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The Interface Between Core Affects and the Challenge–Skill Relationship

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Abstract

Different models have been developed to describe human experiences. One of these models is the core affect model, which states that the core of emotional experience is a simple state of feeling good or bad, energized or drowsy. Another model is the experience fluctuation model (EFM), which has been developed to map how emotions and other experiences fluctuate along with the relationship between challenges and skills. In this study, we first mathematically refined the EFM. Second, we tested if fluctuations in core affect could be modeled with a continuous wave-like sine function (Study 1). Third, we applied the sine function to our own experience-sampling data, which we collected via mobile phones from 55 university students, and located each challenge–skill relationship in a two-dimensional core affect space (Study 2). The results were consistent in both studies and showed that fluctuations in core affect dimensions, measured as a function of the relationship between challenges and skills, can be modeled with the sine function. The results also indicated that there is a systematic link between challenge–skill relationships and core affect: High challenge–high skill situations were connected to a very active and pleasant core affect, whereas high challenge–low skill situations were connected to a quite active but unpleasant core affect, low challenge–low skill situations to a very passive and unpleasant core affect, and low challenge–high skill situations to a quite passive and pleasant core affect. Compared to previous studies, this study presents a more fine-grained and comprehensive level of information on the relationship between core affect and challenges and skills.

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Acknowledgments

Contributions were made by all researchers. The study was partially funded by the RYM Indoor Environment 462054 of the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, and Academy of Finland 134931, 139128 (PI Salmela-Aro) and 121207 (PI Kai Hakkarainen), and the Jacobs Foundation (PI Salmela-Aro). We would like to thank several persons who have contributed to researching and developing the CASS and our study, including Annamari Heikkilä, Satu Jalonen, Kari Kosonen, Lasse Lipponen, Juha Linnanen, Kristian London, Visa Parviainen, Niclas Sandström, and Petri Vesikivi.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, Research Centre for Research and Development of Higher Education, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Mikko Inkinen

  2. Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, Research Group for Educational Psychology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Mikko Inkinen, Kirsti Lonka & Topi Litmanen

  3. Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Hanni Muukkonen

  4. Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Katariina Salmela-Aro

  5. Department of Education, University of Turku, Turku, Finland

    Kai Hakkarainen

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  1. Mikko Inkinen
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  2. Kirsti Lonka
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  4. Hanni Muukkonen
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  6. Katariina Salmela-Aro
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Correspondence to Mikko Inkinen.

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Inkinen, M., Lonka, K., Hakkarainen, K. et al. The Interface Between Core Affects and the Challenge–Skill Relationship. J Happiness Stud 15, 891–913 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-013-9455-6

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