Response latencies of pleasure and displeasure ratings: Further evidence for mixed feelings

All studies that examined the co-occurrence of pleasure and displeasure revealed at least some reports of mixed feelings (i.e., reports of concurrent pleasure and displeasure). Some researchers attribute these reports to measurement error, whereas others regard them as valid. This article examined response latencies of affect ratings to test the validity of reported mixed feelings. First, I demonstrate that respondents need more time to indicate the presence of an affect than the absence of an affect on unipolar response formats. Then, I demonstrate that mixed feelings are reported even when response latencies show a unipolar pattern for displeasure ratings, while the results for pleasure ratings were more mixed, but additional evidence suggests that they also are valid reflections of pleasure. In addition, I demonstrate that pleasure and displeasure ratings are independent of item-order and item-spacing. These results provide further support for the validity of reported mixed feelings and two-dimensional representations of pleasure and displeasure.