For Better or for Worse? Visualizing Previous Intensity Levels Improves Emotion (Dynamic) Measurement in Experience Sampling

It is a long known reality that humans have difficulty to accurately rate the absolute intensity of internal experiences, yet the predominant way experience sampling (ESM) researchers assess participants' momentary emotion levels is by means of absolute measurement scales. In a daily-life experiment (n = 178), we evaluate the efficacy of two alternative assessment methods that should solicit a simpler, relative emotional evaluation: (a) visualizing a relative anchor point on the absolute rating scale that depicts people's previous emotion rating and (b) phrasing emotion items in a relative way by asking for a comparison with earlier emotion levels, using a relative rating scale. Determining five quality criteria relevant for ESM, we conclude that a visual "Last" anchor significantly improves emotion measurement in daily life: (a) Theoretically, this method has the best perceived user experience, as people, for example, find it the easiest and most accurate way to rate their momentary emotions. Methodologically, this type of measurement generates ESM time series that (b) exhibit less measurement error, produce person-level emotion dynamic measures that are (c) often more stable, and in a few cases show stronger (d) univariate and (e) incremental relations with external criteria like neuroticism and borderline personality (e.g., emotional variability). In sum, we see value in the addition of a relative "Last" anchor to absolute measurement scales of future ESM studies on emotions, as it structures the ambiguous rating space and introduces more standardization within and between individuals. In contrast, using relatively phrased emotion items is not recommended.