The determinants of subjective emotional intensity

Abstract

Tested the hypothesis that emotional intensity is determined jointly by variables from the following 4 classes: concerns (strength and relevance), appraisal, regulation, and individual response propensities. For 6 wks, 37 college students reported an emotion every week and answered questions on a computer. All 4 classes were correlated with emotional intensity, and the concern variables showed the highest correlations. The importance of the determinants was not always the same. There were differences between the emotions and between the dimensions of emotional intensity. The relation between regulation and emotional intensity is a complex and reciprocal one. Emotional intensity presumably determines how much regulation is needed, but successful regulation will decrease that intensity