EMOTONGUE, a smartphone application designed to promote awareness and consequent emotional self-regulation measure emotions in natural contexts

Luana Bruno; Alejandro Iborra Cuéllar; Slawomir Pasikowski; Kristen A. Lindquist

doi:10.58265/pulso.6633

Authors

Luana Bruno Universidad de Alcalá https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7052-7228
Alejandro Iborra Cuéllar Universidad de Alcalá https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8373-8622
Slawomir Pasikowski University of Lodz, Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0768-1596
Kristen A. Lindquist University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5368-9302

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58265/pulso.6633

Keywords:

Application, Affective science, Emotional management, Smartphones, Natural context

Abstract

EMOTONGUE is an Android application designed to help people become more aware of their own emotions, facilitating emotional self-regulation processes in their daily lives. The app was evaluated in a study with 16 participants. They used the app five times a day for two weeks. The aim was to improve emotional management, emotional granularity and perception of emotional intensity. A mixed methods design was used, combining qualitative and quantitative approaches. Results indicated progressive improvements in self-awareness and emotional management, as well as in emotional granularity, by achieving app-based labelling of emotions in a more specific way. Differences in emotional expression were observed between native and second languages, as well as in the frequency of use of emotions related to arousal and/or pleasure due to cultural and/or gender nuances. Although the results suggest the efficacy of the app, a larger sample size is required to confirm them. This study highlights the importance of accessible tools in psychology and education to benefit more people.

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Author Biographies

Luana Bruno, Universidad de Alcalá

PhD in Education and postdoctoral researcher at the University of Alcalá, has an extensive background in research and teaching. She is co-creator, with Dr. Iborra and Dr. Lindquist, of the free emotional management application EMOTONGUE. She is currently researching issues related to emotional development and change. She also researches migration and gender studies. She participates in international projects on migration and affective-sexual relationships in adolescents. As a teacher, she has taught at the Faculty of Education Sciences in Primary and Early Childhood Education and postgraduate programs, such as the Master in University Teaching and the Master in Teacher Training for Compulsory Secondary Education. She holds international certificates in Collaborative Practices and Systemic Therapy. From March 2017 to May 2021, she has been FPU research staff in the Department of Educational Sciences at the University of Alcalá. She has developed research stays in the USA, Germany, Poland and Italy.

Alejandro Iborra Cuéllar, Universidad de Alcalá

Alejandro Iborra Cuéllar holds a PhD in Psychology from the University of Valencia and has been a full professor at the University of Alcalá since 2002. He directed the Department of Educational Sciences from 2013 to 2019 and currently coordinates the Doctoral Program in Education and is the director of the Daisaku Ikeda Institute of Education and Development (IEDDAI). His background includes studies in integrative gestalt therapy, remodeled NLP and systemic therapy, and he has published extensively on personal identity formation and collaborative-experiential-transformational learning. He has taught in Psychopedagogy, Primary School Education Degree and postgraduate programs, such as the master's degree in University Teaching and the master's degree in Teacher Training for Compulsory Secondary Education. She has undertaken research visits to universities in the United States, England and the Netherlands, and has participated in international educational projects in Equatorial Guinea, Chile, the Dominican Republic and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic.

Slawomir Pasikowski, University of Lodz, Poland

Slawomir Pasikowski, PhD.

pedagogue, psychologist, associate professor at the Faculty of Educational Sciences of the University of Lodz. Vice-chair of the Section of Pedagogical Research Methodology Team at the Pedagogical Sciences Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences. Member of the European Association of Methodology. In scientific and didactic work, he devotes social research methodology and statistics. His main interests are measurement in education, methodological orientations, attitudes towards statistics and research methodology, and academic education in research methodology.

Kristen A. Lindquist, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Ph.D., is a full professor in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she directs the Carolina Affective Science Laboratory and the graduate program in Social Psychology. Her research focuses on a constructivist theory of emotion, using tools from diverse disciplines such as social psychology, neuroscience, and linguistics. Funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, her work has contributed significantly to the field. She earned her PhD in Psychology from Boston College in 2010 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University. She received several awards, including distinction as a "Rising Star in Psychological Science" and the Johnstone Excellence in Teaching Award. In 2023, she was elected President-Elect of the Society for Affective Science. Lindquist is recognized for her work in the study of emotions and their impact on human behavior.

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