EES scores related to better social functioning and positive affect.
► EES scores moderated the impact of environmental factors and functioning.
► Findings support the validity of the EES as a measure of emotional expressivity.