Traditional self-report measures suffer from weaknesses in either the quantitative or qualitative assessment of subjective experience. Researchers interested in the subjective intensity of oral sensation have attempted to reduce these scale limitations by developing rating scales with empirically determined placement of verbal descriptors along a continuous visual analogue scale continuum. In the present research, a similar empirical approach to scale construction was adopted to develop a rating scale of emotional valence. The potential benefits of using an empirically derived valence scale and techniques for validating the scale are discussed.