The Structure Of Activation And Emotion

Three experiments are reported which examine the structure of experienced activation and emotion. Initially the interest was in activation. A factor analysis of a study of self report ratings of experienced emotion and a multi-dimensional scaling analysis of a study of judged similarities in the experiences associated with words descriptive of activation states revealed that activation would appear to be best conceptualized as a four category structure simi1ar to that proposed by Thayer (1967). A multidimensional scaling analysis of a set of judgments regarding the similarities of experiences associated with words descriptive of both activation and emotion located the activation and emotion words in a four dimensional Euclidian space where a dimensional rather than a categorical structure appeared to be the more appropriate interpretation. The implications of these findings for existing theories of emotion and activation are discussed with particular reference to the theories of emotion put forward by Schachter and Singer (1962) and Mandler (1975).