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In recent studies of the structure of affect, positive and negative affect have consistently emerged as two dominant and relatively independent dimensions. A number of mood scales have been created to measure these factors; however, many existing measures are inadequate, showing low reliability or poor convergent or discriminant validity. To fill the need for reliable and valid Positive Affect and Negative Affect scales that are also brief and easy to administer, we developed two 10-item mood scales that comprise the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The scales are shown to be highly internally consistent, largely uncorrelated, and stable at appropriate levels over a 2-month time period. Normative data and factorial and external evidence of convergent and discriminant validity for the scales are also presented.

Two dominant dimensions consistently emerge in studies of affective structure, both in the United States and in a number of other cultures. They appear as the first two factors in factor analyses of self-rated mood and as the first two dimensions in multidimensional scalings of facial expressions or mood terms (Diener, Larsen, Levine, & Emmons, 1985; Russell, 1980, 1983; Stone, 1981; Watson, Clark, & Tellegen, 1984; Zevon & Tellegen, 1982).

Watson and Tellegen (1985) have summarized the relevant evidence and presented a basic, consensual two-factor model. Whereas some investigators work with the unrotated dimensions (typically labeled pleasantness-unpleasantness and arousal), the varimax-rotated factors—usually called Positive Affect and Negative Affect—have been used more extensively in the self-report mood literature; they are the focus of this article. Although the terms Positive Affect and Negative Affect might suggest that these two mood factors are opposites (that is, strongly negatively correlated), they have in fact emerged as highly distinctive dimensions that can be meaningfully represented...