The referential structure of the affective lexicon

Andrew Ortony; Gerald L. Clore; Mark A. Foss

doi:10.1016/S0364-0213(87)80010-1

The referential structure of the affective lexicon

Andrew Ortony^*, Gerald L. Clore, Mark A. Foss

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Education and Social Policy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

305 Scopus citations

Abstract

A set of approximately 500 words taken from the literature on emotion was examined. The overall goal was to develop a comprehensive taxonomy of the affective lexicon, with special attention being devoted to the isolation of terms that refer to emotions. Within the taxonomy we propose, the best examples of emotion terms appear to be those that (a) refer to internal, mental conditions as opposed to physical or external ones, (b) are clear cases of stares, and (c) have affect as opposed to behavior or cognition as a predominant (rather than incidental) referential focus. Relaxing one or another of these constraints yields poorer examples or nonexamples of emotions; however, this gradedness is not taken as evidence that emotions necessarily defy classical definition.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	341-364
Number of pages	24
Journal	Cognitive Science
Volume	11
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/S0364-0213(87)80010-1
State	Published - 1987

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive Neuroscience
Artificial Intelligence

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title = "The referential structure of the affective lexicon",

abstract = "A set of approximately 500 words taken from the literature on emotion was examined. The overall goal was to develop a comprehensive taxonomy of the affective lexicon, with special attention being devoted to the isolation of terms that refer to emotions. Within the taxonomy we propose, the best examples of emotion terms appear to be those that (a) refer to internal, mental conditions as opposed to physical or external ones, (b) are clear cases of stares, and (c) have affect as opposed to behavior or cognition as a predominant (rather than incidental) referential focus. Relaxing one or another of these constraints yields poorer examples or nonexamples of emotions; however, this gradedness is not taken as evidence that emotions necessarily defy classical definition.",

author = "Andrew Ortony and Clore, {Gerald L.} and Foss, {Mark A.}",

note = "Funding Information: The work in the report was supported in part by a grant from the National Science Founda-tion, BNS 83-18077. awarded to the first two authors at the University of Illinois, in part by the Computing Research Laboratory of New Mexico State University, and in part by a grant from the National Institute of Education under Contract No. 400-81-0030, awarded to the Center for the Study of Reading at the University of Illinois. We wish to thank Georgia Green, Jerry Morgan, Bill Nagy. and Yorick Wilks for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this report. Particular thanks are due to Terence J. Turner for his tireless assistance during the past several years in which we have been engaged in this research. Correspondence and requests for reprints should be sent to Andrew Ortony, Center for the Study of Reading, University of Illinois, 51 Gerty Drive, Champaign, IL 61820.",

year = "1987",

doi = "10.1016/S0364-0213(87)80010-1",

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The referential structure of the affective lexicon

Abstract

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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