Abstract
No catalog of words currently available contains normative data for large numbers of words rated low or high in affect. A preliminary sample of 1,545 words was rated for pleasantness by 26–33 college students. Of these words, 274 were selected on the basis of their high or low ratings. These words, along with 125 others (Rubin, 1981), were then rated by additional groups of 62–76 college students on 5-point rating scales for the dimensions of pleasantness, imagery, and familiarity. The resulting mean ratings were highly correlated with the ratings obtained by other investigators using some of the same words. However, systematic differences in the ratings were found for male versus female raters. Females tended to use more extreme ratings than did males when rating words on the pleasantness scale. Also, females tended to rate words higher on the imagery and familiarity scales. Whether these sex differences in ratings represent cognitive differences between the sexes or merely differences in response style is a question that can be determined only by further research.
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This research was supported in part by a grant to the first author from the Field-Wiltsie foundation. The authors would like to thank Ronald Sokol for his help in collecting and scoring the data. Thanks also go to Ohio University Computing and Learning Services for making computer time and their facilities available.
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Bellezza, F.S., Greenwald, A.G. & Banaji, M.R. Words high and low in pleasantness as rated by male and female college students. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers 18, 299–303 (1986). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03204403
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03204403