Relationship Between Linguistic Antonyms in Momentary and Retrospective Ratings of Happiness and Sadness
Abstract
Momentary ratings of affective states with a pair of strict antonyms (“happy” vs. “sad”) were studied with an experience-sampling method in a group of 110 participants during 14 consecutive days at 7 randomly determined occasions per day. Before and after the experimental session participants also retrospectively rated how happy or sad they had been during the previous 2 weeks. Multilevel analysis showed that, at the level of single measurement trials, the momentary ratings of happiness and sadness were moderately negatively correlated (r = –.32, p < .001). A between-subject correlation of the two antonyms, however, was in a positive direction (r = .13, p = .123). Participants experienced mixed feelings during a considerable number of measurement trials, whereas the tendency to feel mixed emotions was predicted by all Big Five personality traits except Agreeableness. A configural frequency analysis (CFA) demonstrated that, although there was no strict bipolarity between momentary ratings of happiness and sadness, they were nevertheless used in an exclusive manner in many occasions.
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