JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

The circumplex model of affect posits that valence and arousal are the principal dimensions of affect. The center of the two-dimensional space represents a neutral state of valence and a medium state of arousal. The role of valence and arousal in human emotion has been studied extensively. However, no consistent relationship between valence and arousal has been established.

Objective:

In this article, ecological momentary assessment (EMA) data on affect from subjects residing in permanent supportive housing (PSH) was used to study the relationship between valence and arousal in real-life settings.

Methods:

Participants in m.chat, a technology-assisted health coaching program, were recruited from housing agencies in Fort Worth, Texas. All participants had a history of chronic homelessness and reported at least one mental health condition. A subset of participants was asked to complete daily EMAs of emotions and other behaviors. The sample was comprised of 78 females and 77 males whose average age was 52 years (SD = 8 years). From the circumplex model of affect, the EMA included nine questions related to the current emotional state of the participant (happy, frustrated, sad, worried, restless, excited, calm, bored and sluggish). The responses were used to calculate two composite scores for valence and arousal.

Results:

The results of all statistical models considered uniformly show a dominant linear relation between valence and arousal and a significant difference in the slopes among races. None of the other effects offered any evidence of statistical significance.

Conclusions:

Our findings provide a window to the fundamental structure of affect. We found a strong positive linear relationship between valence and arousal at the nomothetic level. The findings offer the possibility of the existence of a universal structure of affect. However, the study needs to be replicated for different populations to determine if our findings can be generalized beyond the population studied here.