- Titel
- Is “Neutral” Really Neutral? Mid-point Ratings in the Affective Norms English Words (ANEW) May Mask Ambivalence
- Zitierfähige Url:
- https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa2-957431
- Quellenangabe
- Collabra
Erscheinungsjahr: 2023
Jahrgang: 9
Heft: 1
E-ISSN: 2474-7394
Artikelnummer: 82204 - Erstveröffentlichung
- 2023
- Abstract (EN)
- The Affective Norms for English Words (ANEW) is a stimulus set that provides researchers with English language words that have been pre-rated on bipolar scales for valence, dominance, and arousal. Researchers rely on these pre-ratings to ensure that the words they select accurately reflect the affective responses these words elicit. Each word has a valence rating reflecting the degree to which people experience the word as positive or negative, with midpoint ratings on this scale presumably reflecting neutrality. However, neutral words tend to vary substantially in arousal, suggesting that not all neutral words are the same. Some researchers account for this by using the bipolar valence ratings in conjunction with the arousal ratings, selecting low-arousal neutral words when neutrality is what they seek. We argue that the varying levels of arousal in neutral words is due to varying levels of ambivalence. However, the idea that midpoint valence ratings for ANEW stimuli may hide varying levels of ambivalence has not yet been examined. This article provides evidence that words in the ANEW that appear neutral actually vary markedly in the levels of ambivalence they elicit and that this is related to their levels of arousal. These findings are relevant for research, past and present, that use the ANEW because ambivalence has different psychological consequences than neutrality, and therefore complicates the ability to draw clear inferences and maintain experimental control.
- Andere Ausgabe
- Link zum Artikel, der zuerst in der Zeitschrift „Collabra: Psychology” bei University of California Press erschienen ist.
DOI: 10.1525/collabra.82204 - Verweis
- Ergänzendes Material ist unter folgendem Link zu finden.
Link: https://online.ucpress.edu/collabra/article/9/1/82204/196835/Is-Neutral-Really-Neutral-Mid-point-Ratings-in-the#supplementary-data - Freie Schlagwörter (EN)
- mixed feelings, ambivalence, ANEW, neutrality, indifference
- Klassifikation (DDC)
- 000
- 150
- Verlag
- University of California Press, Oakland, CA
- Förder- / Projektangaben
- European Commision (EC)
H2020 | MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Just noticeable differences in affect: Estimating the minimum change in positive and negative affect that meaningfully impact people’s subjective experience of emotions
(MEANINGFEEL)
ID: 883785 - Version / Begutachtungsstatus
- publizierte Version / Verlagsversion
- URN Qucosa
- urn:nbn:de:bsz:14-qucosa2-957431
- Veröffentlichungsdatum Qucosa
- 04.11.2025
- Dokumenttyp
- Artikel
- Sprache des Dokumentes
- Englisch
- Lizenz / Rechtehinweis
CC BY 4.0