ObjectiveResearch challenged the notion that neuroticism correlates with affective variability, suggesting that it may result from statistical artifacts due to the non‐normal distribution of negative affect. We aim to advance this line of research by (a) introducing affect balance as a normally distributed measure of affective well‐being and (b) examining current affect balance as a moderator of the relationship between neuroticism and affect balance variability.MethodWe meta‐analyzed the results of 14 ambulatory assessment datasets (N = 2389 participants, N = 174,423 observations).ResultsWe found that while the associations between the mean and affective variability were large for negative affect, they were much smaller for affect balance. Moreover, the association between neuroticism and variability in negative affect was very small, yet medium‐sized for affect balance. Importantly, the latter association depended on current affect levels: Participants high relative to low in neuroticism showed stronger subsequent fluctuations in affect balance when currently feeling better than usual, but weaker subsequent fluctuations in (and thus more persistent) affect balance when currently feeling worse than usual.ConclusionIncreased variability should not be seen as a bad sign but may be a sign that an affective system is changing, which may be adaptive or maladaptive for an individual, depending on the initial state of the system.

中文翻译：

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在高水平的瞬时情感幸福感下，神经质与较大的情感变异性相关，但在低水平的瞬时情感幸福感下，神经质与较低的情感变异性相关


ObjectiveResearch 对神经质与情感变异相关的观点提出了挑战，表明它可能是由于负面情感的非正态分布导致的统计伪影造成的。我们的目标是通过（a）引入情感平衡作为情感幸福感的正态分布衡量标准，以及（b）检查当前情感平衡作为神经质和情感平衡变异性之间关系的调节因素来推进这一研究。 14 个动态评估数据集的结果（N = 2389 名参与者，N = 174,423 个观察值）。结果我们发现，虽然平均数和情感变异性之间的关联对于负面情绪来说很大，但对于情绪平衡来说要小得多。此外，神经质与负面情绪的变异性之间的关联非常小，但对于情绪平衡来说却是中等程度的关联。重要的是，后一种关联取决于当前的情感水平：当当前感觉比平时好时，神经质水平相对较低的参与者表现出更强的情感平衡后续波动，但当当前感觉比平时更差时，情感平衡的后续波动更弱（因此更持久）。结论：变异性的增加不应被视为坏兆头，而可能是情感系统正在发生变化的迹象，这对于个体来说可能是适应性的或适应不良的，具体取决于系统的初始状态。