We all have good days, we all have bad days. It’s not realistic to expect every day to be a sunny one, but wouldn’t it be nice if we could bottle those happy moments and savour them for longer?
Well, we're not powerless in that regard. A recent study confirms a simple, yet powerful, way to do just that: tracking your emotions.
The study explored how tracking emotions influences emotional persistence – that is, the tendency to experience the same emotional state on consecutive days. They found that when you keep track of your positive emotions, you’re more likely to significantly increase their persistence, leading to a more sustained positive mood.
The researchers conducted two studies, involving more than 1,000 participants. In both studies, participants were asked to report their daily emotions on a scale, from extremely bad to extremely good.
In one group – we’ll call them the tracking group – participants not only reported their emotions but were also shown a visual representation of their emotional history, like a graph.
In the second group – let’s call them the reporting group – participants only reported their emotions without seeing any reminders of their past emotional states.
Result: the people in the tracking group were much more likely to experience positive emotions the next day if they had felt positive the day before, compared to those in the reporting group.
NEGATIVITY BIAS
Why does it help to track your emotions? The researchers suggest it’s related to how our brains process and remember emotional experiences.
‘People remember events associated with negative emotions with greater vividness and details compared to events associated with positive emotions’, they note. ‘This suggests that if people are not reminded of their past emotions, they are more likely to remember their negative emotional states than the positive emotional states.’
Essentially, most of us are very good at recalling our negative experiences, but not too good when it comes to recalling the positives. As a result, happy memories can slip away, while negative ones stick around. This negativity bias means that unless we make a conscious effort to recall those happy moments, they are more likely to fade from memory.
Tracking our emotions helps to counteract this negativity bias. By keeping a record of your positive feelings, you bring those positive experiences back into focus. Tracking emotions makes the positive experiences more salient, more noticeable; thus, we're more likely to feel better the next day.
You might be thinking, “OK, but what about the negative emotions? If I keep track of my negative emotions as well as my positive emotions, doesn’t this also mean that they are also more likely to persist the next day?”
Actually, no. The researchers note that we naturally remember past negative emotions vividly anyway. That is, we already remember the negative event, with or without being reminded.
One way of getting started is by using a mood-tracking app. There are numerous apps available that allow you to log your emotions and view your mood history.
Alternatively, you could keep a simple mood journal, and jot down how you’re feeling and what might be influencing your mood.
While the study focused on positive emotions, tracking emotions in general can provide valuable insights into our overall mental well-being.
Firstly, it can be an early warning system. Tracking your mood can help you identify potential warning signs of depression or anxiety, helping you notice if there is a sustained downward trend in your mood.
Secondly, it’s good to pay attention to the context surrounding your emotions. You might notice that being around certain people consistently negatively impacts your mood. Alternatively, you might find that a work promotion made you feel positive for a surprisingly brief period, and that spending time with loved ones has a longer and steadier effect. Basically, you’re more likely to see what works for you and what doesn’t.
Above all, though, tracking your emotions helps counter that aforementioned negativity bias. When you’re down, you’re more likely to use black-and-white words like “always” and “never” (“She is always at me”, “Things never work out”). By documenting your emotions, you create a more balanced narrative. You remind yourself that even in tough times, moments of joy and positivity exist, and they’re worth holding onto.
(First published in Southern Star on 25/9/2025)