A study explored the affective impact of interpersonal influence messages. Thirty-nine students enrolled in an undergraduate communication course listened to a tape-recording of 15 directives and rated each directive on explicitness or dominance. Results indicated that the set of stimuli tapped nearly the full range of both continua, and that the directives were distributed across each of the four conceptual quadrants formed by crossing explicitness and dominance. In a second study, 183 students answered a questionnaire to indicate valence and arousal, and listened to audiotapes about borrowing class notes to grade affect. Results indicated that the perceived legitimacy of a request had an effect; requests perceived as legitimate were responded to more positively and with less arousal than illegitimate requests. Results suggest that language bears a unique relationship to affect. These findings attest to the importance of a multidimensional assessment of directives (with implications for instruction). (Three tables of data and two figures are included; an appendix contains the stimulus situation.) (PRA)