modified Differential Emotions Scale.
mDES
Frequency of 10 positive and 10 negative discrete emotions over a recent period; used to compute the positivity ratio (positive-to-negative emotion balance) in Fredrickson's broaden-and-build research.
- Length and format
- 20 (commonly; some versions list ~37 emotion terms). 5-pt frequency (0 not at all - 4 extremely / most of the time) (self-report questionnaire)
- Language versions
- Many language adaptations (ES, ZH, PT and others)
- Licence
- open with attribution
Licence classification is a research judgement by the catalogue’s authors, not legal advice, and it can be out of date. Confirm terms with the copyright holder or publisher before using an instrument, especially for commercial use.
- Reference
- Fredrickson, B. L. (2003). Positive emotions and upward spirals in organizations. In Cameron, Dutton & Quinn (Eds.), Positive Organizational Scholarship. (mDES; see also Fredrickson & Losada 2005.)
Measures you can take in wellbeing and positive psychology
These are measures in the same field, which you can take here. This entry does not describe them.
More in Wellbeing and positive psychology
- SWLS - Satisfaction With Life Scale
5 items. public-domain / open.
- WHO-5 Well-Being Index
5 items. public-domain / open.
- AFM-2 - Affectometer 2
40 (20 sentence items and 20 adjective items); a 5-item short form exists. open with attribution.
- AHI - Authentic Happiness Inventory
24 items. open with attribution.
- AWE-S - Awe Experience Scale
30 items. open with attribution.
- BNSG-S / BPNS - Basic Need Satisfaction in General Scale
21 items. open with attribution.
Use this instrument with your own participants
Research Seat is our white-label assessment platform for research teams and academics: we host and deliver an instrument under your branding, score it, and hand back the data. Whether we can deliver this particular one depends on its licence, which here is open with attribution. Tell us what you are measuring and we will say what is possible.