The Aachen List of Trait Words

Britz, Sara; Gauggel, Siegfried; Mainz, Verena

doi:10.1007/s10936-019-09649-8

Cited by 10 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…For the trait-judgment task, one set of 20 and another set of 50 trait adjectives (half of which were classified as positive and half as negative ) were selected from the Aachen List of Trait Words [42]. Several stimulus properties were controlled for in the second set of 50 trait adjectives (because the first set was not relevant for further analyses; see section on trait-judgment task) in order to rule out systematic biases in participants’ choices and their memory [43, 44].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How females think about themselves and how they assume that significant others think about them: The influence of perspective taking on self-referential processing

et al. 2019

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People maintain a positive self-concept through positive self-appraisals ( Self-Serving Bias Effect , SSBE) and a diminished memory for self-threatening information ( Mnemic-Neglect Effect , MNE). Other people also influence a person’s self-concept. This study investigated SSBE and MNE in 60 females by using a trait-judgment paradigm applying two perspectives (self- and third-person appraisals) and a recall task. Additionally, self-esteem was assessed as an associated factor. SSBE and MNE were found in both kinds of appraisal perspectives. Interestingly, participants saw themselves as even more positive in reflected appraisals. SSBE and self-esteem were associated only in self-appraisals, indicating a larger SSBE on self-appraisals with raising self-esteem. In conclusion, both what females think about themselves and how they assume that others think about them preserve their overall positive self-concept.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How females think about themselves and how they assume that significant others think about them: The influence of perspective taking on self-referential processing

et al. 2019

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“…Response distributions and consistencies of VAL, SOC, and OBS Similar to Anderson (1968) and the German trait word database (Britz et al, 2019), both the VAL and the SOC rating means had a bimodal distribution, which indicates that most of the words were rated either positively (respectively socially desirable) or negatively (respectively socially undesirable), and fewer words were rated as neutral (see Fig. 2; Anderson, 1968;Britz et al, 2019). Figure 3a and b additionally show that the words at the end-points of the rating scales (i.e., with very positive or very negative rating means) were rated more consistently than the words with a neutral rating mean.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a final point, the current study addressed some of the general limitations of databases that Bochner and Van Zyl (1985), Grühn andSmith (2008), andFairfield et al (2017) have discussed. For instance, researchers have relied on ratings of student samples or of well-educated respondents, and cross-cultural differences between word meanings and ratings in German and English remain so far unanswered in the current authors' research (Britz et al, 2019).…”

Section: Social Desirabilitymentioning

confidence: 98%

An English list of trait words including valence, social desirability, and observability ratings

et al. 2022

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To enable flexible and controlled research on personality, information processing, and interactions in socio-emotional contexts, the availability of highly controlled stimulus material, especially trait words and related attributes, is indispensable. Existing word databases contain mainly nouns and rating dimensions, and their role in studies within socio-emotional contexts are limited. This study aimed to create an English list of traits (ELoT), a database containing 500 trait adjectives rated by a large sample (n = 822, 57.42% female). The rating categories refer to the perceived valence associated with the traits and their social desirability and observability. Participants of different ages (18 to 65 years of age) and educational levels rated the words in an online survey. Both valence and social desirability ratings showed a bimodal distribution, indicating that most traits were rated either positive (respectively socially desirable) or negative (respectively socially undesirable), with fewer words rated as neutral. For observability, a bell-shaped distribution was found. Results indicated a strong association between valence and social desirability, whereas observability ratings were only moderately associated with the other ratings. Valence and social desirability ratings were not related to participants’ age or gender, but observability ratings were different for females and males, and for younger, middle-aged, and older participants. The ELoT is an extensive, freely available database of trait norms. The large sample and the balanced age and gender distributions allow to account for age- and gender-specific effects during stimulus selection.

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“…Previous valence and arousal investigations (e.g. [ 23 , 58 , 59 ]) were typically executed as controlled laboratory experiments with a comparatively limited number of participants (≤ 100 overall, ~ 20 per age group). Population-based research has the potential to complement such laboratory findings, for example through accessing much larger, more heterogeneous (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the roles of age, sex, depression, and anxiety for valence and arousal ratings of words: a population-based study

2020

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Background The perception of the affective quality of stimuli with regard to valence and arousal has mostly been studied in laboratory experiments. Population-based research may complement such studies by accessing larger, older, better balanced, and more heterogeneous samples. Several characteristics, among them age, sex, depression, or anxiety, were found to be associated with affective quality perception. Here, we intended to transfer valence and arousal rating methods from experimental to population-based research. Our aim was to assess the feasibility of obtaining and determining the structure of valence and arousal ratings in the setting of the large observational BiDirect Study. Moreover, we explored the roles of age, sex, depression, and anxiety for valence and arousal ratings of words. Methods 704 participants provided valence and arousal ratings for 12 written nouns pre-categorized as unpleasant, neutral, or pleasant. Predictors of valence and arousal ratings (i.e. age, sex, depression, and anxiety) were analyzed for six outcomes that emerge by combining two affective dimensions with three words categories. Data were modeled with multiple linear regression. Relative predictor importance was quantified by model-explained variance decomposition. Results Overall, average population-based ratings replicated those found in laboratory settings. The model did not reach statistical significance in the valence dimension. In the arousal dimension, the model explained 5.4% (unpleasant), 4.6% (neutral), and 3.5% (pleasant) of the variance. (Trend) effects of sex on arousal ratings were found in all word categories (unpleasant: increased arousal in women; neutral, pleasant: decreased arousal in women). Effects of age and anxiety (increased arousal) were restricted to the neutral words. Conclusions We report results of valence and arousal ratings of words in the setting of a large, observational, population-based study. Method transfer yielded acceptable data quality. The analyses demonstrated small effects of the selected predictors in the arousal dimension.

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The Aachen List of Trait Words

Cited by 10 publications

References 43 publications

How females think about themselves and how they assume that significant others think about them: The influence of perspective taking on self-referential processing

How females think about themselves and how they assume that significant others think about them: The influence of perspective taking on self-referential processing

An English list of trait words including valence, social desirability, and observability ratings

Investigating the roles of age, sex, depression, and anxiety for valence and arousal ratings of words: a population-based study

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