Distinguishing elation, gladness, and joy

On the basis of a structural analysis of the emotions, descriptive items were created that were postulated to discriminate between elation, gladness, and joy. The items described the situation of each emotion, the different ways in which the body was transformed, the propensity to behave in particular ways, and the different manner in which the emotions functioned to improve the person's life. In the first study, the items were given to subjects who had been asked to recall an instance of elation, gladness, or joy. Ss noted the extent to which each of the items pertained to their particular experience. Analyses of the data establish clear distinctions between elation and gladness and suggest that there may also be a distinct structure for joy. In the second study, the situations for elation and gladness were experimentally created, and objective measures of bodily transformation and behavioral propensity were taken while subjects were in the different emotional states. The results confirmed the structural differences suggested by the retrospective accounts.