Affective dimensions of COPE cards: Preliminary evidence of the affective ratings of valence, arousal and dominance of associative cards for psychotherapeutic purposes

COPE cards are 88 therapeutic associative cards (7 cm × 10 cm) with evocative art works, which were utilized in the last two decades both in clinical and community settings. Although some evidence exists regarding the impact of cards integration in psychotherapy and experimental settings, it is unknown whether the therapeutic cards can induce distinct affective states in the observer. The aim of the study was to establish affective ratings of the COPE cards. Participants of the study (N = 100) were undergraduates (71% females) who were exposed to each of the cards for 6 s, and were asked to rate their affective state according to the Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) rating system. Results indicated that the cards produced significantly different affective states among the participants. Arousal induced by the image negatively correlated with image' valence (r = −0.71, p < 0.001) and dominance (r = −0.73, p < 0.001), while image' valence and dominance were highly correlated (r = 95, p < 0.001). Furthermore, cluster analysis results suggest potential subdivisions of the COPE cards, with practical implications for practitioners. This study is the first to present the affective states evoked by therapeutic cards. Practical implications for therapeutic cards integration in clinical and experimental settings are suggested and discussed.