Evidence of Convergent Validity on the Dimensions of Affect

Despite widely differing methodologies, previous studies on affect (emotion as represented in language) have often obtained what appear to be the same basic dimensions. Whether these similarly named dimensions from different methodologies are actually equivalent was tested here by intercorrelating dimensions obtained from multidimensional scaling, successive-intervals scaling, semantic differential scaling, and factor analysis of verbal self-report data. Results strongly supported the convergent validity of pleasure-displeasure and degree of arousal, but were equivocal on additional dimensions. Separate multidimensional scalings of pleasant, intermediate, and unpleasant affect terms (a) confirmed the presence of an arousal dimension at each level of pleasure and (b) obtained three additional dimensions: control/potency/dominance, depth of experience, and locus of causation. These three dimensions were interpreted as describing not the emotion per se but rather beliefs about the antecedents or consequences of the emotion. In a final study, internal versus external locus of causation was shown to be reliably decoded from emotion-denoting words.

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

[2]  Gösta Ekman,et al.  Dimensions of emotion , 1955 .

[3]  C. Osgood,et al.  The Measurement of Meaning , 1958 .

[4]  J. Block,et al.  Studies in the phenomenology of emotions. , 1957, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[5]  Harold Schlosberg,et al.  A new series of facial expressions. , 1957 .

[6]  H SCHLOSBERG,et al.  The dimensional analysis of a new series of facial expressions. , 1958, Journal of experimental psychology.

[7]  N. L. Johnson,et al.  Multivariate Analysis , 1958, Nature.

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

[9]  R. Abelson,et al.  Multidimensional scaling of facial expressions. , 1962, Journal of experimental psychology.

[10]  B. J. Winer.  Statistical Principles in Experimental Design , 1992 .

[11]  R. Shepard.  The analysis of proximities: Multidimensional scaling with an unknown distance function. II , 1962 .

[12]  W. H. Gladstones.  A multidimensional study of facial expression of emotion , 1962 .

[13]  R. Shepard.  The analysis of proximities: Multidimensional scaling with an unknown distance function. I. , 1962 .

[14]  S. Tomkins.  The positive affects , 1963 .

[15]  S. Tomkins.  Illuminating and Stimulating. (Book Reviews: Affect, Imagery, Consciousness. vol. 1, The Positive Affects) , 1963 .

[16]  A. Dietze.  Types of Emotions or Dimensions of Emotion? A Comparison of Typal Analysis with Factor Analysis , 1963 .

[17]  N. Frijda,et al.  Dimensions of recognition of expression. , 1963, Journal of abnormal and social psychology.

[18]  J. Kruskal.  Nonmetric multidimensional scaling: A numerical method , 1964 .

[19]  S. Schachter.  The Interaction of Cognitive and Physiological Determinants of Emotional State , 1964 .

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

[21]  J. Kruskal.  Multidimensional scaling by optimizing goodness of fit to a nonmetric hypothesis , 1964 .

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

[23]  R. Lazarus.  Psychological stress and the coping process , 1970 .

[24]  C. Osgood.  Dimensionality of the semantic space for communication via facial expressions. , 1966, Scandinavian journal of psychology.

[25]  K. Pribram.  The new neurology and the biology of emotion: a structural approach. , 1967, The American psychologist.

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

[27]  N. Frijda.  Recognition of Emotion , 1969 .

[28]  J. Chang,et al.  Analysis of individual differences in multidimensional scaling via an n-way generalization of “Eckart-Young” decomposition , 1970 .

[29]  Amnon Rapoport,et al.  Structures in the subjective lexicon , 1971 .

[30]  D. Hooper,et al.  Book reviewSemantic differential technique: by James G. Snider and Charles E. Osgood Aldine Publishing Company, Chicago, 1969. xiii + 681. $12.50 , 1971 .

[31]  A. Dittmann.  Interpersonal Messages of Emotion , 1972 .

[32]  Scaling of the Subjective Stress Scale with a Sample of University Undergraduates , 1972 .

[33]  P. H. Lindsay,et al.  Human Information Processing: An Introduction to Psychology , 1972 .

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

[35]  Louis Guttman,et al.  The Guttman-Lingoes nonmetric program series , 1973 .

[36]  D. Magnusson,et al.  A method to study stressful situations. , 1973, Journal of personality and social psychology.

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

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

[39]  R. Shepard.  Representation of structure in similarity data: Problems and prospects , 1974 .

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

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

[42]  Murray S. Miron,et al.  Cross-Cultural Universals of Affective Meaning , 1975 .

[43]  Roy D. Goldman,et al.  The Semantic Differential Technique , 1976 .

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

[45]  L M Ward,et al.  Multidimensional Scaling Of The Molar Physical Environment. , 1977, Multivariate behavioral research.

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

[47]  M. Posner.  Human information processing: An introduction to psychology. 2nd ed. , 1977 .

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