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The Autonomic Differentiation of Emotions Revisited: Convergent and Discriminant Validation
Author(s) -
Stemmler Gerhard
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
psychophysiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.661
H-Index - 156
eISSN - 1469-8986
pISSN - 0048-5772
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1989.tb03163.x
Subject(s) - psychology , discriminant validity , anger , context (archaeology) , convergent validity , happiness , affect (linguistics) , psychophysiology , multivariate statistics , skin conductance , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , psychometrics , social psychology , communication , statistics , neuroscience , paleontology , internal consistency , biology , medicine , mathematics , biomedical engineering
The convergent and discriminant validity of three models of physiological emotion specificity were compared, Forty‐two female students served as subjects in a 2 (Context of emotional inductions: real‐life, imagery) × 3 (Emotion: fear, anger, control) + 1 (Happiness induced in real‐life context) repeated measures design. The dependent measures included self‐reports of emotion, Gottschalk‐Gleser affect scores, back and forearm extensor EMG activity, body movements, heart period, respiration period, skin conductance, skin temperatures, pulse transit time, pulse volume amplitude, and blood volumes. Self‐report data confirmed the generation of affective states in both contexts, as intended. Planned multivariate comparisons between physiological profiles established discriminant validity for fear and anger in the real‐life context, whereas under imagery, emotion profiles were essentially equal. Convergent validity could not be substantiated. Implications for models of physiological specificity of emotion were discussed.