Support for Open Science Practices in Emotion Science: A Survey Study

So-called “open science practices” seek to improve research transparency and methodological rigor. What do emotion researchers think about these practices? To address this question, we surveyed active emotion researchers (N= 144) in October 2019 about their attitudes toward several open science practices. Overall, the majority of emotion researchers had positive attitudes toward open science practices and expressed a willingness to engage in such practices. Emotion researchers on average believed that replicability would improve by publishing more negative findings, by requiring open data and materials, and by conducting studies with larger sample sizes. Direct replications, multi-lab studies, and preregistration were all seen as beneficial to the replicability of emotion research. Emotion researchers believed that more direct replications would be conducted if replication studies would receive increased funding, more citations, and easier publication in high impact journals. Emotion researchers believed that preregistration would be stimulated by providing researchers with more information about its benefits and more guidance on its effective application. Overall, these findings point to considerable momentum with regard to open science among emotion researchers. This momentum may be leveraged to achieve a more robust emotion science.