Using multiple methods to study emotions: Self-reports, physiological indices, and interpretative issues

Abstract

Emotion is a multifaceted phenomenon, and its definition has long been controversial. The question of whether we measure what we want often arises in research practices. This paper discusses the complementary relationships between physiological and self-report measures in studying emotional phenomena and interpretative issues linking these measures to underlying psychological constructs. I begin by reviewing psychophysiological relationships based on the psychophysiological inference framework. I then discuss how findings based on self-reported measures and psychophysiological research can mutually support each other. However, collected data are often open to interpretation, such as naming a dimension where multiple labels are possible. Thus, questions such as what was measured and how we can interpret them arise. Such questions lead to further debate on the psychological constructs we want to measure, including emotions.