Figure 2. The PANAS captures two independent dimensions of Positive Affect (PA) and Negative Affect (NA).

(Figure based on [32]). In this circumplex model of affective space, they fall between the Pleasantness and Arousal spectra, two dimensions which are orthogonal themselves. The PANAS scales emerge after rotation of these two factors. The correlation between the PA and NA scales is low enough to suggest relative independence when taking the measurement error into account.