Affective Influences on Evaluative Processing
Abstract
The past three decades have seen considerable debate about affect’s influence on judgment. In three experiments, following manipulations of incidental, integral, and cognitively based affect, positive affect results in more efficient processing while negative affect appears to make judgments both less efficient and more effortful. Affect’s influence is inferred from the consistency of participants’ responses and the pattern of the positive-negative response latency asymmetry reported by Herr and Page, in which positive judgments appear to be relatively effortless and automatic while negative judgments require effortful and controlled processing. Positive affect reduced or eliminated the asymmetry while negative affect exacerbated it. Affect’s influence appears consistent with a view of positive affect-induced processing efficiency.
Department
Marketing
Publication Date
6-13-2011
Journal Title
Journal of Consumer Research
Publisher
Oxford Academic
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Paul M. Herr, Christine M. Page, Bruce E. Pfeiffer, Derick F. Davis, Affective Influences on Evaluative Processing, Journal of Consumer Research, Volume 38, Issue 5, 1 February 2012, Pages 833–845, https://doi.org/10.1086/660844