In the present work I validate the Specific Emotion Experience Questionnaire (SEEQ) and use it to test the explanatory power of specific emotions on well-being. In three studies using both cross-sectional and longitudinal data, I support my claim that the specific emotions measured in the SEEQ more powerfully relate to critical outcomes—including life satisfaction, social connection, and daily experiences of stress —than positive and negative affect. First, I tested the psychometric reliability of the full SEEQ and the SEEQ-20, a shorter 20-item measure. Then, in study 1, the SEEQ-20 explained up to 10 percentage points more variance in critical outcomes (e.g., loneliness and life satisfaction) than the predominant measure of positive and negative affect, the PANAS. Furthermore, using a statistical test of non-nested models, the SEEQ-20 was significantly better at explaining many of these outcomes. In study 2, a longitudinal sample comprised of 4,008 daily reports from 296 individuals, SEEQ-20 elation (high-arousal positive emotion), contentment (low-arousal positive emotion), gratitude (prosocial positive emotion), and sexual desire (an oft-neglected emotion) all uniquely corresponded to important, real-world experiences of daily life satisfaction, social connection, and stress. Study 3 replicated the SEEQ-20’s explanatory power over the PANAS on three (life satisfaction, loneliness, and positive relationships) of four (depression) pre-registered hypotheses. Furthermore, I replicated the psychometric reliability of the SEEQ and explored how other emotion constructs (e.g., contempt and elevation) fit with the SEEQ’s items. In summary, the SEEQ’s specific emotional experiences provide a foundation for a more comprehensive study of emotion in well-being, daily life, and potentially other domains such as culture.