Differentiation of the Distributions of Inspiration and Positive Affect Across Days of the Week: An Application of Logistic Multilevel Modeling

Abstract Positive psychology has been a liberating force in that researchers have more freedom than ever before to investigate what is good and right about human functioning. However, with this increased freedom comes the responsibility to integrate new constructs and theories with, and differentiate them from, those established previously. In our research on inspiration, Andrew Elliot and I (Thrash & Elliot, 2003, 2004) have observed a relatively strong relationship between inspiration and the established construct of activated positive affect (PA; Watson, Wiese, Vaidya, & Tellegen, 1999). Accordingly, we have sought and presented evidence that inspiration is distinct from activated PA. Inspiration has unique correlates (Thrash & Elliot, 2003, 2004), antecedents (Thrash & Elliot, 2004), and consequences (Thrash & Elliot, 2003). The substantive aim of this chapter is to provide additional evidence of the discriminant validity of inspiration and activated PA by documenting different distributions of the two states across days of the week.