Are there aspects of affect that can be generalized across different languages? Are
there consistent patterns of associations between self-reported affect and personality across
groups speaking different languages? In the present dissertation, I explore these two questions
in five different language samples.
Studies of current self-reported affect in English suggest that Russell's (1980), Thayer's
(1989), Larsen and Diener's (1992), and Watson and Tellegen's (1985) models of affect
variables can be integrated and summarized by a two-dimensional space defined by Pleasant
vs Unpleasant and Activated vs Deactivated axes. To assess the cross-language
generalizability of this integrated structure, data on translations of the English affect scales (N
for Spanish = 233, N for Chinese = 487, N for Japanese = 450, N for Korean = 365) were
compared with the structure in English ON = 535). Systematic and random errors were controlled
through multi-format measurements (Green, Goldman, & Salovey, 1993) and structural equation
modeling.
Individual measurement models as defined in English received support in all five
languages, although revisions of these scales in non-English samples provided an even closer
approximation to the two-dimensional structure in English. In all five languages, the two
dimensions explained most, but not all, of the reliable variance in other affect variables (mean =
88%). The four structural models fit comfortably within the integrated two-dimensional space. In
fact, the variables fell at different angles on the integrated space, suggesting a new circumplex
structure.
In prior studies conducted in English, the personality traits of Neuroticism and
Extraversion were most predictive of affect and they aligned with the Pleasant Activated and
Unpleasant Activated states. To clarify and extend the previous findings, participants in all five
samples also completed NEO FFI (Costa & McCrae, 1992), a measure for the Five Factor
Model of personality (FFM). Again, Neuroticism and Extraversion were most predictive of affect,
accounting for, on average, 10% of the variance. The remaining three factors of the FFM
contributed, on average, 2%. In all five languages, the FFM dimensions did not align with the
two predicted affective dimensions. Rather, they fell all around the upper half of the twodimensional
space.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/9912 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Yik, Michelle Siu Mui |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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