Comment: Affective Chronometry Has Come of Age

Abstract

The articles in this special section attest to the vibrancy of research on affective dynamics. In this article, I raise a number of fundamental questions about affective chronometry that remain unanswered and largely unasked. These questions are: (a) What is the relation between the time course of positive and negative affect?; (b) What is the relation among measures that operate at different time scales?; (c) What underlies the duration of subjectively experienced emotion?; (d) Which parameters of affective chronometry matter most for psychological and physical health and well-being?; and (e) Which interventions might specifically relieve suffering and promote well-being via impact on affective chronometry? The article concludes with some recommendations for future research in this area.