A premature consensus: Are happiness and sadness truly opposite affects?,

E. Rafaeli, W. Revelle

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Within the debate on the structure of affect, a consensus began emerging in the last decade regarding the bipolarity of happiness-sadness. We argue that this consensus is premature. Focusing on the psychometrics of momentary affect, particularly happiness and sadness, and using a simulation study, a large-scale data set, and 2 experiments manipulating affect, we plot a map of affective space that departs from the consensus. One key departure is the finding that happiness and sadness are not bipolar opposites. Another is that nonuniform skewness plays a major role in studies of affective structure, but can be addressed with appropriate analyses.,
Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)1-12
JournalMotivation and Emotion,
Volume30
Issue number1,
StatePublished - 2006

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