Conceptual spaces for emotion identification and alignment

Abstract

The paper explores a method for emotion identification based on the mapping of emotional terms to a set of emotion eliciting situations. The method has been applied for emotion words from the Bulgarian language. Situations and words have been evaluated using the valence, arousal, and dominance ratings given by participants. Nine clusters of emotion terms and situations have been identified which allowed to map emotion terms with situations. The mapping method and the results for Bulgarian can be used for cross-group or cross-cultural studies of emotions involving various languages. The possible usage of the results obtained for emotion conceptual space evaluation and emotional alignment of people communicating in social networks is also discussed. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.