Assessing Alexithymia for Positive and Negative Emotions: the Role of Granularity and Dialecticism

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Affective Science
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Alexithymia is a transdiagnostic risk factor for psychological issues, impacting emotion regulation.
• Difficulties in identifying and describing emotions (alexithymia) may affect emotional appraisal and complexity.
• Emotional complexity can be measured by emotional granularity and dialecticism.

Purpose of the Study:

• To replicate and extend previous findings on alexithymia.
• To differentiate the association between alexithymia and emotional complexity for positive versus negative emotions.
• To investigate the relationship between alexithymia facets and emotional complexity.

Main Methods:

• Participants (n=115) evaluated emotional experiences after watching videos inducing various emotions.
• Alexithymia was assessed using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) and the Perth Alexithymia Questionnaire (PAQ).
• Emotional complexity was operationalized through emotional granularity and dialecticism.

Main Results:

• No association was found between alexithymia and positive emotional complexity.
• Difficulties in describing and identifying negative feelings were predicted by higher negative dialecticism.
• Difficulties describing feelings, measured by both TAS-20 and PAQ, were predicted by higher negative dialecticism.

Conclusions:

• Alexithymia facets are associated with emotional complexity concerning negative emotions only.
• The study emphasizes the importance of controlling for negative affect in alexithymia research.
• Findings suggest alexithymia's impact on emotional processing is primarily linked to negative emotional experiences.