Inter- and intra-individual variation in emotional complexity: methodological considerations and theoretical implications

Abstract

The degree of relationship between positive and negative emotional states or emotional complexity is a topic of ongoing methodological and theoretical debate. At issue is whether positive and negative emotions are opposite ends of a bipolar continuum or independent dimensions in a bivariate distribution with little degree of overlap. In this review, we summarize a body of work suggesting that the distinction between positive and negative emotions varies both between and within individuals over time as a function of cognition and changes in informational demands, a perspective called the Dynamic Model of Affect (DMA). In addition to providing a unifying theoretical model that specifies the conditions under which both bivariate and bipolar models of affect may be valid, the DMA offers an integrative, multidimensional affective framework through which models of resilience and stress adaptation may be articulated. Future work should continue to explore the contextual factors, especially those that have relevance for the complexity of information processing, as potential moderators of the dynamic interplay between positive and negative emotions.