Why add a momentary version?
A general score tells us how a person usually relates to experiences. A daily diary can ask a different question: right now, is this person allowing experience to change, or are they being pulled into holding on? That distinction matters because the same person may be flexible in one moment and tightly attached in another.
The item pool was informed by the idionomic EMA study One Size Does Not Make All Happy (Sahdra et al., 2025), which kept experiential attachment separate from prioritizing positivity and examined item-level within-person links rather than assuming one group effect applied to everyone.
The established NAS-7
Use the NAS-7 as a general individual-difference measure. Respond on a 1 (Disagree Strongly) to 6 (Agree Strongly) scale, answering according to what really reflects your experience.
- I can let go of regrets and feelings of dissatisfaction about the past.
- I can enjoy pleasant experiences without needing them to last forever.
- I view the problems that enter my life as things/issues to work on rather than reasons for becoming disheartened or demoralized.
- I can enjoy my family and friends without feeling I need to hang on to them.
- I can take joy in others' achievements without feeling envious.
- I do not get "hung up" on wanting an "ideal" or "perfect" life.
- When pleasant experiences end, I am fine moving on to what comes next.
Read the full NAS-7 information Download the NAS-7 (Word)
Ten proposed diary items
Prompt: Please answer about how you feel right now, at this moment.
Response scale: 1 = Not at all true right now; 2 = A little true; 3 = Moderately true; 4 = Quite a bit true; 5 = Very much true right now.
I can give myself fully to something I know will end.
I can enjoy what is happening without needing it to stay the same.
I can let an unpleasant feeling be here without needing to push it away.
I can notice a thought or feeling without treating it as a command.
I can let go of the need for this moment to be different from how it is.
I can stay connected to what matters even if I do not feel good right now.
I am worried that a good feeling I have now will fade.
I feel distressed because I am not feeling as happy as I want to feel.
I am trying to hold on to a feeling I am enjoying.
I can move on when this pleasant moment changes or ends.
How to treat the items for now
Items 1–6 and 10 describe flexible engagement and letting-go. Items 7–9 describe experiential attachment or gripping. We should initially keep these two directions separate rather than assume they are one score. The item pool must first show that it varies within people, is understandable at a prompt, and has a coherent structure.
The intended test is idionomic: estimate each person's momentary patterns first, then ask what generalises. A group average may be useful, but it should not erase meaningful person-specific differences.
Next steps for the study
- Cognitive pretest the wording, especially “give myself fully” and “right now.”
- Decide whether prompts refer to right now or since the last prompt.
- Pilot the items long enough to estimate within-person variation.
- Test whether letting-go and gripping form separate processes.
- Keep NAS-7 baseline scores separate from the new diary items until the structure is tested.