The purpose of the study was, first, to identify the strategies people use when imagining different emotions, and secondly, to test the hypothesis that persons high in role-playing (acting) ability are better able to become ideationally involved in emotional situations than are persons low in role-playing ability. Seventy-two female subjects, preselected on role-playing ability, were asked to imagine situations of fear, sadness, anger, and joy. Emotional involvement was assessed through self-reports and physiological responses. Situations of sadness were the easiest to imagine, followed by anger, joy, and fear. Although there were some commonalities in the strategies subjects used to become involved, there also were significant differences as a function of the particular emotion imagined. Finally, good role-players showed greater physiological reactivity during emotional imagery than did poor role-players.
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