FURTHER THOUGHTS ON THE VALIDITY OF MEASURES OF ELATION, GLADNESS, AND JOY

The construct validity of measures of elation, gladness, and joy are examined in a reanalysis of data originally published in de Rivera et al. Structural equation analyses revealed that the convergent validity of measures of gladness is not satisfactory, whereas it is mixed for measures of elation and joy. With respect to discriminant validity, the 3 emotions are shown to be distinct on the basis of a strict statistical interpretation. The disattenuated correlation between gladness and joy suggests that these emotions are quite similar from a practical standpoint. Responses of Ss could be explained by a model hypothesizing additive effects for affective status and the components underlying them. The findings are interpreted from the perspective of research on the categorization of emotions and the degree of shared reality-based expectations among measures of elation, gladness, and joy.