Emotional Valence: A Bipolar Continuum or Two Independent Dimensions?

SAGE Open

Benny B. Briesemeister¹ 

关键词: emotional valence;    evaluative space model;    lexical decision task;    emotion;   

DOI  :  10.1177/2158244012466558

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Sage Journals

【 摘 要 】

In contrast to standard models of emotional valence, which assume a bipolar valence dimension ranging from negative to positive valence with a neutral midpoint, the evaluative space model (ESM) proposes two independent positivity and negativity dimensions. Previous imaging studies suggest higher predictive power of the ESM when investigating the neural correlates of verbal stimuli. The present study investigates further assumptions on the behavioral level. A rating experiment on more than 600 German words revealed 48 emotionally ambivalent stimuli (i.e., stimuli with high scores on both ESM dimensions), which were contrasted with neutral stimuli in two subsequent lexical decision experiments. Facilitative processing for emotionally ambivalent words was found in Experiment 2. In addition, controlling for emotional arousal and semantic ambiguity in the stimulus set, Experiment 3 still revealed a speed-accuracy trade-off for emotionally ambivalent words. Implications for future investigations of lexical processing and for the ESM are discussed.

【 授权许可】

CC BY