Assessment of activation, intensity and duration of positive and negative emotions: psychometric properties of the Polish version of the Perth Emotional Reactivity Scale – Short Form

Abstract

BackgroundThe Perth Emotional Reactivity Scale – Short Form (PERS-S) is an 18-item self-report questionnaire that assesses emo-tional reactivity. The PERS-S measures activation, intensity, and duration of negative and positive emotions. The study aims to validate the Polish version of the PERS-S.Participants and procedureThe study was performed on a sample of 675 people aged 18-80 (M = 28.88, SD = 13.17, 56.15% female). The factor structure and measurement invariance across gender, age and educational categories were verified with confirmato-ry factor analysis. Convergent and divergent validity were assessed based on the relationship between the PERS-S scale and the Emotional Reactivity scale taken from the Formal Characteristics of Behaviour–Temperament Invento-ry, the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, the Perceived Stress Scale, the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale and the Subjective Vitality Scale.ResultsThe intended 6-factor model was an excellent fit for the data (CFI = .963; TLI = .953; RMSEA = .053, 90% CI [.046; .061]; SRMR = .057) and was invariant across gender, educational level and age groups. All PERS-S subscales corre-lated with another emotional reactivity questionnaire, stress, emotion regulation strategies, well-being and vitality as expected. The reliability was high for all subscales (α > .70); it was slightly lower only for the positive-activation sub-scale (α = .68). Due to gender differences in emotional reactivity traits, group norms (sten scale) were calculated sep-arately for females and males.ConclusionsThe Polish version of the PERS-S has strong psychometric properties. Its practical applications are discussed.