Sharing and Diversity in Emotion terminology

Abstract

Examined semantic inconsistencies in terminology used to describe emotions, particularly in attempts to assign emotional labels in physiological studies. A wide variation was found in the emotional terms 10 adult Ss' chose to describe a large number of sample stories. Each S used a core vocabulary of 26-27 words describing emotions and a total vocabulary of emotional terms of 27-29 words. Ss also exhibited a basic method of taxonomic categorization of their responses that was based on the dimensions of violence and intensity. A combination of individual and (more importantly) terminological diversity is postulated as the cause of these differences. Implications for psychological research are discussed. (32 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved)