A major key to success in life is the ability to experience the fullest range of emotions. To do this we need to be able to accurately label and distinguish our emotions. Emotional Granularity is the capacity to fine grain our emotions.

When we can name specifically what we feel, emotions provide more information and deeper meaning. This helps us to clarify our experiences and enhance our self-awareness. When we know the specific emotions we are feeling, we are more able to trace the source. This in turn gives us a better idea of how to deal with the situation. Granulating the positive emotions we feel, rather than just feeling “happy”, gives us richer information about ourselves and stops us taking our best feelings for granted. Granulating the negative emotions can prevent toxic emotions such as stress, anger or sadness from dominating our experience.

Some people struggle to differentiate their emotions and are restricted to labelling their experiences as broad feeling states. Negative emotions such as jealousy, envy, spite and resentment might be bundled up and experienced as feeling ‘angry’. Other people, in contrast, can construct fine-grained emotions, tailored flexibly to meet each situation. People with high emotional granularity not only have lots of emotional concepts but also know which ones to use and when. Emotional granularity is the foundation of Emotional intelligence - the ability to construct the appropriate emotion for any given situation and deal optimally with it.

The Granulator is a multiple-choice test that requires test takers to read a short description of each of 40 emotions and then select from seven emotions the most accurate label for the description.

The Granulator employs the quadrant within the ring model. The ring articulates the main theme or purpose of the emotions within each quarter. The Granulator provides an overall % score as well as % scores for each quadrant.

The Granulator can be completed at three levels, namely:

• Phase I - age 6 years and below (with support)
• Phase II - ages 7/8 years
• Phase III - age 9 and above

If a young person has completed an early level and wants to go on to the next phase, the items done at the earlier phase will be retained in the next phase.

• 0 incorrect
• 1 correct affect, such as good or bad
• 2 correct quadrant
• 3 correct area in quadrant
• 4 correct specific label or close synonym

The four levels range from diffuse to specific. The more specific emotions are a consequence of the more diffuse emotions. The more diffuse emotions can be experienced without it leading to the more specific emotions. Grade 4 emotions match the statement; more diffuse labels describe the statement but can mean other things as well. Grade 4 emotions most succinctly capture and label the descriptions.

The choices were selected from testing of 250 senior primary aged children when they had to label the set of emotion descriptions.

The Granulator can be used to explore the emotional understanding of individual students. It is most useful to identify any major gaps in a class's emotional understanding and so allow a targeted teaching input. It is also useful to contribute to assessing impact on any work on the emotions. The two latter functions require the Group Profile programme.