The present study provides evidence that Valence Focus and Arousal Focus are important dimensions in describing how people label their affective states. Specifically, both Valence Focus and Arousal Focus were related to two aspects of affective discrimination in their daily, emotional lives: individuals high in Valence Focus and low in Arousal Focus displayed less discrimination among like-valenced affective states and bipolarity between negative and positive affective states in their daily emotional lives. Individuals lower in Valence Focus and higher in Arousal Focus displayed more discrimination between like-valenced affective states and more independence between negative and positive affective states. In addition, Valence Focus and Arousal Focus were moderately related to personality measures of emotional responsivity and sensivity to internal bodily cues, respectively, suggesting that the focus constructs may be important in a larger theoretical framework about affective experience.
Samenvatting