Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), In General (Trait Affect)
The 20-item Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, framed as a trait measure: read each word and indicate to what extent you generally feel this way, on average, in your life. Ten words measure Positive Affect (e.g., enthusiasm, alertness, energy) and ten measure Negative Affect (e.g., distress, fear, irritability). Rate each from "Very slightly or not at all" to "Extremely."
Rate how you generally feel across 20 mood adjectives—Positive Affect and Negative Affect scored separately.
You learn the balance of positive and negative feelings you usually have.
For anyone who wants to see their usual emotional tone over time.
Pay $5 before you start. The full report and PDF are included.
Your answers stay private.
It comes from emotion research on lasting levels of positive and negative feeling.
What this test is
Welcome. The 20-item Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, framed as a trait measure: read each word and indicate to what extent you generally feel this way, on average, in your life. Ten words measure Positive Affect (e.g., enthusiasm, alertness, energy) and ten measure Negative Affect (e.g., distress, fear, irritability). Rate each from "Very slightly or not at all" to "Extremely."
Rate how you generally feel across 20 mood adjectives—Positive Affect and Negative Affect scored separately.
The measure
The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), In General (Trait Affect) was developed by Watson and colleagues (1988). It has 20 items, each answered on a 5-point (Very slightly or not at all … Extremely) scale. Its scores cover Positive Affect and Negative Affect.
Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063–1070.
At a glance
What it measures
Twenty emotion words are rated by how much a person generally feels each one, on average. Ten form the positive affect scale, describing a habitual tendency toward energy, interest and enthusiasm: interested, excited, strong, enthusiastic, proud, alert, inspired, determined, attentive and active. Ten form the negative affect scale, describing a habitual tendency toward distress: distressed, upset, guilty, scared, hostile, irritable, ashamed, nervous, jittery and afraid.
Watson and Tellegen (1985) proposed that mood is organized around two largely independent dimensions, and Watson, Clark and Tellegen (1988) developed the schedule to measure them. Asked about in general, the two dimensions behave as stable traits that relate closely to Extraversion and Neuroticism, the two broad personality domains most concerned with emotion.
Each dimension is scored from its ten words. Higher trait positive affect describes a typical life rich in energy and engagement; higher trait negative affect describes a typical life with more frequent distress, worry and irritability. The two scores are read together, since they are largely independent: high levels of both, for example, describe an emotionally intense life.
The trait form is used in research on personality, well-being and psychopathology, where low positive affect is particularly associated with depression and high negative affect with both anxiety and depression (Clark and Watson, 1991). On this site, the PANAS right-now form describes momentary affect, the Mini-IPIP describes Extraversion and Neuroticism directly, and the WHO-5 Well-Being Index measures recent well-being.
Nomological network
PA and NA were largely uncorrelated with each other. Factorially, two dimensions accounted for virtually all common variance among the 20 descriptors (≈ 87–96% across instruction sets), with items loading ≥ .50 on the intended factor (Watson et al., 1988). Convergently, PANAS PA and NA correlated .89–.95 with corresponding regression-based affect factor scores; discriminantly, cross-correlations were only −.02 to −.18 (Watson et al., 1988). Externally, the scales show the expected nomological pattern with related mood and distress constructs while remaining distinct from each other—supporting PA and NA as separate dimensions rather than opposite poles of one bipolar happiness continuum. Trait instructions show substantial retest stability appropriate to dispositional affect (Watson et al., 1988).
Validity evidence
The two-factor structure is robust across instruction sets and is replicated across diverse adult populations.
Subscales
Positive Affect 10 items
how much you feel enthusiasm, alertness, and energy
Negative Affect 10 items
how much you feel distress and unpleasant emotion
Example item
“Interested”
Illustrative only. During administration items are presented one screen-set at a time; response-key direction is never shown to respondents.
Scoring & interpretation
Your report explains each of your scale scores in plain language.
Related measures
Common questions
Trait vs state?
This page uses the general/trait instruction. A separate panas-state page uses momentary instructions; both use the same 20 adjectives (Watson et al., 1988).
Is there a total mood score?
No. PA and NA are separate 10-item scales, largely uncorrelated (Watson et al., 1988).
References
- Watson, D., Clark, L. A., & Tellegen, A. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(6), 1063–1070.
- Crawford, J. R., & Henry, J. D. (2004). The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS): Construct validity, measurement properties and normative data in a large non-clinical sample. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 43(3), 245-265.
- Watson, D., & Clark, L. A. (1994). The PANAS-X: Manual for the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule — Expanded Form. University of Iowa.
Sample report preview
The report opens with a profile of your scores on each of the 2 scales (Positive Affect and Negative Affect), drawn on a common scale so the highest and lowest areas stand out. Each one then receives a short plain-language explanation of what a higher or lower standing describes. It closes with guidance on reading the results and on the limits of self-report.
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Subscale scores | Your score on each of the 2 subscales. |
| Comparisons | How your scores compare with a published comparison group. |
The test and full report with a downloadable copy are $5.
How would you like to use it?
For yourself
Take it yourself and receive a written score report you can download as a PDF. When you are signed in, your results are saved so you can retake it later and follow how your scores change over time.
For researchers
Sign up as an Implicitify researcher to use the full suite of measures in your studies, or pay for each test you give. Research pricing is still being set, so we will confirm it with you when you get in touch.
Become a researcherFor clinicians
Open a clinician account to send this measure to your clients or patients through a secure link and review their scored results in one place.
Create a clinician accountAlready have an account? Go to your clinician dashboard.For educators
Use our measures in your courses to show students how psychological assessment works and to teach the principles of testing.
Request course accessRelated tests
Interpersonal Circumplex – 32 ItemMeasures your interpersonal style across eight blends of warmth and dominance.$6
Defense Mechanism QuestionnaireMeasures the habitual ways you protect yourself from stress and painful feelings, from mature to immature.$6
Behavioral Inhibition and Activation ScalesMeasures sensitivity to punishment (behavioral inhibition) and to reward (behavioral activation).$6
Character Strengths InventoryMeasures twenty-four character strengths, such as curiosity, kindness, and perseverance.$6