Executive Functions and Emotional Granularity: No Evidence for Positive Associations

Emotional granularity is the ability to experience one's emotional experiences in a nuanced and specific manner. According to the theory of constructed emotion, between-person differences in emotional granularity are a function of how efficiently individuals categorize affect-related input by means of emotion concepts. We propose that executive functions support the effective coordination of the emotion categorization process, thereby facilitating emotional granularity. In the present study, we empirically examined the associations between three domains of executive functions (i.e., working memory, inhibition, and shifting) and emotional granularity for both negative and positive emotions (negative and positive emotional granularity) in two samples (participants with and without chronic pain). We hypothesized that all three executive function domains would be positively associated with both negative and positive emotional granularity. Participants (N = 153 individuals without chronic pain, N = 218 individuals with chronic pain) completed an online assessment of executive functions and a 14-day ambulatory assessment of 15 negative and 12 positive emotions (with five prompts per day). Contrary to our expectations, neither the six manifest executive function task scores nor a latent common executive function factor measured by the task scores were significantly positively associated with the negative and positive emotional granularity indices in either sample and in analyses that combined both samples. Our findings suggest that executive functions may play a lesser role for emotional granularity than previously assumed. We discuss alternative operationalizations of executive functions and emotional granularity that might reveal stronger associations between these constructs.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s42761-025-00307-y.