Emotional intensity: Some components and their relations to extra version and neuroticism

Several models of the relation between affect intensity or emotional intensity and temperament were tested in a large sample (N = 1553) using the Emotional Intensity Scale (EIS) developed by Bachorowski & Braaten (1994) and the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI). Analyses revealed the necessity of separating negative emotional intensity into an anger/frustration component and a non-anger (worry, guilt, sadness) component when examining how temperament variables like extraversion and neuroticism are related to emotional intensity. Implications of this distinction for models of emotional intensity are discussed. Results for intensity measures manifested a number of sharp contrasts with results found in other studies for frequency measures of positive and negative affect. The pattern of the relations between emotional intensity (both positive and negative) and neuroticism, found here, throws light on the basic nature of neuroticism.