Positive and Negative Affect Schedule

The PANAS consists of two 10-item scales to measure both positive and negative affect. Each item is rated on a 5-point scale of 1 (very slightly or not at all) to 5 (extremely).

Positive Affect Score: Add the scores on items 1, 3, 5, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17, and 19. Scores can range from 10 – 50, with higher scores representing higher levels of positive affect.

Negative Affect Score: Add the scores on items 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 13, 15, 18, and 20. Scores can range from 10 – 50, with lower scores representing lower levels of negative affect.

Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS) Scale Means and Standard Deviations for 'Past few days' Rated Time Frame

Positive Affect Score: Higher scores represent higher levels of positive affect.

Negative Affect Score: Lower scores represent lower levels of negative affect.

The purpose of the evaluation is to:

As is true of any self-report instrument, respondents can consciously distort their response to the scale if they are motivated to do so.

When used with short-term instructions (e.g., right now or today), the PANAS scales are sensitive to fluctuations in mood, whereas they exhibit traitlike stability when longer-term instructions are used (e.g., past year or general)