Research Image: Patterns of Emotion Throughout the Day

Below is an image from a study we recently finished in Dublin examining patterns of mood utilising a version of a methodology called the day reconstruction method, a diary approach that was originally developed in a series of papers by Kahneman and colleagues. 6 represents 6am and it goes up until 26 which is 2am. The clear divergence between positive and negative emotions as the day moves on is obvious to see in the graph. Some interesting features such as the spike in tension and anger at about three o'clock are also noticeable so if you are reading this at three o'clock in the afternoon then chill out (or send me a nasty email!).

We will be working on this and related work throughout the next year. Gerard O'Neill in Amarach has worked with us to integrate this work with gis tracking to examine commuting stress and its relation to commute patterns and we will present on this soon. We have also been working on integrating this work with continuous tracking of stress hormones and heart rate.




Some key references:
Kahneman, D., Krueger, A.B., Schkade, D., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A.A. (2004a). Toward national well-being accounts. AEA Papers and Proceedings, 94, 429–34.

Kahneman, D., Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. A. (2004b).
Day Reconstruction Method. Science -- Full Text. Retrieved on 24 August, 2007 from http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/306/5702/1776

Kahneman, D., Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. A. (2006). Would you be happier if you were richer? Science -- Full Text. Retrieved on 24 August, 2007 from http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/312/5782/1908