Abstract
Various theories have become ingrained in the teachings and conceptualizations of emotion, such as Ekman’s theory of basic emotions and Russell’s Circumplex model of emotion. These two prominent theories represent two methodological approaches for measuring emotion: categorical/directive and dimensional. There has been little research concerning how these two theories may relate. The purpose of this project was to utilize Ecological Momentary Assessment to examine directive and dimensional measures of emotion. This project encompassed multiple domains within the emotion research field- from categorizing common emotion words using valence and arousal to directly comparing the single-item Circumplex affect grid to a 12-item emotion Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Results from this study revealed differences in emotion reporting patterns based on gender. Baseline symptoms of psychopathology did not appear to affect the use of the Circumplex affect grid. Multi-level models revealed that responses to the affect grid and then individual emotion items yielded similar responses patterns. Responses on the two emotion measures also became more similar as the study duration increased. This dissertation suggests that despite the underlying theory of emotion or the measurement method utilized, emotion reporting is largely consistent across modalities. This dissertation is unique in its methodology, data-visualization, and implications for future emotion research.