where to place you on the two affect dimensions today, I can predict with
reasonable accuracy your general tendency to experience positive and nega-
tive affect years from now (Charles, Reynolds, & Gatz, 2001). Psychologistsrefer to these individual differences as emotional affectivity.
One of the key issues addressed by researchers in this area is the rela-
tionship between positive and negative affect. Initial investigations indicatedthat these two affect dimensions are relatively independent from one another
(Diener & Emmons, 1984; Mayer & Gaschke, 1988; Meyer & Shack, 1989;
Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1988). If this is the case, knowing your score ona test measuring positive affect would tell me nothing about how you score
on a test measuring negative affect. However, later studies found support for
the more intuitive notion that being high on one of these dimensions means
being low on the other, and vice versa (Russell & Carroll, 1999). In other
words, the more I experience positive emotions like happiness and content-
ment, the less likely I am to experience anger and anxiety. Currently, the rela-
tion between positive and negative affect remains an issue of discussion and
continuing investigation (Carver, 2001; Schmukle, Egloff, & Burns, 2002;
Segura & Gonzalez-Roma, 2003; Terracciano, McCrae, Hagemann, &
Costa, 2003). No doubt the relation is more complex than researchers ini-
tially recognized. Although common observations tell us that doing something
fun helps to take away the blues, each of us also has read stories and seen
movies that make us both happy and sad at the same time (Larsen,
McGraw, & Cacioppo, 2001).
Regardless of the outcome of this debate, psychologists find that individ-
ual differences in positive and negative affect predict a number of importantbehaviors. For example, people who are high in trait positive affect tend toTABLE8.3
Positive and Negative Affect Examples
High Positive Affect High Negative Affect
Active Distressed
Elated Fearful
Enthusiastic Hostile
Excited Jittery
Peppy Nervous
Strong Scornful
Low Positive Affect Low Negative Affect
Drowsy At rest
Dull Calm
Sleepy Placid
Sluggish RelaxedEmotions 205