Affect
Affect plays a pivotal role in mental health [1], subtly and continuously influencing our lives even if we are unaware of it. Affect, which refers to the underlying experience of emotions, feelings, and moods [2], is related to both behavior and cognition. Understanding how affect impacts the human experience is vital. A growing body of evidence underscores affect’s significant role in mental health, influencing the expression, experience, and regulation of emotions. Dysregulation of affect is associated with various mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, borderline personality disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder [3].
Moreover, research indicates that maintaining positive emotions is closely related to physical health outcomes [4], [5]. Studies have demonstrated that psychological resilience and positive emotional granularity is related to the ability to cope with health challenges, such as cardiovascular disease, as well as to mental health and longevity [6], [7].
Measurement of affect
Consensus operational definitions of affect and emotion are currently lacking [8]. The various measures of emotion (or affect) can be categorized into three types: dimensional measures; measures of discrete emotions; and “blended” measures of a broader range of emotional components [9].
Dimensional measures capture two key dimensions of affect: valence and activation. Valence represents the pleasantness or unpleasantness of an emotion, while activation denotes its intensity [10]. Examples of dimensional measures include the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) and Affective Norms for English Words (ANEW) scales [11], [12].
Measures of discrete emotions are based on the assumption that there is a core set of basic emotions distinguishable based on physiological, behavioral, and subjective components, such as anger and joy [13]. These measures assess the presence or absence of specific emotions, such as anger, fear, or sadness, and are often employed in clinical settings to evaluate mood disorder symptoms. Examples include the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) [14], [15].
Blended emotional measures cover both discrete emotions and dimensions, recognizing the complexity of emotional experiences. Examples of these measures include the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) and the Differential Emotions Scale (DES) [16], [17].
Types of Positive Affect Scale (TPAS)
The TPAS, developed by Gilbert et al. (2008), focuses on two aspects of positive affect regulation identified by neuroscience research [18]. The first aspect pertains to the positive affect associated with sympathetic arousal, including enthusiasm, joy, and energy. The second aspect relates to positive affect characterized by tranquility and contentment, regulated by the parasympathetic nervous system [19]. Originally, the TPAS consisted of three factors, active, relaxed, and safe and warm, and 18 questions assessing various positive emotions [20]. Respondents rate 18 “feeling” words on a five-point scale (0: “not characteristic of me” to 4: “very characteristic of me”). Strong psychometric qualities were indicated by the Cronbach alpha values of .83 for activating positive affect and relaxed positive affect and .73 for safeness/contentment positive affect [20].
The TPAS has been widely used in studies of self-compassion [21], mindfulness [22], and parasympathetic activity [19]. However, few measures of positive affect are available in Asian languages, particularly Korean. Thus, the primary goals of this study were to assess the validity of the Korean version of the TPAS and to identify the factor structure of the TPAS when applied to the Korean population.