Construction and validation of the circumplex model of affect with English and Greek athletic samples

Abstract

The circumplex model of affect holds that most emotions can be arranged in a circular fashion around the perimeter of two independent bipolar dimensions that intersect each other, namely pleasant/unpleasant and arousing/sleepy. The authors of the present study attempted to construct the circumplex model using English and Greek athletic samples, examining similarities among and differences between these cultures, and comparing the original circumplex against the models that were constructed. A mixed-model design was employed in which there was a within-subjects factor (three word-sorting tasks) and a betweensubjects factor (culture). A purposive athletic sample of 128 volunteers (English, n = 60; 29 women, 31 men; Mage = 24.5 ± 5.0 years; Greek, n = 68; 23 women, 45 men; Mage = 23.2 ± 4.2 years) completed three word-sorting tasks. A software package named Kyklos was developed to facilitate the circumplex analysis. Findings provided support for the circumplex model among English and Greek athletic populations and more specifically, its pleasantness and arousal dimensions. Some concepts describing an individual's emotional or psychological state may be understood and experienced differently across such diverse cultures.

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“…Two dimensions proposed, pleasure–displeasure (include emotions such as happiness/content and opposing emotions such as sadness/fear) and degree of arousal (excited versus relaxed), have been established as two main measurements of mood (Watson & Tellegen, ). Several studies have replicated the presence of two bipolar dimensions in explaining emotionality, including analyses of facial and vocal emotional expressions (Abelson & Sermat, ; Schlosberg, ); varying ratings of mood expressions (Averill, ); and cross culturally amongst athletic populations (Loizou & Karageorghis, ).…”

“…The notion of a circular archetype is part of a range of models based on Guttman's () facet theory that have proven beneficial in explaining human behaviours (Canter, ). There is much research to support benefits of the circumplex model for categorising and explaining the structure of emotions (Carney & Colvin, ; Feldman, ; Feldman Barrett & Russell, ; Fisher, Heise, Bohrnstedt, & Lucke, ; Fontanari, Bonniot‐Cabanac, Cabanac, & Perlovsky, ; Loizou & Karageorghis, ; Plutchik, ; Remington, Fabrigar, & Visser, ; Russell, ; Schlosberg, ; Watson & Tellegen, ).…”