INDEPENDENCE AND BIPOLARITY IN THE STRUCTURE OF CURRENT AFFECT

The independence of positive and negative affect has been heralded as a major and counterintuitive finding in the psychology of mood and emo tion. Still, other findings support the older view that positive and n egative fall at opposite ends of a single bipolar continuum. Independe nce versus bipolarity can be reconciled by considering (a) the activat ion dimension of affect, (b) random and systematic measurement error, and (c) how items are selected to achieve an appropriate test of bipol arity. In 3 studies of self-reported current affect, random and system atic error were controlled through multiformat measurement and confirm atory factor analysis. Valence was found to be independent of activati on, positive affect the bipolar opposite of negative affect, and deact ivation the bipolar opposite of activation. The dimensions underlying D. Watson, L. A. Clark, and A. Tellegen's (1988) Positive and Negative Affect schedule were accounted for by the valence and activation dime nsions.