Hedonic Tone, Perceived Arousal, and Item Desirability: Three Components of Self-reported Mood

Abstract

Self-reports of mood are the most frequently used measure of subjective emotional experience in studies of human emotion. The present study evaluated the degree to which self-reports of mood reflect the social desirability of an affective state, rather than the hedonic tone and the level of arousal associated with such states. The study produced three main findings. First, the desirability of a mood and the hedonic quality of a mood are related, but not identical entities. Secondly, the desirability of a mood is also related to the level of arousal the mood denotes. Thirdly, desirability components are related to the self-report ratings of mood, but the ratings also reflect the hedonic tone and level of arousal describing the internal state of the respondents. Social desirability does affect the self-report ratings that are often used in emotion research, but such ratings also reflect something about the internal state of the respondents.