Independence and bipolarity in the structure of current affect.

The independence of positive and negative affect has been heralded as a major and counterintuitive finding in the psychology of mood and emotion. Still, other findings support the older view that positive and negative fall at opposite ends of a single bipolar continuum. Independence versus bipolarity can be reconciled by considering (a) the activation dimension of affect, (b) random and systematic measurement error, and (c) how items are selected to achieve an appropriate test of bipolarity. In 3 studies of self-reported current affect, random and systematic error were controlled through multiformat measurement and confirmatory factor analysis. Valence was found to be independent of activation, positive affect the bipolar opposite of negative affect, and deactivation the bipolar opposite of activation. The dimensions underlying D. Watson, L. A. Clark, and A. Tellegen's (1988) Positive and Negative Affect schedule were accounted for by the valence and activation dimensions. A consensus on a descriptive structure of current affect is at hand—if we can only agree on what the structure is. The psychology of mood, emotion, and affect needs a consensual structure and is tantalizingly close to achieving one. Among the remaining disagreements, the most puzzling and persistent is bipolarity versus independence. Is positive affect the bipolar opposite of, or is it independent of, negative affect? Are happiness and sadness two ends of one continuum, or separate entities, like apples and oranges? A resolution to this puzzle is needed to answer questions about the number of dimensions of affect, how affect should be measured, and the underlying processes involved. Despite repeated attempts, a solution to this puzzle remains elusive, and a long-simmering debate has recently flared up. Much is at stake in this debate, for important lines of research have arisen on these opposing assumptions. This article offers conceptual and empirical analyses aimed at resolving the dispute.

[1]  W. Wundt,et al.  An Introduction to Psychology , 1912 .

[2]  J. Stainer,et al.  The Emotions , 1922, Nature.

[3]  H. Schlosberg The description of facial expressions in terms of two dimensions. , 1952, Journal of experimental psychology.

[4]  H. Schlosberg Three dimensions of emotion. , 1954, Psychological review.

[5]  E. Borgatta Mood, Personality, and Interaction , 1961 .

[6]  M. Lorr,et al.  AN ANALYSIS OF MOOD IN NEUROTICS. , 1964, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[7]  V. Nowlis Research with the mood adjective checklist , 1965 .

[8]  Marvin R. Goldfried,et al.  On the Bipolarity of Semantic Space , 1965 .

[9]  N. Bradburn,et al.  Reports on happiness : a pilot study of behavior related to mental health , 1965 .

[10]  R. Thayer,et al.  Measurement of Activation through Self-Report , 1967, Psychological reports.

[11]  C. Osgood On the whys and wherefores of E, P, and A. , 1969, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[12]  N. Bradburn The structure of psychological well-being , 1969 .

[13]  P. Bentler Semantic Space is (Approximately) Bipolar , 1969 .

[14]  R. Meddis Bipolar factors in mood adjective checklists. , 1972, The British journal of social and clinical psychology.

[15]  L. E. Bush Individual differences multidemensional scaling of adjectives denoting feelings. , 1973, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[16]  J. Russell,et al.  An approach to environmental psychology , 1974 .

[17]  J. Russell,et al.  Distinguishing anger and anxiety in terms of emotional response factors. , 1974, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[18]  R. Neufeld A multidimensional scaling analysis of schizophrenics' and normals' perceptions of verbal similarity. , 1975, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[19]  R. Neufeld Simultaneous Processing Of Multiple Stimulus Dimensions Among Paranoid And Nonparanoid Schizophrenics. , 1976, Multivariate behavioral research.

[20]  J. Russell,et al.  Evidence for a three-factor theory of emotions , 1977 .

[21]  J. Russell Evidence of Convergent Validity on the Dimensions of Affect , 1978 .

[22]  J. Russell Affective space is bipolar. , 1979 .

[23]  P. Bentler,et al.  Significance Tests and Goodness of Fit in the Analysis of Covariance Structures , 1980 .

[24]  J. Russell A circumplex model of affect. , 1980 .

[25]  M. Lorr,et al.  Mood States and Acquiescence , 1980 .

[26]  C. Whissell Pleasure and Activation Revisited: Dimensions Underlying Semantic Responses to Fifty Randomly Selected “Emotional” Words , 1981 .

[27]  James H. Steiger,et al.  The structure in persons' implicit taxonomy of emotions. , 1982 .

[28]  C. W. Hughes Emotion: Theory, Research and Experience , 1982 .

[29]  Auke Tellegen,et al.  The structure of mood change: An idiographic/nomothetic analysis. , 1982 .

[30]  E. Diener,et al.  The independence of positive and negative affect. , 1984, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[31]  D. Watson,et al.  Toward a consensual structure of mood. , 1985, Psychological bulletin.

[32]  Craig A. Smith,et al.  Patterns of cognitive appraisal in emotion. , 1985, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[33]  R. Larsen,et al.  Intensity and frequency: dimensions underlying positive and negative affect. , 1985, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[34]  H. Marsh The Structure of Masculinity/Femininity: An Application of Confirmatory Factor Analysis to Higher-Order Factor Structures and Factorial Invariance. , 1985, Multivariate behavioral research.

[35]  R. Thayer Activation-Deactivation Adjective Check List: Current Overview and Structural Analysis , 1986 .

[36]  Asghar Iran-Nejad,et al.  The relationship in experience between various types of affect , 1986 .

[37]  J. Russell,et al.  Relativity in the Perception of Emotion in Facial Expressions , 1987 .

[38]  K. Jöreskog,et al.  LISREL-PC and PRELIS [Computer Software]@@@EQS/PC [Computer Software] , 1987 .

[39]  Andrew Ortony,et al.  The Cognitive Structure of Emotions , 1988 .

[40]  D. Watson,et al.  The vicissitudes of mood measurement: effects of varying descriptors, time frames, and response formats on measures of positive and negative affect. , 1988, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[41]  D. Watson,et al.  Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: the PANAS scales. , 1988, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[42]  D. Green On the Dimensionality of Public Sentiment toward Partisan and Ideological Groups , 1988 .

[43]  J. Russell MEASURES OF EMOTION , 1989 .

[44]  J. Russell,et al.  A cross-cultural study of a circumplex model of affect. , 1989 .

[45]  G. A. Mendelsohn,et al.  Affect grid : A single-item scale of pleasure and arousal , 1989 .

[46]  P. Bentler,et al.  Comparative fit indexes in structural models. , 1990, Psychological bulletin.

[47]  J. Russell Culture and the categorization of emotions. , 1991, Psychological bulletin.

[48]  R. Larsen,et al.  Promises and problems with the circumplex model of emotion. , 1992 .

[49]  C. Cooper,et al.  The structure of moods , 1992 .

[50]  David Watson,et al.  Affects separable and inseparable : on the hierarchical arrangement of the negative affects , 1992 .

[51]  D. Watson,et al.  Affects separable and inseparable: On the hierarchical arrangement of the negative affects , 1992 .

[52]  R. Reisenzein A structuralist reconstruction of Wundt's three-dimensional theory of emotion. , 1992 .

[53]  Hans Westmeyer,et al.  The Structuralist program in psychology : foundations and applications , 1992 .

[54]  D. Green,et al.  Measurement error masks bipolarity in affect ratings. , 1993, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[55]  K. Scherer,et al.  Vocal expression and communication of emotion. , 1993 .

[56]  J. S. Long,et al.  Testing Structural Equation Models , 1993 .

[57]  D. Kahneman,et al.  Duration neglect in retrospective evaluations of affective episodes. , 1993, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[58]  M. Bradley,et al.  Looking at pictures: affective, facial, visceral, and behavioral reactions. , 1993, Psychophysiology.

[59]  L. F. Barrett,et al.  Handbook of Emotions , 1993 .

[60]  J. Cacioppo,et al.  Relationship between attitudes and evaluative space: A critical review, with emphasis on the separability of positive and negative substrates. , 1994 .

[61]  R. Reisenzein Pleasure-Arousal Theory and the Intensity of Emotions , 1994 .

[62]  D. A. Smith,et al.  Individual differences in dispositional expressiveness: development and validation of the Emotional Expressivity Scale. , 1994, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[63]  L. Feldman Variations in the Circumplex Structure of Mood , 1995 .

[64]  E. Diener,et al.  The personality structure of affect. , 1995 .

[65]  Auke Tellegen,et al.  Happiness Is a Stochastic Phenomenon , 1996 .

[66]  M. Bradley,et al.  Probing picture perception: activation and emotion. , 1996, Psychophysiology.

[67]  Charles S. Carver,et al.  Some ways in which goals differ and some implications of those differences. , 1996 .

[68]  H. Conte,et al.  Circumplex models of personality and emotions , 1997 .

[69]  James A. Russell,et al.  How shall an emotion be called , 1997 .

[70]  D. Watson,et al.  Measurement and mismeasurement of mood: recurrent and emergent issues. , 1997, Journal of personality assessment.