Affect Intensity: Separating Intensity and Frequency in Repeatedly Measured Affect

E. Diener, R. J. Larsen, S. Levine, and R. A. Emmons (1985) distinguished between intensity and frequency as separable components in repeatedly measured affect. In this article, an improved way of differentiating intensity and frequency of affect is proposed that permits one to measure affect intensity separately for each emotion of interest. The results of 3 studies using this method provide further support for the affect intensity construct and demonstrate the superiority of the new approach. In addition, a new measure based on intensity ratings of hypothetical scenarios proved to be the best measure of affect intensity when it has to be assessed at 1 moment in time. Finally, results of 2 diary studies, one sampling emotional events and the other sampling random moments, confirmed the hypothesis that affect intensity is best conceptualized as a disposition to react strongly to emotioneliciting events rather than to experience intense affect in the absence of goal-relevant situations.