These include: Tension or Anxiety, Anger or Hostility, Vigor or Activity, Fatigue or Inertia, Depression or Dejection, Confusion or Bewilderment.
A five-point scale ranging from "not at all" to "extremely" is administered by experimenters to patients to assess their mood states.
With creating this scale, McNair and his colleagues came up with six distinct dimensions of mood swings that anyone can experience over time; Tension or Anxiety, Depression or Dejection, Anger or Hostility, Vigor or Activity, Fatigue or Inertia, and Confusion or Bewilderment.
[citation needed] This scale was the only in existence until 1983 when S. Shacham created the POMS-SF, a more concise version of McNair's original creation.
Composed of only 37 questions, the shortened version still could produce significant results for participants while dramatically cutting down on the time it took to take the test.
These include: Tension or Anxiety, Anger or Hostility, Vigor or Activity, Fatigue or Inertia, Depression or Dejection, Confusion or Bewilderment.