Validation of the italian translation of the affective neuroscience personality scales

The theoretical perspective on aff ective neuroscience advanced by Panksepp, identifi ed six basic innate aff ective systems: the SEEK, FEAR, ANGER, SADNESS, PLAY, and CARE systems. 3 It has been proposed that the fundamental elements of human personality and its variants may be based on the diff erent expressions of these basic emotional systems and their combinations. A self-report inventory, the Aff ective Neuroscience Personality Scales (ANPS), has been devised with the aim of studying and evaluating personality from this perspective. This study reports data on the initial validation of ANPS Italian translation on a sample of 418 adult participants. Descriptive statistics for each scale were calculated, assessing also their internal consistency, as a measure of reliability and factorial validity. Acceptable internal consistency was found in all but one scale (SADNESS), and a second-order factor analysis identifi ed a more general aff ective feature of personality hinging on relational characteristics, independent of the dimensions of general positive and negative aff ect.