Emotions in everyday life: probability of occurrence, risk factors, appraisal and reaction patterns

In a quasi-representative survey, 1242 respondents were asked to describe a situation or event that had elicited an emotion on the previous day. They were also asked to report on the respective appraisal and reaction patterns as well as to verbally label the experience. In addition, they completed a rating list on the relative frequency of experiencing each of 14 emotions and a medical symptom list. The data are interpreted in terms of the odds of experiencing a particular type of emotion in everyday life, mediated by “risk factors” such as culture, socio-demographic background, personality, health, and situational context. Further results concern typical appraisals and reactions for different emotions and relationships between everyday emotions and subjective well-being (life satisfaction and subjective health)