A topic of much interest in personality psychology is determining which constructs are related to the experience of positive and negative affect. A recent study appearing in Personality and Individual Differences suggests that individual differences in Sensitivity to Reward (SR) and Sensitivity to Punishment (SP) are relevant to affective experience in daily life. It is thought that SR is related to the neurobehavioral reward system, whereas SP is thought to be based in neurobehavioral systems that are sensitive to threat and conflict. In an experience sampling study in which undergraduate participants completed reports of positive and negative affect 8 times per day for one week, it was determined that SR was associated with high positive affect and irritability/anger, whereas SP was associated with high negative affect and low positive affect.

Hundt, N. E., Brown, L. H., Kimbrel, N. A., Walsh, M. A., Nelson-Gray, R., & Kwapil, T. R. (2013). Reinforcement sensitivity theory predicts positive and negative affect in daily life. Personality and Individual Differences , 54(3), 350-354. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2012.09.021

The Personality Project

How are positive and negative affect related to neurobehavioral reward systems?