On "Positive" and "Negative" Emotions

Argues that the concepts of valence and polarity are misleading tools in emotion research. Discusses the origins of the concept of valence in ancient philosophy and ethics, and provides evidence from the psychological literature showing the complexity of these constructs. By closely examining such topics as the relationship between emotions and physical health, the role of appraisal, and the issue of what it means for an emotion to be 'good' or 'bad', concludes that the emotional world is much more complex than the simple categorization of valence allows. Explores the question of polarity or emotional 'opposites' (e.g. pleasure-pain, happy-sad) and reaches a similar conclusion. Considers the meaning of the idea of polarity in view of the fact that emotions are considered to be multidimensional. By forcing the experience of emotion into such categorical boxes, researchers may be ignoring or misrepresenting the complexity and subtlety of the richness of human emotional life. (Original abstract - amended)