Affect heuristic
Encyclopedia
The affect heuristic is a heuristic
in which current affect
influences decisions. Simply put, it is a "rule of thumb" instead of a deliberative decision. It is one of the ways in which human beings show bias
in making a decision, which may cause them to take action that is contrary to logic or self-interest.
", in this context, is simply a feeling
—fear
, pleasure
, surprise
, etc. It is shorter in duration than a mood, occurring rapidly and involuntarily in response to a stimulus
. Reading the words "lung cancer" usually generates an affect of dread, while reading the words "mother's love" usually generates an affect of affection
and comfort. For the purposes of the psychological heuristic, affect is often judged on a simple diametric scale of "good" or "bad".
The theory
of affect heuristic is that a human being's affect can influence their decision-making. The affect heuristic got recent attention when it was used to explain the unexpected negative correlation between benefit and risk perception
. Melissa Finucane and others theorised in 2000 that a good feeling towards a situation (i.e., positive affect) would lead to a lower risk perception and a higher benefit perception, even when this is logically not warranted for that situation. This implies that a strong emotional response to a word or other stimulus might alter a person's judgment
. He or she might make different decisions based on the same set of facts and might thus make an illogical decision. For example, in a blind taste test
, a man might like Mirelli Beer better than Saddle Sweat Beer; however, if he has a strong gender
identification, an advertisement touting Saddle Sweat as "a real man's brew" might cause him to prefer Saddle Sweat. Positive affect related to gender pride biases his decision sufficiently to overcome his cognitive judgment.
Another common situation involving affect heuristic is where a strong, emotional first impression can inform a decision, even if subsequent facts weigh cognitively against the decisions. Someone seeing a house from the street might decide to buy it immediately upon seeing it, based on the strength of the emotional response to its eye appeal. This can be true even if subsequent inspection shows that it is inferior to another house that is even more charming from the street, but which the potential buyer first encountered by entering through its back door into a rather shabby kitchen.
The affect heuristic is of influence in nearly every decision-making arena.
face, a frown
ing face, or a neutral geometric shape. The subject was then shown a Chinese character
and asked how he or she liked it. The test subjects preferred the characters they saw after the smiling face, even though the smiling face was shown only for of a second, and the subject did not recall seeing it.
The same experiment demonstrated the persistence of initial affect. The testers showed the subjects the same characters, but preceded by a different face. The subjects significantly tended to prefer the characters based on the first association, even where the second exposure was preceded by a different affective stimulus. That is, if a subject liked a character following exposure to a smiling face, he would continue to like the character even when it was preceded by a frowning face. (The experimental outcome was statistically significant and adjusted for variables such as non-affective preference for certain characters.)
However, in spite of its intuitive appeal and a large number of indirect empirical findings supporting the affect heuristic (such as the experiment above), conclusive evidence proving the theoretical ideas posed in the affect heuristic has not been forthcoming as of yet.
Heuristic
Heuristic refers to experience-based techniques for problem solving, learning, and discovery. Heuristic methods are used to speed up the process of finding a satisfactory solution, where an exhaustive search is impractical...
in which current affect
Affect (psychology)
Affect refers to the experience of feeling or emotion. Affect is a key part of the process of an organism's interaction with stimuli. The word also refers sometimes to affect display, which is "a facial, vocal, or gestural behavior that serves as an indicator of affect" .The affective domain...
influences decisions. Simply put, it is a "rule of thumb" instead of a deliberative decision. It is one of the ways in which human beings show bias
Bias
Bias is an inclination to present or hold a partial perspective at the expense of alternatives. Bias can come in many forms.-In judgement and decision making:...
in making a decision, which may cause them to take action that is contrary to logic or self-interest.
Concept
"AffectAffect (psychology)
Affect refers to the experience of feeling or emotion. Affect is a key part of the process of an organism's interaction with stimuli. The word also refers sometimes to affect display, which is "a facial, vocal, or gestural behavior that serves as an indicator of affect" .The affective domain...
", in this context, is simply a feeling
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
—fear
Fear
Fear is a distressing negative sensation induced by a perceived threat. It is a basic survival mechanism occurring in response to a specific stimulus, such as pain or the threat of danger...
, pleasure
Pleasure
Pleasure describes the broad class of mental states that humans and other animals experience as positive, enjoyable, or worth seeking. It includes more specific mental states such as happiness, entertainment, enjoyment, ecstasy, and euphoria...
, surprise
Surprise (emotion)
Surprise is a brief emotional state experienced as the result of an unexpected event. Surprise can have any valence; that is, it can be neutral/moderate, pleasant, or unpleasant. If a person experiences a very powerful or long lasting surprise, it may be considered shock.-Reality...
, etc. It is shorter in duration than a mood, occurring rapidly and involuntarily in response to a stimulus
Stimulation
Stimulation is the action of various agents on nerves, muscles, or a sensory end organ, by which activity is evoked; especially, the nervous impulse produced by various agents on nerves, or a sensory end organ, by which the part connected with the nerve is thrown into a state of activity.The word...
. Reading the words "lung cancer" usually generates an affect of dread, while reading the words "mother's love" usually generates an affect of affection
Affection
Affection or fondness is a "disposition or rare state of mind or body" that is often associated with a feeling or type of love. It has given rise to a number of branches of philosophy and psychology concerning: emotion ; disease; influence; state of being ; and state of mind...
and comfort. For the purposes of the psychological heuristic, affect is often judged on a simple diametric scale of "good" or "bad".
The theory
Theory
The English word theory was derived from a technical term in Ancient Greek philosophy. The word theoria, , meant "a looking at, viewing, beholding", and referring to contemplation or speculation, as opposed to action...
of affect heuristic is that a human being's affect can influence their decision-making. The affect heuristic got recent attention when it was used to explain the unexpected negative correlation between benefit and risk perception
Risk perception
Risk perception is the subjective judgment that people make about the characteristics and severity of a risk. The phrase is most commonly used in reference to natural hazards and threats to the environment or health, such as nuclear power. Several theories have been proposed to explain why...
. Melissa Finucane and others theorised in 2000 that a good feeling towards a situation (i.e., positive affect) would lead to a lower risk perception and a higher benefit perception, even when this is logically not warranted for that situation. This implies that a strong emotional response to a word or other stimulus might alter a person's judgment
Judgment
A judgment , in a legal context, is synonymous with the formal decision made by a court following a lawsuit. At the same time the court may also make a range of court orders, such as imposing a sentence upon a guilty defendant in a criminal matter, or providing a remedy for the plaintiff in a civil...
. He or she might make different decisions based on the same set of facts and might thus make an illogical decision. For example, in a blind taste test
Blind taste test
In marketing, a blind taste test is often used as a tool for companies to compare their brand to another brand. For example, the Pepsi Challenge is a famous taste test that has been run by Pepsi since 1975 as a method to show their superiority to Coca-Cola. Taste tests are also a tool sometimes...
, a man might like Mirelli Beer better than Saddle Sweat Beer; however, if he has a strong gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
identification, an advertisement touting Saddle Sweat as "a real man's brew" might cause him to prefer Saddle Sweat. Positive affect related to gender pride biases his decision sufficiently to overcome his cognitive judgment.
Another common situation involving affect heuristic is where a strong, emotional first impression can inform a decision, even if subsequent facts weigh cognitively against the decisions. Someone seeing a house from the street might decide to buy it immediately upon seeing it, based on the strength of the emotional response to its eye appeal. This can be true even if subsequent inspection shows that it is inferior to another house that is even more charming from the street, but which the potential buyer first encountered by entering through its back door into a rather shabby kitchen.
The affect heuristic is of influence in nearly every decision-making arena.
Experimental findings
Winkielman, Zajonc, and Schwarz flashed one of three images in the view of test subjects: a smilingSmile
A smile is a facial expression formed by flexing the muscles near both ends of the mouth. The smile can also be found around the eyes . Among humans, it is an expression denoting pleasure, joy, happiness, or amusement, but can also be an involuntary expression of anxiety, in which case it is known...
face, a frown
Frown
A frown is a facial expression in which the eyebrows are brought together, and the forehead is wrinkled, usually indicating displeasure, sadness or worry, or less often confusion or concentration....
ing face, or a neutral geometric shape. The subject was then shown a Chinese character
Chinese character
Chinese characters are logograms used in the writing of Chinese and Japanese , less frequently Korean , formerly Vietnamese , or other languages...
and asked how he or she liked it. The test subjects preferred the characters they saw after the smiling face, even though the smiling face was shown only for of a second, and the subject did not recall seeing it.
The same experiment demonstrated the persistence of initial affect. The testers showed the subjects the same characters, but preceded by a different face. The subjects significantly tended to prefer the characters based on the first association, even where the second exposure was preceded by a different affective stimulus. That is, if a subject liked a character following exposure to a smiling face, he would continue to like the character even when it was preceded by a frowning face. (The experimental outcome was statistically significant and adjusted for variables such as non-affective preference for certain characters.)
However, in spite of its intuitive appeal and a large number of indirect empirical findings supporting the affect heuristic (such as the experiment above), conclusive evidence proving the theoretical ideas posed in the affect heuristic has not been forthcoming as of yet.
See also
- Anchoring and adjustment
- Attribute substitutionAttribute substitutionAttribute substitution is a psychological process thought to underlie a number of cognitive biases and perceptual illusions. It occurs when an individual has to make a judgment that is computationally complex, and instead substitutes a more easily calculated heuristic attribute...
- Availability heuristicAvailability heuristicThe availability heuristic is a phenomenon in which people predict the frequency of an event, or a proportion within a population, based on how easily an example can be brought to mind....
- List of cognitive biases
- Representativeness heuristicRepresentativeness heuristicThe representativeness heuristic is a psychological term describing a phenomenon wherein people judge the probability or frequency of a hypothesis by considering how much the hypothesis resembles available data as opposed to using a Bayesian calculation. While often very useful in everyday life, it...