Culture, gender, and the bipolarity of momentary affect Michelle Yik The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong This study examined if the relation between momentary positive and negative affect varies with culture and gender. In eight samples covering five languages (English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean) with 3084 respondents (1305 males and 1779 females), I tested this proposal through structural equation models that controlled for random and systematic errors of measurement. In all eight samples, female respondents yielded a more negative correlation between positive and negative affect than did male respondents, but the differences were tiny and only two were statistically significant. In a multi-sample confirmatory factor analysis, the correlation was found to be substantial and negative in all five languages (Fs ranging from  /.80 to  /.91). All values from the total samples and from males and females separately were consistent with the bipolarity of positive and negative affect. Are positive affect (PA) and negative affect (NA) polar opposites, or are they independent of, or even positively correlated with, each other? This question has vexed psychologists for half a century and its resolution touches on issues such as what strategies to use to attenuate the impact of negative affect, to enhance emotional well-being, and to cope with adversities (Diener, Smith, & Fujita, 1995; Frederickson, 2001; Spiegel, 1998). In this paper, I focus on the bipolarity of experienced momentary affect. By momentary affect, I have in mind subjective feelings and moods that are experienced in athin slice of time. By bipolarity, I mean that PA and NA are oppositely scored aspects of the same underlying variable (valence). Ordinarily, most people think that bipolarity predicts a correlation of  /1.00 between two bipolar variables, but Russell and Carroll (1999) showed that this is not always so. Even when random and systematic errors are Correspondence should be addressed to Michelle Yik, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Division of Social Science, Clear Water Bay, Kowloon, Hong Kong. E-mail: Michelle.Yik@ust.hk This research was supported by RGC Direct Allocation Grants (DAG02/03.HSS14 and DAG03/04.HSS14). I thank the reviewers for their comments on the earlier drafts. I also thank Virginia Unkefer and Raymond Wong for their help in preparing this article. COGNITION AND EMOTION 2007, 21 (3), 664  680 # 2007 Psychology Press, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an Informabusiness www.psypress.com/cogemotion DOI: 10.1080/02699930600823702 This is the Pre-Published Version