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Strengths and weaknesses of theories of emotions
Strengths and weaknesses of theories of emotions
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In the field of Psychology, more specifically health-behavioral research, there has been resounding interest in the structure and measurement of, what the psychological community refers to as, affect. Affect refers to how we, as humans, “experience emotion” and can be broken down into two dominant affective state dimensions, positive and negative affect (Hogg, Abrams, & Martin, 2010)(Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). According to Watson, Clark, & Tellegen (1988), positive affect (PA) refers to how enthusiastic and active a person is and negative affect (NA) refers to a general dimension of distress and displeasure. Tellegen (1985) claims that not only do these terms refer to affective state, but also affective trait dimensions, indicating that, “Trait PA and NA roughly correspond to the personality factors of extraversion and neuroticism,” respectively. While many PA and NA scales have been developed, however, these scales were unable to develop items for PA and NA that were statistically independent of each other. In an attempt to operationalize the orthogonal dimensions of positive and negative affect, Watson, Clark & and Tellegen (1988) developed The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (i.e. PANAS). In the following review, I will evaluate and critique the PANAS, as a measure of trait affect, focusing on the reliability and validity of scores, test content, and the manner in which it is used.
The PANAS is one of the most widely used affective measures in the field. The schedule consists of 20 items, 10 for the Positive Affect (PA) scale (e.g. interested, excited) and 10 for the Negative Affect (NA) scale (e.g. distressed, upset) (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). Each item rated by the participant is based upon a...
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Hogg, M.A., Abrams, D., & Martin, G.N. (2010). Social Cognition and Attitudes. In Martin, G.N., Carlson, N.R., Buskist W., (Ed.), Psychology (pp 646-677). Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
Said, H., Badru, B. B., & Shahid, M. (2011). Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) for Testing Validity And Reliability Instrument in the Study of Education. Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 5(12), 1098-1103. Retrieved April 24, 2014.
Watson, D., & Tellegen, A. (1985). Toward a consensual structure of mood. Psychological Bulletin, 98(2), 219-235. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.98.2.219
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063-1070. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.54.6.1063
The results showed a pattern of correlations between the LOT-R and positive psychology constructs (i.e., hope, resilience, coping flexibility, secure attachment, life satisfaction, and flourishing) in the expected direction, supporting convergent validity. The negative relationship between the LOT-R and the constructs related to psychopathology (i.e., depression, anxiety, stress, and self-stigma) further supports its divergent validity. These findings are consistent with previous research findings that dispositional optimism was found to be positively correlated with well-being, quality of life, life satisfaction, and positive health outcomes, and negatively correlated with depression, anxiety, stress, and social estrangement (Chiesi et al., 2013; Geers et al., 2009; Peterson,
Introduction: The purpose of this investigation was to investigate whether positive stimuli increase the happiness of participants when exposed to a stimulus that can be used to cope with stress. Happiness is an emotion that is defined as “the state of being content” and stress is “to experience worry.” The Yerkes-Dodson Law was established in “1908 by psychologists Robert Yerkes and John Dillingham Dodson.” This law states that although stress can have a negative effect on an individual, a certain level of stress is required to have the motivation to perform every day activities. There is an “optimal level” of arousal that can help to retain information needed for the task at hand and assist with the successful completion
Despite the criticisms within this study, the PANAS and PANAS-X are both valuable outcome-measuring tests that work with a high level of validity and reliability. Subjects are able to fill out a fairly short test consisting of either 10, 20, or 60 items, at which point they are able to get a basic understanding of their personality and affect towards a specific stimuli. Overall, PANAS is a great tool in measuring affects, as it is able to show subjects clearly where they lie in the positive or negative realm of emotion.
Myers, David G. “Chapter 14: Social Psychology.” Psychology. 10th ed. New York, NY US: Worth
Tamir, M., & Robinson, M. D. (2004). Knowing Good From Bad: The Paradox of Neuroticism, Negative Affect, and Evaluative Processing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(6), 913-925. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.87.6.913
Psychology’s history is a relatively rough one and has only recently been considered a science. According to Martin Seligman (2000), negative psychology is psychology that deals with recovery and healing, using the disease model. This type of psychology has been popular in America since the end of World War II because of grants given to the industry during that time (Seligman, 2000). That time period left positive psychology, the psychology of developing ones skill and wellbeing and perfecting what is already there, overlooked and forgotten. But what psychologist have recently recognized is that positive psychology can be just as useful as negative psychology but it is a vastly under developed area. Thus many scientists have embraced the new frontier of positive psychology. I did a study on the subject of positive psychology. I took two life experiences, one that I found personal pleasure in, and another that wasn’t as fun at the time but benefited others and compared and contrasted the resulting feelings of happiness.
Positive psychology utilizes five pillars in order to flourish, achieve fulfillment, and satisfaction in life: Positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment (PERMA). The five mainstays of positive psychology are not intended to be means to some other end; these foundations are selected for their own value in personal efforts to flourish, and are fundamental to human well-being. Positive psychology describes the “good life” as being pleasant, engaging, meaningful, and full of achievements and connections. Seligman proposes positive subjective experiences illicit and promote positive emotions. Positive psychology distinguishes two types of happiness that can be derived from experiences and events: Hedonic and eudemonic happines...
Wong, P. T. (2011). Positive psychology 2.0: Towards a balanced interactive model of the good life. What to do about the negative?, 52(2), 69-70.
Gross, R (2010). Psychology: The science of mind and behaviour. 6th ed. London: Hodder Education. p188.
By assessing the personal meaning of events, emotion comes up. What’s more, positive emotions have not only a role of marking happiness, but also a function to continue
The Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire is a tool often used by professionals to assess a patient’s personality subtypes on a rating scale of 20 to 80. Under the higher order temperament factor Positive Emotionality (PEM) there are four trait scales. For the trait scale Well Being, John Wayne Gacy would score a 70. He was an upstanding member of his community, liked by his neighbors and coworkers, and would even attend children’s birthday parties and hospitals dressed as Pogo the Clown (Hickey, 2016). He had a cheerful disposition when facing the public, however, he only receives a 70 because he would, in fact, be subject to violent mood swings. For the trait scale Social Potency, Gacy receives a score of 80. He
Crisp, R, J. Turner, R, N. (2007). Essential Social Psychology. Sage Publications Limited. London. (UK). First Edition.
Petty, R., Fazio, R., & Brinol, P. (2008). Attitudes: Insites from the New Implicit Measures (Rev Ed.). New York, NY: CRC Press.
Only in recent years have psychologists begun to appreciate the benefits of happiness and positive emotion — benefits that include everything from enhanced creativity to improved immune-system function. Dr. Barbara Fredrickson at the University of North Carolina, a leader in the field of positive psychology, posed the question, “What good are positive emotions?” and came up with the following possibilities.
Moreover, stress and anxiety take a toll on the person’s positivity. A person under stress or in a state of anxious apprehension tends to have more of a negative affect and find less room for positive emotions, at least for the short span during which anxiety is experienced. This can, in turn, affect their entire world view and gradually lead to a loss of psychological well being. It is therefore very crucial to take note of it and address it through effective measures by managing stress and