The ObservatoryPart of your subjective wellbeing
Negative affect
How often negative emotional states have been experienced. Reversed when calculating a combined wellbeing index.
How it's measured
3 statements in the wellbeing assessment, scored from "doesn't apply at all" to "applies completely".
- Over the past four weeks, I have often felt down.A high score here means lower wellbeing — the score is reversed in the calculation.
- Over the past four weeks, I have often felt anxious or tense.A high score here means lower wellbeing — the score is reversed in the calculation.
- Over the past four weeks, I have often felt irritated or frustrated.A high score here means lower wellbeing — the score is reversed in the calculation.
Where you work with it
The life areas in this section — assess yourself, answer the questions, and track them over time.
Getting started
Article
Feelings are weather, not climate
A hard feeling often feels like a verdict on who you are. Usually it is something much less dramatic: information passing through.
2 min · Compassion
Exercise
Emotion journal
Put words to what you feel, notice where it sits in the body, and ask what the feeling is actually trying to tell you.
8 min · Compassion
Exercise
Do more of what works
Don't wait for the energy to come before the action. It is often the other way around.
10 min · Discipline
Exercise
3 good things
Write down three things from the day that went well, and consider what made them possible. The brain is trained to notice what works.
6 min · Compassion
Exercise
The map of what fills you up
List what gives you energy, rate it honestly, and see what actually stands out
8 min · Compassion
Exercise
When everything feels like too much
For acutely overwhelming moments — not a crisis — shrink the world to the next small step, one thing at a time
7 min · Compassion
Exercise
Name it
From a vague "bad" to precise words, and notice how the grip loosens.
10 min · Rationality
Exercise
RAIN: meet a difficult feeling
Four steps for meeting a difficult feeling without fixing it away.
10 min · Compassion
How's your negative affect?
The wellbeing assessment gives you a profile across all six dimensions, and you see it change over time. Free account, no payment.