A Study of the affective responses elicited by occupational stimuli

In this study the semantic differential was used to assess the properties of affect elicited by occupational stimuli. Vocationally committed men studying medicine (N = 119), business (N = 120), and engineering (N = 83) responded to a semantic differential containing occupational concepts representing the fields of medicine, business, engineering, the clergy, and law enforcement. A factor analysis of the data yielded a semantic space for all three groups composed of three orthogonal dimensions of affect called Evaluation, Activity, and Potency, in that order of salience. Tests of factorial similarity indicated that the semantic spaces of the three groups were virtually identical. It was concluded that occupational stimuli elicit Evaluative, Activity, and Potency responses, and that all three affective dimensions should be used when predicting occupational behavior.     

Differences among medical,business, and engineering students in the intensity and direction of their affective responses to occupational concepts

A semantic differential was used to measure the affective responses of vocationally committed male students in medicine, business, and engineering to occupational concepts representing the fields of medicine, business, engineering, the clergy, and law enforcement. A factor analysis of the data indicated that the students responded to the concepts with the Evaluative, Activity, and Potency dimensions of affective meaning. It was found that the groups differed significantly in the intensity and direction of their affective responses to the occupational concepts on the Evaluative and Activity dimensions. An examination of the nature of the group differences indicated that they held different affective meanings for their respective vocational choices, and for other occupational concepts as well. The medical students responded to medicine as good, potent, and active; the business students to business as bad, potent, and active, and the engineering students to engineering as good, weak, and active. The possible relationship of affective meaning to vocational behavior was discussed.     

More than E,P and A in semantic differential scales: AN ANSWER TO QUESTIONS RAISED BY S. T. M. LANE1

The present study demonstrates the separation of affective and denotative meaning systems in the semantic space by a new factor analytic technique. The data used were collected in Brazil and Hungary following standard pan-cultural procedures (Osgood et al., 1975) for semantic differential ratings on 100 heterogeneous concepts against 60 indigenous scales elicited from teen-age males in the respective language/culture communities. Results from both cultures provided evidence for dominance of affective Evaluation, Potency and Activity (E, P, A) in the indigenous factor structures. The dimensions in the “other” (Denotation) space, orthogonal to Affect, are also clearly interpretable affect-free semantic features of concepts. The simultaneous salience of these two semantic systems for most scales highlights the importance of cultural meanings of scales for each indigenous culture under study.     

Reaction time as an indicator of stimulus‐response binding in affective judgment of visual stimuli1

Conventional studies on affective meanings have been conducted using the semantic differential technique. Although it offers reasonably valid and reliable measures for the bindings between visual stimuli and affective responses, it is dependent on subjective rating. Thus, the present study examined whether the reaction time (RT) of affective judgments for visual stimuli (color, shape, and facial expression) can be an objective indicator of the strength of stimuli‐response bindings. The results can be summarized as follows: (a) RTs for judging Evaluation were longer regardless of stimulus type; (b) RTs for Activity were shorter regardless of stimulus type; and (c) RTs for Lightness and Sharpness depended on stimulus type. These phenomena are consistent with the findings of previous affective meaning studies, suggesting that the RTs for affective judgments can be useful indicators reflecting the strength of the bindings between stimulus properties and affective meanings across various target stimuli and rating scales.     

Relative influences of affect and cognition on behavior: are feelings or beliefs more related to blood donation intentions?

This study tested the relative predictive power of affect and cognition on global attitude and behavioral intention within the tripartite model of attitude structure. Participants (N = 264) completed questionnaires that included an item regarding blood donation experience, five semantic differential items, four behavioral intention items, and one global attitude item. Participants were randomly assigned to either an affective or cognitive instruction set for the semantic differential items. As predicted, semantic differentials were more highly correlated with both global attitude and behavioral intention when completed under the affective instructions than under the cognitive instructions. In addition, donors' and non-donors' attitudes on the semantic differential scales were distinguished from one another only when they were elicited under the affective instruction set. Results provide support for the tripartite model of attitude structure. Future research should examine the relative importance of affect and cognition in less emotion-laden domains.     

The structure of self-reports of emotional responses to film segments

Subjects viewed eight short film segments and rated the strength of their responses within eight emotion categories. Principal-components analysis showed that these ratings varied along three dimensions: Amused-Warmhearted, Fearful-Anxious, and Disgusted-Scornful. Clusters of film segment centroids occupied distinct regions within this reduced space, and moderate homogeneity was found when the individual ratings were assigned to the centroids of these clusters. Further analyses concerned the reliability of the ratings over time, the effects of prior exposure, and sex differences. Ratings obtained on a subset of these film segments during a subsequent psychophysiological experiment were analyzed to test the generalizability of the results of Study 1. The factor patterns were very similar, as were tests for the homogeneity of the ratings. The structure of self-reports of elicited affect and the utility of film stimuli are discussed.This research was supported by National Science Foundation Grant 77-08926 and by funds from the Lincoln Filene endowment to Dartmouth College.     

Differentiation of affective and denotative meaning systems and their influence in personality ratings.

The present study presents an empirical example of the dichotomy of affective and denotative meaning systems and their influence on individual differences in personality ratings. The three-mode factor analytic technique with a newly developed transformation methodology for the scale mode was applied to data collected by Hogenraad from 50 French-speaking Belgians, rating 40 personality concepts against 40 semantic differential scales. Results indicated that three affective dimensions (evaluation, potency, and activity) proved to be dominant in the indigenous factor structure of personality impressions and that three dimensions in the "other" space, orthogonal to affect, are clearly interpretable denotative semantic features of personalities. Three idealized individual differences on interactions of these two meaning systems with four concept factors were highlighted by the final rotated inner core matrix. The present methodology along with the semantic differential technique and three-mode factor analysis can be applied to various types of subjects and/or concept domains for better understanding of intra- and intercultural differences.     

The chills as a psychological construct: content universe, factor structure, affective composition, elicitors, trait antecedents, and consequences

We examined the content universe, factor structure, affective composition, elicitors, trait antecedents, and consequences of "the chills." In Study 1, participants described what it means to get the chills. A second sample sorted all references to physical sensations based on similarity. Cluster analysis identified 4 lower order clusters (goosebumps, tingling, coldness, shivers) and 2 higher order clusters ("goosetingles," "coldshivers"). In Study 2, factor analysis of questionnaire data supported a model with lower and higher order factors that corresponded to the Study 1 clusters. Goosetingles and coldshivers were predicted by approach-related traits (e.g., extraversion) and avoidance-related traits (e.g., neuroticism), respectively. In Study 3, analysis of narrative data replicated the goosetingles-coldshivers structure. Relative to coldshivers, goosetingles involved greater awe, surprise, and enjoyment and less disgust, fear, and sadness. In Study 4, analysis of diary data extended the goosetingles-coldshivers structure to between- and within-person levels of analysis. Goosetingles involved positive affects and was elicited by approach-related stimuli, whereas coldshivers involved negative affects and was elicited by avoidance-related stimuli. In Study 5, manipulation of exposure to self-actualization and self-annihilation elicited goosetingles and coldshivers, respectively. Goosetingles and coldshivers had positive and negative effects, respectively, on interpersonal closeness. In sum, diverse forms of evidence converge to indicate that the chills encompasses distinct approach- and avoidance-related constructs. Failure to distinguish these constructs explains null and inconsistent findings in the nascent literature. Goosetingles and coldshivers are posited to serve the function of signaling that an event in the environment is pertinent to one's most deep-seated hopes or fears.     

The comparability of verbal and nonverbal semantic differential scales in a joint semantic space

As an alternative to the verbal Semantic Differential (SD) measure of affective meaning systems, a nonverbal instrument-the Graphic Differential (GD)-has been developed for subject populations who have difficulty in verbal ratings. However, the factor structures of the pictographic scales have never been examined in a joint-verbal and nonverbal-semantic space as to whether their structures are equivalent to the affective systems defined by the verbal markers. The present study assessed this issue by reanalyzing the French (1977) data. The results indicated that when verbal SD and nonverbal GD scales were factor-analyzed separately, the three-dimensional structures of Evaluation (E), Potency (P), and Activity (A) were recaptured in both domains. However, when they were analyzed simultaneously in a joint semantic space, only the E and A dimensions were congruent. The GD P scales carried the meanings of denotative Heaviness, rather than the affective Potency. For future investigation, suggestion was made to systematically study both the affective and denotative semantic features within the contexts of nonverbal communciations.The authors made equal contributions toward the completion of the present research.     

LA PERSONNALITÉ COMME CONSTRUCTION SÉMANTIQUE UNIVERSELLE ET CULTURELLE1

Personality was approached by tracing back common usage terms, easily available to the layman, to their latent semantic organization — traits — which is supposedly revealed by their inter-correlations and subsequent factorization, that is, the usual semantic differential methodology. The measuring instrument is composed of 40 concepts and 40 scales, nine of which are pan-cultural and 31 are resulting from a genuine elicitation, and was applied to a sample of 100 male and female subjects. Strong similarities are found, as expected, between personality structure and the more fundamental affective EPA meaning structure. But even when the affective component of the meaning structure, which is nevertheless the main feature of personality ratings, is mathematically neutralized by partializing the nine pan-cultural scales out of the 31 genuine personality scales, the remaining personality structure is still universal enough, beyond its fundamental affective component. It is suggested that those unique and culture-bound factors appear as they do as a result of the limited number of scales selected and not as a result of a culture-determined personality structure.     

Confirming satisfaction as an attitude within the service‐buying process

This paper presents research that uses cognitive and affective semantic differential scales to construct an attitude measuring instrument to be used in the services domain in the context of long applications to buy a service. The scales measure ‘Attitude to the Application Process’ (AAP) which represents satisfaction, as an internal ‘buying process’ attitude, which moderates the buying intention. Data collected over a three‐year period between 1996‐9, was analysed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The results provide evidence of a robust and useful cognitive scale. Although there were anomalies in the exploratory and confirmatory analysis of the affective scale, a robust scale is presented which represents either one or two factors. The whole measuring instrument of 14 items was developed as a means to access applicant attitudes during the application process to university — an extended and extreme application situation for first‐time consumers. The results identify that the instrument is sound and can be used in its original or modified form, depending on the context of the service‐process monitoring situation. The scales represent aspects of attitude not dealt with extensively in the literature and measure the perception of the application process as simple, open, friendly and helpful. These aspects of satisfaction mirror three attributes of service quality: assurance, responsiveness and empathy identified in previous research. Copyright © 2001 Henry Stewart Publications.     

Testing for a four‐dimensional structure of occupational commitment

Using three samples, 230 medical technologists, 412 working adults and 227 Executive MBA students, this study found support for a revised four‐dimension measure of occupational commitment consisting of affective, normative, accumulated costs and limited alternatives dimensions. This four‐dimension structure is based on expanding Meyer, Allen, and Smith's (1993) three‐dimension, i.e. affective, normative and continuance, occupational commitment conceptualization. Continuance occupational commitment was operationalized as two separate dimensions, accumulated costs and limited alternatives occupational commitment, based on Carson, Carson, and Bedeian's (1995) career (occupational) entrenchment measure.     

The structure of occupational well‐being: A study among Dutch teachers

This study examined the structure of occupational well‐being among 1,252 Dutch teachers. Building on Warr (1994) and Ryff (1989), a multidimensional model for occupational well‐being (including affective, cognitive, professional, social and psychosomatic dimensions) was proposed and tested. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the distinction between these dimensions. A second‐order factor analysis revealed that affect was the most central dimension, supporting earlier conceptualizations of subjective well‐being that mainly focused on affect.     

Semantic representations as procedures for verification

Doubly quantified sentences can be ambiguous (Every man knows some woman) or unambiguous (Every man knows every woman). For active and passive sentences of these types, we elicited from subjects three types of judgments designed to reflect which quantifier they assigned wide scope in interpreting the sentence. There was a strong tendency for the three measures to agree, and for these agreements to fall on the surface structure subject of the sentence, independent of sentence type. The data are interpreted as showing a tendency for the first quantifier to include the second within its scope; thus for both ambiguous and unambiguous sentence types active sentences tend to be interpreted differently from their passive transforms. A semantic theory adequate to capture this phenomenon must assign sentences semantic representations specifying not only truth-conditions but also procedures for verification.     

Social stimuli increase physiological reactivity but not defensive responses

Emotional reactions are crucial in survival because they provide approach and withdrawal behaviors. However, an unsolved question is whether the social content of the affective stimuli has a specific effect on emotional responses. We studied whether the social content of affective pictures influenced the defensive response and response mobilization. For this purpose, we recorded startle blink reflex (a defensive response) and skin conductance responses (a measure of unspecific physiological reactivity or arousal) in 73 participants while they viewed a series of 81 pictures of varying affective valence and social content. Our results revealed that defense response, as indicated by increases in the magnitude of the startle blink reflex, was mainly dependent on threatening or unpleasant cues, but was unrelated to the social content of the pictures. The social content, however, had an influence on pleasant stimuli, provoking an increase in resource mobilization, as reflected by changes in electrodermal activity. Hence, the social content of the affective stimuli may increase the physiological arousal elicited by pleasant stimuli, and it appears to be unrelated to the defense reactivity provoked by unpleasant stimuli.     

The relationship between vocational interests and the location of an ideal occupation in the individual's perceived occupational structure

The relationship between vocational interests and the location of an ideal occupation in the perceived occupational structure of career counselees was investigated. Ninety-six career counselees completed the RAMAK vocational interest inventory. Then, the occupational constructs of each subject were elicited by the career grid procedure. Finally, each subject rated 24 occupations and his/her ideal and rejected occupations on his/her own elicited constructs. The intrasubject analyses indicated that the preferences for occupational fields as measured by the interest inventory reflect the fields' proximity to an ideal occupation in the individual's perceived occupational structure. The implications for career development are discussed.     

On the interdependence of cognition and emotion

Affect and cognition have long been treated as independent entities, but in the current review we suggest that affect and cognition are in fact highly interdependent. We open the article by discussing three classic views for the independence of affect. These are (i) the affective independence hypothesis, that emotion is processed independently from cognition, (ii) the affective primacy hypothesis, that evaluative processing precedes semantic processing, and (iii) the affective automaticity hypothesis, that affectively potent stimuli commandeer attention and evaluation is automatic. We argue that affect is not independent from cognition, that affect is not primary to cognition, nor is affect automatically elicited. The second half of the paper discusses several instances of how affect influences cognition. We review experiments showing affective involvement in perception, semantic activation, and attitude activation. We conclude that one function of affect is to regulate cognitive processing.     

Selective attention to global and local structure of objects: Alternative measures of nontarget processing

When individuals are asked to report either the global or the local level of structure in a stimulus pattern located inside a relevant object, distractors located within an irrelevant object will interfere only if they are at the same level of structure as that of the target item (Briand, 1993; Paquet & Merikle, 1988). The basis of this level-specific filtering is unclear, as is the true level of semantic analysis for the ignored items. In the present series of experiments, multiple measures of nontarget processing were used to assess concurrent interference, negative priming, and a category effect supposedly reflecting a more abstract level of semantic analysis. These different indicants were assessed in three experiments in which form, color, or a spatial precue was used to direct attention to the relevant stimulus pattern. Overall, cuing by form produced poorer spatial selectivity, whereas spatial precues and color led to better selectivity. However, the three measures of nontarget processing were not equally affected by these manipulations, with global information showing more evidence for semantic analysis than for local analysis regardless of the type of selection cue used. The results suggest that inhibition is not the basis of target selection when ignored items are local, but that it may be used when global items are ignored.     

Affective auditory stimulus database: An expanded version of the International Affective Digitized Sounds (IADS-E)

Using appropriate stimuli to evoke emotions is especially important for researching emotion. Psychologists have provided several standardized affective stimulus databases—such as the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) and the Nencki Affective Picture System (NAPS) as visual stimulus databases, as well as the International Affective Digitized Sounds (IADS) and the Montreal Affective Voices as auditory stimulus databases for emotional experiments. However, considering the limitations of the existing auditory stimulus database studies, research using auditory stimuli is relatively limited compared with the studies using visual stimuli. First, the number of sample sounds is limited, making it difficult to equate across emotional conditions and semantic categories. Second, some artificially created materials (music or human voice) may fail to accurately drive the intended emotional processes. Our principal aim was to expand existing auditory affective sample database to sufficiently cover natural sounds. We asked 207 participants to rate 935 sounds (including the sounds from the IADS-2) using the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) and three basic-emotion rating scales. The results showed that emotions in sounds can be distinguished on the affective rating scales, and the stability of the evaluations of sounds revealed that we have successfully provided a larger corpus of natural, emotionally evocative auditory stimuli, covering a wide range of semantic categories. Our expanded, standardized sound sample database may promote a wide range of research in auditory systems and the possible interactions with other sensory modalities, encouraging direct reliable comparisons of outcomes from different researchers in the field of psychology.