The Multidimensional Emotion Questionnaire (MEQ): Rationale and Initial Psychometric Properties

Emotion research would benefit from a self-report measure that assesses both discrete emotions and broad dimensions, takes into account the time-course of emotional experience, and distinguishes emotional reactivity and regulation. The present study describes the development and psychometric properties of the Multidimensional Emotion Questionnaire (MEQ), which was designed to address these needs. The MEQ assesses: (a) two superordinate dimensions of emotional reactivity (positive and negative), (b) three components of positive and negative emotional reactivity (frequency, intensity, and persistence), and (c) 10 discrete emotions (5 positive: happy, excited, enthusiastic, proud, inspired; 5 negative: sad, afraid, angry, ashamed, anxious). In addition, the MEQ assesses the ability to regulate these emotions. To investigate its psychometric properties, the MEQ was administered to a diverse sample of 309 United States adults (Study 1) along with established measures of emotional experience and regulation. The MEQ was also administered to a sample of 168 undergraduates (Study 2) to examine 3-week test-retest reliability. Results generally support the reliability and validity of the MEQ. Specifically, internal consistencies for all scales range from acceptable to excellent, confirmatory factor analyses support the hypothesized structure, and, with few exceptions, items exhibit hypothesized loadings, and scales exhibit hypothesized associations with each other and with other measures of emotional experience and regulation. In addition, the MEQ demonstrates strong test-retest reliability. The MEQ is likely to be of use to researchers interested in a detailed, reliable, and valid assessment of emotional experience.