Are discrete emotions goal-derived or taxonomic categories? A study based on Lexicon

Abstract

Since the notion of typicality (graded structure) was first proposed,several of its possible determinants have been identified. Moreover, the distinction between common taxonomic categories and goal-derived categories has been paralleled with a suggested difference in their respective sources of typicality ("central tendency" and "ideal"). Building on this, previous studies using face materials have found evidence for a goal-derived nature of typicality in the domain of facial expressions of emotion. The work presented is partly aimed at assessing the generality of these conclusions by resorting to emotion-words (vs. faces). On the other part, it purports to highlight the relations of "ideals" and "central tendency" to intensity as a major dimension of both felt and expressed emotions. Outcomes found point to a linear relation between intensity ratings and "typicality-as-ideal" in all cases, and to a differentiated pattem of relations between both and "central tendency" (indexed on the basis of a multidimensional scaling measure), varying across emotion categories