TYPES OF POSITIVE AFFECT SCALE

TYPES OF POSITIVE AFFECT SCALE

Below are a series of words that describe different positive emotions‚ Some of these emotions relate to feeling lively‚ energized and excited‚ whereas others relate to feelings of being relaxed‚ calm and peaceful. We are interested in the degree‚ to which you commonly experience these feelings.

On the left hand side of the emotion words we would like you to rate how ch‎aracteristic these feelings are of you by using the following scale:

Not ch‎aracteristic of me=0‚ 1‚ Fairly ch‎aracteristic of me =2‚ 3‚ Very ch‎aracteristic of me =4

Sum the items as follows:

Energetic

Lively

Adventurous

Active

Enthusiastic

Dynamic

Excited

Eager

Relaxed

Peaceful

Calm

Tranquil

Laid back

Serene

Safe

Content

Secure

Warm

The scale was developed to measure the degree to which people experience different positive emotions. Respondents are asked to rate 18 ‘feeling’ words on a 5 point scale to indicate how ch‎aracteristic it is of them (0= ‘not ch‎aracteristic of me’ to 4 = ‘very ch‎aracteristic of me’. Factor analysis revealed three factors or subscales‚ these are: Activating Positive Affect (e.g.  “excited”‚ “dynamic”‚ “active”); Relaxed Positive Affect e.g.‚ “relaxed”‚ “calm”‚ “peaceful”) and Safeness/contentment Positive Affect (e.g.‚ “safe”‚ “secure”‚ “warm”). The scale showed good psychometric properties with Cronbach alphas of .83 for Activating Positive Affect and Relaxed Positive Affect‚ and .73 for Safeness/contentment Positive Affect.

© Gilbert‚ 2008