Electron Affinity trends

Imagine an arrangement of atomic orbitals in an alternate universe, in which the s subshell contains 2 orbitals instead of 1, and the p subshell contains 4 orbitals rather than 3. In which groups would you expect the anomalously low electron affinities to occur?


My thoughts are groups 3 and 7, due to the fact that they are "one away" from filling up their subshell. The *groups* would look like:


s: \_ \_ \_ \_ ... p: \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_ \_


However, the answer says 4 and 8. Is there something I'm missing?


Edit: in terms of electron configuration blanks, it would be
s: \_ \_ ... p: \_ \_ \_ \_




After rediscovering my own question, I'm posting it as an answer for anyone else to reference or to correct.




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Electron affinity (EA) refers to "the energy released when an atom in the gas phase accepts an electron." (Burdge, *Atoms First*, p.118)


Lower EA means that the process of accepting an electron is **not** energetically favorable. In other words, lower EA = less likely to accept an electron. 




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Groups 4 and 8, in this case, already have filled subshells. Adding an electron would place it in a new subshell that is higher in energy. The EA would be lower for these groups because of the "reluctance" of the atom to accept an additional electron.


Groups 3 and 7 have the anomalously *high* EAs, which might have been where the confusion was.


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