Psychological topics, Vol. 14. No. 1., 2005.
Original scientific paper
The structure of dimensions of mood
Vladimir Takšić
Tamara Mohorić
Abstract
Mood can be defined as a diffuse affective state, most frequently experienced as change in subjective status. It is usually low in intensity and longer in duration (Russell, 2003). Although there is consensus among authors that the best way to measure mood is by self-report measures (O′Connor, 2004), researchers still disagree on a number of different mood dimensions or their names. Dimensional mood models emphasize two dimensions on which to organize mood (Diener and Iran-Nejad, 1986; Russell and Carroll, 1999a; Watson and Tellegen, 1985), while multi-factorial models try to identify the several dimensions or clusters. The aim of the present research was to examine the source of variability in the dimensions pleasant/unpleasant and activation within the mood construct. A total sample of 276 students from different departments at the University of Zadar filled out a list containing 88 mood adjectives. Students had to mark how frequently they had experienced the different mood states in the past few months. A factor analysis of the given data revealed two different factor structures, depending on the given method of rotation. An unrotated factor analysis extracted two significant factors: pleasant/unpleasant and then activation. After rotation of the factor axis the mood adjectives are allocated into two dimensions (pleasant and unpleasant), while the effect of activation is diminished. The results are discussed in the light of two competitive mood models: the one proposed by Watson and Tellegen (1985) which emphasizes autonomy and independence of positive and negative affects, and a second proposed by Russell and Carroll (1995a) which emphasizes the orthogonality and bipolarity of two mood dimensions (valence and activation).
Keywords
mood; factor structure; pleasant/unpleasant; activation
Hrčak ID:
4830
URI
Publication date:
1.7.2005.
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