valence

Meaning: Valence is the positive or negative quality of an emotion or of a stimulus, meaning how pleasant or unpleasant it feels, or how attractive or aversive it is. Joy and contentment have positive valence. Fear, anger, disgust and sadness have negative valence. Valence is separate from arousal, which is the intensity or activation level of the emotion. Stimuli with positive valence generally prompt approach, and those with negative valence generally prompt avoidance.

On the MCAT: A question may ask you to classify emotions or reactions by valence, or to separate valence from intensity. A typical passage has participants rate images on a pleasant-to-unpleasant scale and on a calm-to-excited scale, then asks which dimension a result reflects. You may also predict approach versus avoidance from the valence of a stimulus. Some emotions, such as surprise, can be positive or negative depending on context.

Common confusion: Negative valence does not mean low intensity, and positive valence does not mean high intensity. Fear and anger are both negative and high in arousal, sadness is negative with lower arousal, and excitement and contentment are both positive but differ in arousal. Negative valence is also not the same as negative reinforcement or punishment, which are learning terms about the consequences of behavior.