Mixed emotions involve feelings in which both positive and negative emotions occur simultaneously. For example, when we feel nostalgic about our childhood, it tends to involve a pleasant reminiscence of joyful memories that are tinged with the sadness that those days are long gone and will never return. Such mixed emotions are particularly complex, and much remains unknown about them, including what differences there are between specific types of mixed emotions (e.g., “happiness and sadness” compared to “proud and angry”), as well as how these mixed emotions affect important behaviors, psychological processes, and life outcomes. I thus seek to embark on a comprehensive program of empirical research that will contribute to a deeper and more nuanced scientific picture of such mixed emotions.

Sample research questions:

  • What psychological or behavioral implications do specific mixed emotions have that are not explainable by positive or negative emotions, or by other mixed emotions?
  • How might appraisals characterize and differentiate specific types of mixed emotions from others?
  • In what situations do specific types of mixed emotions occur?
  • How might individual differences such as personality traits predict the occurrence of different specific mixed emotions?

Sample publications:

  • Oh, V. Y. S., & Tong, E. M. W. (2022) Specificity in the study of mixed emotions: A theoretical framework. Personality and Social Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/10888683221083398
  • Oh, V. Y. S., Hartanto, A., Ho, R. M. H., & Tong, E. M. W.(2025) Dispositional religiosity predicts increased incidence of mixed emotions: Evidence across five studies spanning two countries. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672251337120
  • Oh, V. Y. S. (2025) Torn between valences? Associations between mixed emotions and well-being in stressful and non-stressful situations in a large-scale ecological momentary assessment study. Emotion. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001537
  • Oh, V. Y. S. (2022). Torn between valences: Mixed emotions predict poorer psychological well-being and job burnout. Journal of Happiness Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-021-00493-z
  • Oh, V. Y. S., & Tong, E. M. W. (2021). Mixed emotions, but not positive or negative emotions, facilitate legitimate virus-prevention behaviors and eudaimonic outcomes in the emergence of the COVID-19 crisis. Affective Science, 2(3), 311–323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42761-021-00045-x
  • Oh, V. Y. S., & Tong, E. M. W. (2023) Mixed emotional variants of gratitude: Antecedent situations, cognitive appraisals, action tendencies, and psychosocial outcomes. Cognition and Emotion. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2023.2205104.