Behavioral Activation/Inhibition Systems and Emotions: A Test of Valence vs. Action Tendency Hypotheses

Abstract

Using 16 television Public Service Announcements (PSAs) and with a 2 (valence)×2 (action tendency)×4 (sequence) mixed design, an experiment (N=245) examined the impact of behavioral inhibition/activation systems (BIS/BAS) on affect. Two hypotheses (valence vs. action tendency) derived from the nature of emotions and properties of BIS/BAS were tested against each other. Due to the censored distributions of emotion variables and the mixed design, two-level tobit models were estimated to test the hypotheses. The results showed that BIS and BAS showed a complex pattern of associations with emotions that was not wholly consistent with either the approach-avoidance or valence aspects of affect; and that surprise might be joint product of novelty and valence assessments. Implications for future research were discussed.

Keywords:

• BIS/BAS
• Emotions
• Valence
• Action Tendency
• Tobit Model
• Multilevel Modeling
• PSA

Acknowledgements

We thank Leslie Abbot, Tara Abbot, Carolyn Brooks, Marie Louise Radanielina-Hita, and Tim Worley for their assistance in data collection.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lijiang Shen

Lijiang Shen is an assistant professor at the Department of Speech Communication, University of Georgia

Elisabeth Bigsby

Elisabeth Bigsby is a PhD student at the Department of Speech Communication, University of Georgia