Feeling rules:Testing a model of appraisal—affect relations

The aim of this study was to test a model specifying the relations between appraisals and affects. A theory of the appraisal—affect relation is proposed in terms of general feeling rules differentiating between affects. A taxonomy of ten appraisals is presented, each defined by a specific profile of scores on four appraisal variables: desirability, controllability, responsibility, and the kind of value being at stake in an event. The appraisals are related to nine affect dimensions, resulting from earlier taxonomic research on the structure of affect (Hoekstra, 1986). All predictions following from the theory were tested in two independent samples by structural analysis. The model showed a good fit in both data sets