Not Too Low, Not Too High: Daily Negative Emodiversity and Its Inverted U-Shaped Association with Emotion Sharing in Adolescents

Emodiversity of negative emotions, which refers to the variety and relative abundance of emotional experiences of distinct negative emotions experienced by an individual, has been shown to contribute to well-being beyond average levels of negative affect, but its dynamic relationship with emotion sharing is not well understood. These relationships may be particularly important during adolescence, when frequent and intense negative emotions are common and emotion sharing serves as a key strategy for emotional relief and social connection. To address this research gap, a daily diary study was conducted to investigate the within‐person dynamics of negative emodiversity and negative emotion sharing. A total of 337 adolescents aged 12-16 years (Mage = 13.64, SD = 0.53; 47.48% male) participated in the study. They completed a baseline assessment followed by 14-day daily reports on emotional experiences and emotion-sharing behaviors. Using generalized linear mixed modeling (GLMM) with autocorrelation and time trend adjustments, a quadratic (inverted U-shaped) relationship between daily negative emodiversity and emotion sharing was observed. Specifically, adolescents with moderate to high levels of negative emodiversity were most likely to share their emotions, whereas adolescents with low or extremely high levels of negative emodiversity were less likely to share their emotions. This study affirms the importance of diversity in emotional experiences in relation to sharing emotions, especially in the daily lives of adolescents. These findings support a Goldilocks pattern, suggesting that moderate levels of emotional diversity may be optimal for facilitating adolescents’ emotion sharing.