Interoceptive attention and mood in daily life: an experience-sampling study

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Neuroscience
• Affective Science

Background:

• Theories of emotion emphasize the role of bodily signals (interoception) in emotional experience.
• Existing research often focuses on interoceptive accuracy and lab-based measures, limiting understanding of real-world emotional processing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between state interoceptive attention and emotional experience in everyday life.
• To examine within-subject fluctuations in interoceptive attention across different domains.
• To explore the connection between trait and state interoception.

Main Methods:

• An experience-sampling study was conducted to capture real-time data on attention and emotion.
• Participants' interoceptive and exteroceptive attention levels were monitored in their daily lives.
• Trait and state measures of interoceptive attention and accuracy were assessed.

Main Results:

• Interoceptive signals captured attention approximately 20% of the time, showing significant variability.
• Increased interoceptive attention was associated with more negative valence and fatigue, unlike exteroceptive attention.
• State interoceptive attention correlated with trait interoceptive attention, but not accuracy.

Conclusions:

• Interoceptive attention is closely linked to emotional experience in everyday life.
• Findings provide novel insights into the structure of interoceptive ability and its real-world implications.
• Further research is needed to understand the sources of variability in attention and its emotional correlates.