Measuring emotional contagion as a multidimensional construct: the development and initial validation of the contagion of affective phenomena scales

Figures & data

Table 1. Frequency analysis of factor overall face validity.

Factor (items)			Ratings
	Mean	SD	Lowest	Highest
Anger (6)	4.04	0.61	3.57	4.86
Disgust (3)	3.71	0.14	3.57	3.86
Fear (4)	4.36	0.18	4.14	4.57
Anxiety (6)	4.06	0.46	3.29	4.43
Sadness (7)	3.97	0.62	3.29	4.71
Excitement (5)	3.64	0.18	3.43	3.86
Happiness (7)	4.06	0.33	3.71	4.57
General Susceptibility (8)	4.18	0.29	3.86	4.71

Table 2. Study 1 items retained after content validity assessment.

Items
(1) I feel stirred when those around me are angry. (A1)
(2) It irritates me to be around angry people. (A2)
(3) I notice myself getting tense when I’m around people who are stressed out. (A3)
(4) I experience feelings of frustration if others around me seem to be frustrated. (A4)
(5) When someone around me is angry, I also feel angry. (A5)
(6) I get provoked by someone else’s anger. (A6)
(7) I am influenced by others’ disgust. (D1)
(8) I feel sickened when other people are repulsed. (D2)
(9) When I see others treated poorly, I share their disgust. (D3)
(10) I feel swayed by others fear. (F1)
(11) I become nervous if others around me seem to be nervous. (F2)
(12) When I see people around me who are scared, I become scared. (F3)
(13) When I see someone who is scared, I share their fear. (F4)
(14) I am disturbed by others’ anxiety. (AX1)
(15) I experience panic when I see others who are scared. (AX2)
(16) It fills me with dread when other people are anxious. (AX3)
(17) My anxiety escalates when those around me are worried. (AX4)
(18) I feel tense when those around me are worrying about something. (AX5)
(19) I am able to remain calm even when those around me worry. (AX6R)
(20) I am moved when I see sadness in those I interact with. (S1)
(21) I cannot continue to feel okay if people around me are depressed. (S2)
(22) I become sad when other people are sad. (S3)
(23) When I am happy it does not take much to bring me down. (S4)
(24) When I see other people down it brings me down too. (S5)
(25) When watching films, I get sad when I see sad things. (S6)
(26) I often cry at sad films. (S7)
(27) I get infected by excitement in others. (EX1)
(28) I often find that I can remain cool in spite of excitement around me. (EX2R)
(29) I feel excited if others around me appear to be excited. (EX3)
(30) I get excited when someone receives exciting news. (EX4)
(31) When watching films, I get excited when I see exciting things. (EX4)
(32) When people around me are buzzing with excitement, I get excited too. (EX5)
(33) Others happiness makes an impression on me. (H1)
(34) Being with a happy person picks me up when I’m feeling down. (H2)
(35) When someone smiles warmly at me, I smile back and feel warm inside. (H3)
(36) Being around happy people fills my mind with happy thoughts. (H4)
(37) I experience feelings of happiness if others around me seem to be happy. (H5)
(38) It makes me delighted when other people are happy. (H6)
(39) When I am in a bad mood, a smile or joke can really cheer me up. (H7)
(40) My emotions are connected to those of the group. (G1)
(41) The people around me have a great influence on my moods. (G2)
(42) Other people’s emotions impact my own emotions. (G3)
(43) The way others feel has no relation to my own feelings. (G4R)
(44) I get influenced by other people’s emotions. (G5)
(45) When I am in groups, I am infected by the mood of the group. (G6)
(46) When watching films, I am moved by emotional scenes. (G7)
(47) The emotions of those I interact with influence me. (G8)

Table 3. Summary of fit statistics for alternative models of CAPS-E.

Model	χ^2	df	CFI	TLI	RMSEA	SRMR
Study 2 (n=455)
First-order one-factor	2153.36	189	.50	.45	.15	.14
First-order six-factor	391.02	174	.95	.93	.05	.05
Higher order two-factor (positive and negative emotions)	973.10	188	.80	.78	.10	.09
Study 2b (n=567)
First-order one-factor	1246.01	188	.57	.52	.13	.12
First-order six-factor	565.73	174	.94	.93	.06	.05
Higher order two-factor (positive and negative emotions)	621.50	188	.82	.80	.09	.08
Study 3 (n = 315)
First-order six-factor	366.75	174	.92	.90	.06	.06
Study 4 (n = 200)
First-order six-factor	453.72	174	.90	.88	.09	.07

Table 4. Model fit statistics for unidimensional CAPS-G.

Model	χ^2	df	CFI	TLI	RMSEA	SRMR
Study 2a (n=455)	7.92	5	.99	.99	.04	.02
Study 2b (n=567)	52.54	5	.97	.94	.13	.03
Study 3 (n = 315)	7.92	5	1.00	.99	.04	.99
Study 4 (n = 200)	50.71	5	.92	.83	.21	.05

Figure 1. The six-factor measurement model confirmed with ESEM in study 3.

Table 5. Means, SD and inter-correlations between CAPS and concurrent measures of contagion.

		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Mean	SD
1	CAPS-E	(.90)										2.89	0.46
2	Anger	.63**	(.74)									2.72	0.67
3	Fear	.71**	.39**	(.86)								2.37	0.69
4	Anxiety	.76**	.40**	.69**	(.87)							2.34	0.72
5	Sadness	.71**	.37**	.38**	.46**	(.81)						3.00	0.73
6	Excitement	.64**	.23**	.20**	.26**	.32**	(.86)					3.47	0.65
7	Happiness	.62**	.18**	.18**	.22**	.33**	.67**	(.82)				3.47	0.64
8	CAPS-G	.60**	.60**	.43**	.42**	.49**	.30**	.35**	(.89)			2.98	0.67
9	ECS	.68**	.41**	.41**	.42**	.54**	.50**	.49**	.49**	(.83)		2.93	0.56
10	MET – EC	.12*	.14*	.08	.09	.13	.01	.03	.05	.12*	(.56)	3.12	0.33

*p < .05, ** p < .001, reliability scores in brackets.

Table 6. Summary of variables predicting performance (study 4).

		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Mean	SD
1	CAPS-E											3.10	0.67
2	Anger	.75**										3.03	0.94
3	Fear	.72**	.61*									2.57	0.94
4	Anxiety	.74**	.50*	.80**								2.56	1.00
5	Sadness	.79**	.50*	.44**	.47**							3.19	0.87
6	Excitement	.70**	.42**	.15*	.20**	.60**						3.49	0.86
7	Happiness	.70**	.36**	.19**	.23**	.51**	.69**					3.62	0.91
8	CAPS-G	.74**	.50**	.52**	.52**	.64**	.53**	.55**				3.10	0.78
9	Emotional intelligence	−.15*	−.13	−.41**	−.46**	−.01	.15*	.20**	−.13			4.70	1.43
10	Performance	−.33**	−.29**	−.41**	−.40**	−.23**	−.06	−.09	−.30**	.39**		3.55	1.07

*p < .05, ** p < .001.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are publicly available at https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/U3P8A