Affective synchrony 1 Running Head: AFFECTIVE SYNCHRONY Affective synchrony: Individual differences in mixed emotions

Most models of affect suggest either inverse or null associations between positivity and negativity. Recent work (e.g., Larsen, McGraw, & Cacioppo, 2001; Zautra, Reich, Davis, Potter, & Nicolson, 2000) has highlighted situations that sometimes lead to mixed positive-negative affect. Focusing on the counterpart to these situational factors, we explore the individual-difference tendency towards mixed emotions, which we term affective synchrony. In five studies, we show that some individuals demonstrate affective synchrony (overlapping experience of positive and negative moods), others a-synchrony (positive and negative mood that fluctuate independently), and still others de-synchrony (positive and negative moods that function as bipolar opposites). These tendencies are stable over time within persons, vary broadly across individuals, and are associated with individual differences in cognitive representation of self and of emotions. Affective synchrony 3 Affective synchrony: Individual differences in mixed emotions Can sadness and happiness, negative and positive moods, co-occur? Shall never the twain meet? Larsen, McGraw, and Cacioppo (2001) and Zautra and his colleagues (e.g., Zautra, Reich, Davis, Potter, & Nicolson, 2000) recently approached this question from a social psychological perspective, asking in effect “are there situations that lead to mixed emotional reactions, and if so, what are their characteristics?” Larsen et al. presented evidence from three situations that clearly elicited mixed emotions and concluded that although positive and negative evaluations are often negatively correlated, they should be conceptualized as bivariate, because under certain circumstances they have the potential of co-occurring. Zautra et al. (2000) demonstrated the situational effects of both experimentally induced and naturally occurring stress on the association between positivity and negativity and demonstrated that the association of positive and negative affect (PA and NA) became more polarized – that is, the scales became more inversely correlated – under high stress. A complementary approach to the question of mixed emotions addresses it from a personality psychology perspective, inquiring “Are there individuals who tend to experience mixed affective states, and if so, what else do we know about them?”. Our goal is to answer this question and to explore the phenomenon of stable and broad individual differences in the experience of mixed affective states. We suggest that one important feature of mixed affect is its temporal dynamics, and specifically the possible existence of positive covariation over time of positive and negative emotions, which we term affective synchrony. We review affect theories that speak to the topic of mixed affective states, present evidence for the existence of broad and stable individual differences in affective synchrony, and begin to examine its construct validity. Finally, we argue that these individual differences may have several implications for normal and pathological functioning.