Cross-cultural validation of the "International affective picture system" (IAPS) on a sample from Bosnia and Herzegovina

In this study the normative ratings of the International Affective Picture System (IAPS, Center for the Study of Emotion and Attention [CSEA], 1995) were compared with the ratings from a Bosnian sample. Seventy-two psychology undergraduates from the University of Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina) rated valence, dominance and arousal for a stratified sample of 60 pictures that was selected from the IAPS. Reliability coefficients indicate that the self-report ratings are internally consistent. The affective ratings from our sample correlated strongly with the North American ratings at: .95, .81 and .91, respectively for valence, arousal and dominance. Consistent with expectations, mean valence and dominance ratings did not differ significantly between the Bosnian and North American sample. Furthermore, plotting of the Bosnian valence and arousal ratings results in a similar boomerang shaped distribution as the North American affective ratings. Taken together, findings obtained from the Bosnian sample confirm the cross-cultural validity of the IAPS.