Abstract
The construction and evaluation of a multidimensional questionnaire for the assessment of emotional states is reported. The 16 scales are based on similarity analyses of emotion related words. Each category is represented by 1 noun (e.g., aversion). Subjects rate the intensity of their feelings on a 6-point rating scale. A total of 905 subjects participated in 12 studies designed to evaluate the inventory. The assessment of emotional states in comparable situations resulted in retest reliabilities between r = .37 and .92 (Md = .70, N = 105). Joy, fear, sadness and anger correlated .75, .80, .79 and .83, respectively, with other scales on these emotions (N = 208). Some scales (e.g. aversion and anger) had high loadings on the same factor in different factor analyses. Nevertheless, these scales correlated differently with criterion scales and responded differently to conditions designed to elicit emotions. Sensitivity of the scales was confirmed by studies in which subjects imagined emotion eliciting situations (N = 103), read aversive texts (N = 110 and 120), saw aversive slides (N = 45 and 66), or were frustrated by an experimental task (N = 28). Under these conditions subjects scaled more intensive feelings as compared to neutral situations with many effect sizes d > 1. As expected, negative emotions correlated moderately (r.30 to .40 in most cases) with neuroticism (N = 304). Correlations with social desirability or deception scales were about zero (N = 414). In summary, the scales proved to be useful for a fast and broad assessment of emotional feeling states by self reports.
| Translated title of the contribution | Emotion scales EMO 16. An inventory for the self-rating of actual emotional feelings |
|---|---|
| Original language | German |
| Journal | Diagnostica |
| Volume | 42 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Pages (from-to) | 242-267 |
| Number of pages | 26 |
| ISSN | 0012-1924 |
| Publication status | Published - 09.1996 |
