The Evaluative Space Grid: A Single-Item Measure of Positivity and Negativity

Abstract

The authors introduce the evaluative space grid (ESG), a two-dimensional grid that provides a single-item measure of positivity and negativity. In Study 1, ESG ratings of gamble outcomes were highly correlated with those obtained from conventional, less-efficient, unipolar measures, thus providing evidence for the grid’s convergent validity. In Study 2, participants rated their moment-by-moment evaluative reactions to gamble outcomes with the grid every 100 ms; results replicated earlier findings that some outcomes elicit only positivity or negativity whereas others simultaneously elicit positivity and negativity. In Studies 3 and 4, the difference between the grid’s positive and negative ratings of several types of stimuli and bipolar valence ratings were highly correlated, thus demonstrating the grid’s generalisability and predictive validity. Study 4 also showed that ESG ratings predicted facial electromyographic activity, particularly in tasks involving strongly affective stimuli. Taken together, results indicate that the grid provides efficient, valid indices of positivity and negativity.