The Affective Differential: Emotion Profiles Implied by Diagnostic Concepts

Abstract

12 clinicians were presented with a list of diagnostic terms, such as, manic, paranoid, neurotic, etc. and were asked to indicate what emotions were implied in patients by each term. The emotion scales were selected to sample systematically the various dimensions of emotion. The clinicians' ratings provided emotion profiles typically associated with each of the diagnostic constructs. In addition, the ratings were intercorrelated and factor-analyzed, using a configurational approach, to show the interrelations and degrees of affective similarity between the diagnostic concepts.