What Is Positive and Negative

Affect? Definitions + Scale

8 Nov 2018 by Courtney E. Ackerman, MA.
Scientifically reviewed by William Smith, Ph.D.
From: https://positivepsychology.com/positive-negative-
affect/

Key Insights

 Positive & negative affect refer to the broad dimensions of

mood & emotion that influence how we experience life.
 Positive affect includes emotions that foster creativity & social
connection, while negative affect can help signal challenges or
threats.
 Balancing both types of affect is key to navigating life’s
complexities & enhancing overall wellbeing.

The difference
between “affect” and “effect” is hard enough for a lot of us to grasp.

Which is which, again? Do I have an affect or an effect on my spouse?

Does my spelling affect my grade or effect my grade?

Keeping track of these two different versions can prove challenging

already, but you may have seen the third version of this word that
actually refers to a completely different idea—now you have another
“affect” to add to your vocabulary!

(By the way, I have an effect on my spouse and my spelling affects

my grade— the “e” spelling is for the noun and the “a” spelling is for
the verb).

However, there’s an easy way to keep them apart: the pronunciation

will help! While the first two versions are usually pronounced the
same (something like “uh-fekt” or “eh-fekt”), the third version is
pronounced with emphasis on the first syllable. “Affect” in this
context is pronounced with the “a” as it is pronounced in “apple.”
Now that we’ve had our grammar lesson (I apologize if you fell
asleep), we can move on to the really important part: figuring out
what this third version of the word refers to.

Before you read on, we thought you might like to download our three
Emotional Intelligence Exercises for free. These science-based
exercises will not only enhance your ability to understand and work
with your emotions but will also give you the tools to foster the
emotional intelligence of your clients, students or employees.
This Article Contains
 What is Positive and Negative Affect?
 The Psychology of Positive and Negative Affectivity
 Positive and Negative Affect Schedule – The PANAS Scales
 Other Scales, Tests, and Questionnaires
 How Positive and Negative Affect Impact Health
 Positive Affectivity and Surgency
 Positive Affectivity and Anxiety
 Positive Affect and Decision-Making
 Positive Affect and Creative Problem Solving
 A Look at Low Positive Affect
 What is Positive Affect Tolerance?
 Negative Affect Reciprocity
 Negative Affect Syndrome
 Negative Affectivity in the Workplace
 Are There Benefits to Negative Affect?
 A Take-Home Message
 Frequently Asked Questions
 References

What is Positive and Negative Affect?

The word “affect” is basically a more technical way to talk about
emotion and expression. It refers to the emotions or feelings that we
experience and display, especially in terms of how these emotions
influence us to act and make decisions.

Positive affectivity refers to positive emotions and expression,

including cheerfulness, pride, enthusiasm, energy, and joy. Negative
affectivity is negative emotions and expression, which includes
sadness, disgust, lethargy, fear, and distress.

Positive and negative affectivity not only plays a large role in our day-
to-day experience and our enjoyment, our affectivity can also
influence our opinions, thoughts, performance, abilities, and even our
brain activity!

Positive Affect vs. Negative Affect

People often assume that positive and negative affect are on two
opposite ends of a bipolar scale. You can only be at one point on this
scale, meaning you can be experiencing one type of affect to a
certain degree (from extremely mild to extremely strong), but not the
other at the same time.

Give that idea a little bit of thought. Have you ever felt good and bad
emotions at the same time? Perhaps when you see a friend
accomplishing something you have yet to accomplish, or when an ex
that you split on good terms with finds happiness with someone else?

I’m willing to bet you can think of at least one or two scenarios in
which you have experienced both positive and negative affectivity at
the same time. The ability to experience both at the same time
means that the bipolar model of positive and negative affectivity is
inaccurate; you do not need to be at only one point on the spectrum,
since there are two spectrums to consider—one for positive affect and
one for negative.

This idea is backed up by research. When researchers compared the

level of positive affect experienced to the level of negative affect
experienced, they found an interesting phenomenon: dispositional (or
trait-level) positive and negative affect are unrelated, but state-level
positive and negative affect are negatively related (Schmukle, Egloff,
& Burns, 2002).

This means that the general level of positive affect that a person
experiences is not related to the level of negative affect they
experience, and vice versa. In the moment, people generally tend
towards one or the other, but overall positive and negative affect tend
to vary completely independently.

10 Examples of Positive and Negative Affect

It’s easy to understand positive and negative affectivity on an

intuitive level, but just to clarify what we mean when we talk about
these two types of affect, check out these examples.

Positive affect:

 Joy
 Contentment
 Interest
 Engagement
 Pride

Negative affect:

 Anger
  Fear
 Anxiety
 Sadness
 Depression

The Psychology of Positive and Negative

Affectivity
Traditionally, positive affectivity hasn’t received as much attention as
negative affectivity in the literature. It wasn’t until the latter half of
the 20th century that researchers started showing significant interest
in this concept.

The first major theoretical breakthrough was in 1975, with Paul

Meehl’s publication exploring the concept of “hedonic capacity.”
Meehl believed that hedonic capacity, or ability to experience
pleasure, is different for each and every one of us.

Meehl also proposed that hedonic capacity is distinct from individual

differences in negative emotionality, a proposal that upended the old
idea of positive and negative affectivity living on the same scale.

So, with this enhanced interest in affectivity, what have we learned

from all the research? Quite a lot!

Characteristics and Personality Traits of PA and NA

As you probably expect, research has shown that positive affectivity

is related to a person’s “orientation to happiness.” Those who are
high in positive affectivity are more likely to search for happiness in a
life of meaning and pleasure than those who are not; however, it’s
interesting to note that negative affectivity is not correlated with
orientation to happiness (Bhutoria & Hooja, 2018).

This means that a person with high positive affectivity is likely to find
happiness through the experience of meaning and pleasure, but their
level of negative affectivity is unrelated to the way that they
experience or pursue happiness.

Further research has explored the relationship between positive and

negative affectivity and personality traits. Positive affect is—
predictably—negatively correlated with neuroticism. PA is also
positively correlated to extraversion, openness to experience,
agreeableness, and conscientiousness (Işık & Üzbe, 2015). On the
other hand, negative affect is strongly, positively correlated with
neuroticism but negatively correlated with the other personality traits
(Işık & Üzbe, 2015; Zanon, Bastianello, Pacico, & Hutz, 2013).
These findings indicate that the more open, friendly, responsible, and
outgoing a person is, the more likely they are to experience high
positive affect and low negative affect. By the same token, those who
lack emotional stability and self-esteem are more likely to experience
negative affect and less likely to be high in positive affect.

What Factors Most Influence Positive and Negative

Affectivity?

Now that we have an idea of what positive and negative affectivity

are linked to, let’s answer the next logical question: what factors
MOST influence positive and negative affectivity?

As we noted above, neuroticism is a strong predictor of both positive

and negative affect. Given what we know about neuroticism, this
makes sense; those who are less emotionally stable and more
“moody” are generally experiencing more negative affect and less
positive affect than people who are generally on an even keel.

Positive and Negative Affect Schedule –

The PANAS Scales

The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, or PANAS for short, was
developed to measure both positive and negative affect in individuals.
Since its inception in 1988 (Watson, Clark, & Tellegen), it has been
one of the most widely used scales in psychology, and is particularly
popular in positive psychology.
The scales are composed of 20 moods or affective states scored on a
scale from 1 (very slightly or not at all) to 5 (extremely). These
affective states include generally positive states like excited,
enthusiastic, and inspired, along with generally negative states like
distressed, guilty, and irritable.

The instructions are to rate either how you are feeling in the present
moment or how you’ve felt over the past week, which can provide two
different measures of positive and negative affect in the same person.
There are research purposes for both types of measures, but it’s
important to carefully consider what measure you need when
planning to use the PANAS. A person’s current mood and their mood
over the last week can be very different!

To score the PANAS, simply add up the ratings for each of the positive
and negative items. Both positive and negative affect can range
anywhere from 10 to 50, with higher scores indicating higher
experience of that type of affect. For a general baseline, you can refer
to the mean scores reported by the developers of the PANAS:

 Positive Affect (Momentary): 29.7

 Positive Affect (Weekly): 33.3
 Negative Affect (Momentary): 14.8
 Negative Affect (Weekly): 17.4

Other Scales, Tests, and Questionnaires

In general, there are two basic types of measures of positive
affectivity: those in which respondents rate their average feelings,
and those which assess multi-trait personality. The first type is the
more popular, with many scales available for measuring affectivity as
well as some of the most popular scales (e.g., the PANAS). Two other
example scales of this type are the Differential Emotions Scales (DES)
and the Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist – Revised (MAACL-R).

The DES assesses the respondent’s level of ten different emotions

during a particular experience (or in the current moment). The ten
emotions are:

1. Joy
2. Surprise
3. Anger
4. Disgust
5. Contempt
6. Shame
7. Guilt
8. Fear
9. Interest
10. Sadness (Izard, Dougherty, Bloxom, & Kotsch, 1974)
The scale includes 30 adjectives (three per emotion) rated on a scale
from 1 (never) to 5 (very often). Although it does not provide a single
measure of positive affect and a single measure of negative affect,
it’s easy to take a look at the 10 emotions and determine which
emotions belong in which category.

Another option for self-reported positive and negative affect is the

MAACL-R; this scale measures positive and negative affectivity as
either a trait (General Form) or a state (Today Form). There are five
subscales in the MAACL-R: positive affect, sensation seeking, hostility,
depression, and anxiety. This 132 mood-related adjective check list is
only available through purchasing the scale, which you can
find here (Lubin & Zuckerman, 1999).

The other type of measuring positive affectivity is to assess multi-trait

personality. Examples of this type are the Activity and Positive
Emotions facet scales of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory and
the Wellbeing scale of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire.
Although not used as often, these scales can also be useful in
research projects. To learn more about the MPQ click here.
How Positive and Negative Affect Impact
Health
Positive affectivity has many benefits for our everyday life.
Happiness and positive emotions researcher Dr. Barbara
Fredrickson has theorized that positive affectivity can broaden
an individual’s momentary thought–action repertoire; in other
words, positive affect encourages people to be more open,
engaged, and willing to be creative.

For example, when a person is happy, they will likely

experience a stronger urge to engage with others and try new
things than when they are feeling negative or neutral.

This theory is called the “Broaden-and-Build” Theory of

positive emotions, and it states the following:

1. When we feel negative emotions like fear, sadness, and

anxiety, we are more likely to narrow our thoughts and
the options we consider for our next move.
2. When we feel positive emotions like joy, inspiration, and
engagement, we are more likely to broaden our thoughts
and the options we consider for our next move.
3. This broadening allows us to build up our resources,
skills, and knowledge (Fredrickson, 2001).
These resources are generally categorized into one of three
groups:

 Physical resources: energy, stamina, fitness, health,

overall wellness, etc.
 Psychological resources: ability to choose to be more
optimistic, ability to pull yourself out of rumination,
ability to withstand hectic schedules without
experiencing burnout, etc.
 Social resources: supportive friendships, friends who are
there for you, neighbors who look out for you, and
healthy, fulfilling romantic relationships (Scott, 2018).

To get a better handle on this, let’s think of an example for

each scenario.

Imagine a man is confronted by a prowling predator. Would it

be better for him to feel contentment or terror? Most likely, he
will be better off feeling terror.

If he feels contentment, he might simply stroll away from the

predator, thinking happy thoughts, and pay little heed to what
the predator is doing. If he feels terror, he will probably not be
experiencing happy thoughts, but will instead be laser-
focused on what he can do to survive this dangerous
situation. Feeling terror is associated with a much better
outcome than feeling contentment in this scenario.

On the other hand, imagine a competent professional is

networking at an event with lots of smart, important people in
her line of work. Would it be better for her to feel confident
and outgoing or fearful?

As with the first example, the correct answer is obvious: it is

better for her to experience confidence and sociability than
fear. If she is outgoing and confident in herself, she will
probably meet more people and present herself as more
competent and friendly, making valuable new connections
that she can use later on.

If she is fearful and nervous about being at the event, she will
probably not reach out and make many new connections, and
she may come off as unfriendly, incompetent, or just plain
weird!
Fredrickson’s theory says that both positive and negative
emotions have evolutionary advantages; negative emotions
encourage people to survive in life-or-death situations, but
positive emotions encourage us to develop our skills and build
new resources.

In the examples above, the man is more likely to walk away

from the predator unharmed when he is experiencing
negative affect, but the networking professional is developing
her communication and networking skills, building up
resources by making connections, and generally improving
herself and her abilities.

Fredrickson based some of her theory on previous findings

from affectivity researcher Alice Isen. Isen (1987) conducted a
study to investigate how positive emotions can affect
cognition, and she found that experiences of positive affect
can enlarge cognitive context and influence creative thinking.

In plain English, this means that feeling positive emotions

makes people more likely to be flexible and to think more
expansively when organizing and referencing information and
ideas.

In addition to providing evolutionary advantages, improving

skills, and enhancing resources, positive emotions also have
more direct effects on our health and wellbeing.

Positive affect has been linked to less stress, optimism,

extraversion, happiness, and success in general (Scott, 2018).

Before we move on, check out this short list of ways you can
improve your positive affectivity and reap the benefits listed
above:

1. Maintain a gratitude journal: write about what you are

grateful for and you will subsequently feel even more
grateful and happy.
2. Indulge in the good things in life: incorporate pleasurable
experiences into your life to experience positive affect
more often.
3. Engage in hobbies you like: getting into the flow of your
favorite hobbies can leave you with more positive
emotions, less stress, and a sense of accomplishment
and fulfillment.
 4. Practice loving-kindness meditation: this type of
meditation is a great way to boost your joy and beat
back stress.
5. Exercise in a way you enjoy: we all know that being
active is linked to health, but it’s important to make sure
that the physical activity you engage in is something you
enjoy.
6. Savor the positive: think back on your positive memories
and good times you’ve experienced as often as you can
(Scott, 2018).

Although more positive affect isn’t always a good thing, you

probably don’t have to worry about overdoing it—so give all
these strategies a try!

How PA and NA Affect the Brain

Positive and negative affect are both influenced by and

influencers of what goes on in the brain. Our brain is what
determines what is positive and potentially beneficial
(provoking positive affect) and what is negative and
potentially harmful (provoking negative affect), but there is a
feedback loop in which positive and negative affect also
influence brain activity.

For example, a study utilizing an EEG to measure electrical

activity in the brain found that not people high in negative
affectivity underperform in a spatial task compared to those
high in positive affectivity (Bell & Fox, 2003). This difference
in performance may be explained by the differences in brain
activation: those high in negative affectivity don’t experience
enhanced activation in the parietal lobe during the spatial
task, which those high in positive affectivity do experience.

Without getting into too much detail, it seems that there is a

strong feedback loop between brain activity and affectivity,
such that positive affectivity suppresses and enhances
activation in different areas than negative affectivity.
Positive Affectivity and Surgency
Surgency is the tendency to experience and display high
levels of positive affect. This term is most often used in
developmental work to refer to child temperament, but it can
apply to adults as well. It is associated with high activity, lack
of shyness, and social dominance, and those high in surgency
can be said to be

“energetic, sociable, positive, and outgoing, and enjoy exciting or

intense activities”
(Holmboe, 2016, p. 1).

As you can probably tell from the description, surgency is

related to extraversion—those high in surgency also score
high on the Big Five dimension of extraversion. You might
think surgency is related to agreeableness as well, but not
necessarily; people high in surgency may be outgoing and
social, but they can easily dominate a conversation and are
less likely to “go with the flow.”

This concept of surgency is one example of how positive

affect can have its downsides. It’s great to be happy, friendly,
and outgoing, but you might find it difficult to make good
friends if you are dominating conversations with your
cheerfulness and energy!

Positive Affectivity and Anxiety

While low positive affectivity is a strong indicator of
depression (barring other possible explanations like
temporary sadness from grief, side effect of a medication,
etc.), it turns out that positive affectivity is not a good
predictor of anxiety issues.

Both depression and anxiety are characterized by higher than

average negative affectivity, but positive affectivity is only
related to depression (less positive affectivity is related to
higher depression), meaning that anxiety is not necessarily
caused by or a cause of low positive affect (Watson, Clark, &
Carey, 1988).

However, positive affectivity and anxiety may be related in a

different way; people with anxiety disorders tend to regulate
their response to positive affect differently than those without.
Anxious people more often “down-regulate” their positive
emotions, meaning they use strategies to diminish, reduce, or
suppress positive emotions (Eisner, Johnson, & Carver, 2009).

There are many reasons for this—it may be done to avoid

what the person feels is inappropriate positive emotions in
public, or it may be done because the individual is
uncomfortable with any strong emotions. Finding ways to
more fully engage with and enjoy positive emotions is a great
goal for people struggling with anxiety.

Positive Affect and Decision-Making

Positive affect has

an important role to play in decision-making; it encourages
more efficient problem-solving and decision-making, along
with more flexible, innovative, and creative cognitive
processing (Isen, 2001).

However, there is a caveat to this finding: research indicates

that positive affect only improves decision-making when the
task is “one that is meaningful, interesting, or important to
the decision-maker” (Isen, 2001, p. 78).

High positive affect groups completing a group task reached a

decision sooner, displayed less redundancy in the task
process, and were able to eliminate the low-importance
factors from consideration.

These benefits of positive affect during decision-making come

from an enhanced ability to integrate material for decision-
making and less confusion when faced with a lot of
information, which allow decision-makers to work faster and
finish earlier or move on to other important considerations. In
general, those who are experiencing positive affect are more
flexible, open, and innovative, but are also simultaneously
more careful and thorough in addressing important
considerations (Isen, 2001).
Positive Affect and Creative Problem
Solving
As noted above, positive affect can help improve the
efficiency of decision-making and problem-solving. One of the
reasons why positive affect improves problem-solving
efficiency is the boost to creativity that positive emotions can
bring.

Participants who were presented with a small bag of candy or

a few minutes of a comedy film outperformed the other
groups (two that exercised and one that experienced negative
affect) in two creative problem-solving tasks (Isen, Daubman,
& Nowicki, 1987).

Similar findings were found in a study of physicians; those

who experienced a boost in positive affect scored better on a
creativity task and even reported different sources of
satisfaction gained through their work (Estrada, Isen, &
Young, 1994).

Researchers believe this effect occurs because we are more

likely to combine material in new ways and to note similarities
between different stimuli when we are experiencing positive
affect.

A Look at Low Positive Affect

Low positive affect can be a big problem, especially in
children. When young children are low in positive affect and
high in behavioral inhibition—two traits that often go hand-in-
hand—they are less likely to approach and engage (Laptook,
Klein, Durbin, Hayden, Olino, & Carlson, 2008). This effect is
strong in novel situations, which are the situations in which
you want children to approach and engage.

When children approach new objects and people and try new
things, they learn.

This makes low positive affect a potentially huge detriment to

children; of course, it’s not good for adults to be low in
positive affect and to avoid more than they approach, but it
can set children up for a lifetime of less open-mindedness,
less calculated risk-taking, and more isolation. Low positive
affect in children is something that any parent would do well
to address when they notice it.

On the other hand, too much positive affect can also have
negative effects in some situations.

What is Positive Affect Tolerance?

“Positive Affect Tolerance” might sound like an odd term—
after all, who would need “tolerance” of positive affect?

Unfortunately, there are many people out there who may find
it difficult or uncomfortable to feel positive affect. Many of
these people are survivors of emotional neglect or even overt
abuse in their childhood. Positive Affect Tolerance, or PAT, is a
method of helping these people learn how to tolerate and
integrate positive emotions and events into a shared positive
experience of self (Leeds, 2007).

One example of an exercise in PAT is what to do when you are

actively receiving appreciation, compliments, or praise:

1. Make and maintain eye contact.

2. Take a deeper breath into the upper chest to expand a
space around the heart and make room for positive
feelings.
3. While maintaining eye contact say, “Thank you. I
appreciate you saying that.”

Exercises like these can help people with a history of abuse

become more accepting of positive states and more
comfortable with feeling positive emotions.

Negative Affect Reciprocity

Do you have a sibling? If not, do you have two or more
children? If so, you’ve likely seen a mild form of negative
affect reciprocity.

Negative affect reciprocity, which is also sometimes called

“reciprocation of negativity” or “mutual escalation,” is defined
as the tendency for one person’s negative behavior to
instigate or encourage another person’s negative behavior
(Manusov, n.d.). For example, negative affect reciprocity (or
NAR) is what happens one child misbehaves or acts in an
unkind way toward his sibling, which prompts his sibling to
lash out with bad behavior of her own.

This phenomenon is certainly not limited to children though;

adults in romantic relationships can also be affected by NAR.
It can be as subtle as one partner displaying negative
emotions whenever the other one displays negative emotions,
or as disastrous as one partner’s infidelity provoking the other
partner into cheating as well.

Reciprocity is often mentioned in terms of repaying a favor or

“paying forward” something good that someone did for you,
but keep in mind that reciprocity can easily work the other
way as well.

Negative Affect Syndrome

Negative Affect Syndrome or NAS is a general psychological
state involving negative moods and emotions that are so
intense they disrupt or impair normal functioning and
adversely impact wellbeing (Henriques, 2013).

This general categorization is purposely broad and acts as a

simpler alternative to the ever-increasing complexity and
specificity of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual. It is based
on what we know about how the human brain and nervous
system work; on a general level, one of the brain’s primary
jobs is to figure out the costs and benefits. Costs are things
that you want to avoid, while benefits are things that you
want to approach.

NAS happens when the brain is unable to find an effective

ratio of costs and benefits (i.e., the person cannot get their
needs met), and results in suffering for the individual. NAS
can cause feelings of melancholy, hopelessness, anxiety,
nervousness, and many other negative moods and emotions.

There are arguments both for and against moving to a simpler

categorization of negative affect, but it may be beneficial to at
least have a broad categorization that highlights the
similarities between the different diagnoses of depression and
anxiety.

Negative Affectivity in the Workplace

Although too much negative affectivity can be detrimental no
matter where or when it is experienced or displayed, it can be
especially detrimental in the workplace.

Part of the reason why it has more destructive potential in the

workplace is that people are generally in close quarters and
working closely together.

This allows greater opportunity for collaboration, innovation,

and teamwork, but it can also act as an opportunity for
negativity to simmer and spread.

Early work on this topic showed that people who are high in
negative affectivity are more likely to see themselves as
victims of their coworkers’ aggression, especially if they were
in a “low-status” position (Aquino, Grover, Bradfield, & Allen,
1999). It’s easy to see how aggression (perceived or actual)
combined with high negative affectivity can poison a
workplace!

The potential outcomes of high negative affectivity in the

workplace can be devastating to an organization. High
negative affectivity is related to workplace deviance, including
behaviors like absenteeism, employee theft, lower
productivity, and reduce organizational performance (Chen,
Chen, & Liu, 2013).

Negative Affectivity in Management

As you can imagine, the negative outcomes associated with
too much negative affectivity at work can be amplified when
the NA is displayed in management.

According to the Leader-Member Exchange theory, leaders

tend to form relationships of differing quality with their
subordinates rather than relationships of similar quality across
all their leader-member relationships (Tse, Ashkanasy, &
Dasborough, 2012). When negative affectivity is brought into
the picture, everyone suffers.

Negative affectivity in leader-member relationships can make

the subordinates less likely to identify with their team or unit
and negatively impact their job performance. Further,
negative affect in supervisors is related to supervisor abuse of
their subordinates and indirectly related to higher negative
affect, lower job satisfaction, and fewer personal initiatives in
employees (Pan & Lin, 2018).

While it’s important to make sure that the employees you hire
or work with aren’t overly negative, it’s much more important
to ensure that the managers you hire or work for are low in
negative affectivity. The potential for negative outcomes is
simply too great with managers who are high in NA.

However, don’t discount anyone who shows any negative

affect—read on to find out why.
Are There Benefits to Negative Affect?
While too much negative affect is definitely a bad thing, low
levels of negative affect can actually be a good thing.

According to a group of Japanese undergraduates, there are

two major categories of benefits of NA:

1. Benefits to the Self

2. Benefits to Interpersonal Relations (Sakamoto et al.,
2006)

Benefits to the self include things like self-inspection (which

can lead to self-acceptance and self-expression), increased
desire to improve oneself, the mental growth that can result
from overcoming negative thinking, or increased creativity.
Benefits to interpersonal relations can be found in the form of
increased understanding of others and the world (which can
lead to better relationships) and more effective self-
presentation (e.g., getting help from others when you’re
down).

It never feels good to feel down, but that doesn’t mean it

doesn’t have its uses!

More recent research has found that negative affectivity can

improve memory, reduce judgment errors, and improve
communications by changing up one’s cognitive processing
style (Forgas, 2014). Further, being in a bad mood can also
increase perseverance, effort exerted, and motivation to
succeed.

Finally, negative moods can also make you more likely to deal
fairly with others and better at persuading others (Forgas,
2014).

That’s a lot of potential benefits to something that seems like

nothing but a bummer!

A Take-Home Message
This piece defined affect, differentiated between positive and
negative affect, provided examples of each, and made a
deeper dive into the literature on how positive and negative
affect influence us and are influenced by us.

My hope is that you found the time you spent on this piece
worthwhile and helpful in improving your understanding of
this topic. If you take only one thing away from this piece, let
it be this: positive and negative affect are not necessarily
linked, and it is possible to increase your level of positive
affect. If you struggle with low positive affect or high negative
affect that interrupts or intrudes on your life, there is hope!

To learn more about positive and negative affect, take a quick

peek at the literature by typing “positive and negative
affectivity” into the Google Scholar search bar. To cement
your understanding of affect and keep up on new research in
this area, make sure to pay attention to pieces by the big
names in the field: Watson, Clark, Tellegen, Fredrickson, and
Isen.
What are your thoughts on positive and negative affectivity?
Have you experienced abnormally high or low affectivity of
either kind? Have you treated abnormally high or low
affectivity? Do you think the PANAS is still a good way to
measure affectivity? Let us know in the comments!

Thanks for reading!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Courtney Ackerman, MA, is a mental health policy researcher
for the State of California and a freelance author and
consultant. Her areas of expertise include mental and
behavioral health policy, violence prevention, and survey
research.