Similarity judgments and covariations of affects: Findings and implications for affect structure research

Results from four studies document very high agreement between the raze, da ta matrices of affect similarity judgments and correlations computed from s elf-ratings. This was found both for the global structural level, where the correlation-similarity correspondence was as high as the average correspon dence of correlation matrices from different studies, and for local subgrou ps of affects provided that reliable measures were used. The findings sugge st that self-rating correlations and similarity judgments of affects contai n essentially the same structural information. As a consequence, the two da ta types are equally valid starting points for structural analyses of affec t, and differences between the models of affect that have been derived from them may reflect primarily method artifacts, such as the use of different scaling methods, rather than differences in the original data. Possible exp lanations for the high correspondence between self-rating correlations and similarity judgments of affect are discussed.