Will the Real Meaning of Affect Please Stand Up?
Will the Real Meaning of Affect Please Stand Up? Will the Real Meaning of Affect Please Stand Up?
102 EditorialRisk researchers are now increasingly interested in affect, and its rolein risk perception and management; see e.g. Loewenstein et al. (Loewenstein,Weber, Hsee, & Welch, 2001). It is argued that affect is very important inrisk perception, seemingly supporting the traditional view that dread is adominating factor in perceived risk (Fischhoff, Slovic, Lichtenstein, Read, &Combs, 1978; Slovic, 1987). It has been suggested that there is an ‘‘affectheuristic’’ which would account for much of perceived risk.Defining EmotionSome of this discussion is hard to follow because the word affect is beingused in varying ways. What does affect mean in the natural language?According to Merriam-Webster, 3 affect (as a noun) meansthe conscious subjective aspect of an emotion considered apart from bodilychanges.The dictionary also notes two other meanings, said to be now obsolete, viz.feeling and affection. To understand this statement we also need to know themeaning of emotion. The dictionary meaning isthe affective aspect of consciousness : FEELING b : a state of feeling c : apsychic and physical reaction (as anger or fear) subjectively experienced asstrong feeling and physiologically involving changes that prepare the body forimmediate vigorous actionClearly, then, feeling is another key term, reported by Merriam-Websterto be a synonym of emotion. 4 Feeling is also a more complex term, but wefind among its possible meanings thataffection applies to feelings that are also inclinations or likingsHence, one of many specialized meanings of affect is ‘‘feelings of liking,’’found also in contemporary writings on the psychology of emotions (Ekman& Davidson, 1994). The overall picture is that words such as affect, emotion2 The cognitive analysis of decision making and action, dominating for many years, failed torecognize the difficulties of sustaining long-term commitments, obvious in the addictions(Sjöberg, 1980b) where emotions play a crucial role (Elster, 1983, 1999), but also in manyother contexts. People re-interpret and re-structure information so as to fit preconceivedpreferences, they do not proceed in a straightforward and seemingly rational manner to makedecisions and act upon given information (Montgomery, 1989).3 The Internet on-line edition was used, see http://www.m-w.com/netdict.htm.4 Yet, it is clear that feeling is a broader term than emotion. There are feelings having noemotional contents.
Editorial 103and feeling are not particularly well defined and have ambiguous relations toeach other. Finucane et al. (Finucane et al., 2000) wrote:Affect may be viewed as a feeling state that people experience, such ashappiness or sadness. It may also be viewed as a quality (e.g. goodness orbadness) associated with a stimulus. (p. 2, emphasis added)Another key term in the discussion is dread, according to Merriam-Webstermeaninggreat fear especially in the face of impending evil, or extreme uneasiness in theface of a disagreeable prospectHence, dread clearly has emotional meaning, denoting very strong emotion(fear).In psychology, there are more specialized definitions which reflectcurrent research interests and conceptions. However, scientific publicationsin psychology offer little enlightment on what emotion is. In the Handbookof Emotions, edited by Lewis and Haviland (Lewis & Haviland, 1993), themeaning of the term is seemingly taken for granted. Zajonc, in his chapter onemotions in the Handbook of Social Psychology (Zajonc, 1998), writesA complete and coherent definition of emotion is equivalent to this entirechapter including the contents of its references. (p. 591)Only a few current articles deal with definitional issues. As an example,Cabanac (Cabanac, 2002) noted that there is no consensus on the issue ofdefinition of emotion and suggested that emotion is any intense mentalexperience with hedonic (pleasure or displeasure) value. Since there are alsoweak emotions this definition seems less than suitable, and also too wide.A person can be intensely convinced of a viewpoint, and embrace itwith pleasure, still we would not call such conviction an emotion—or wouldwe?Textbooks are also of some interest in the present discussion. Here is adefinition of emotion from a widely used contemporary textbook inpsychology:emotions are positive or negative feeling (affect) states consisting of a patternof cognitive, physiological and behavioral reactions to events that haverelevance to important goals or motives [(Passer & Smith, 2001), p. 412]This formulation is informative, up to a point. Emotion, feeling andaffect are seemingly equated. The notion of emotion as a mental state isroughly similar to the dictionary definition, but the addition that these states‘‘consist of patterns of … reactions’’ makes things very unclear, again. Howcan a mental state ‘‘consist’’ of, among other things, physiological reactions?
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102 EditorialRisk researchers are now increasingly interested in affect, and its rolein risk perception and management; see e.g. Loewenstein et al. (Loewenstein,Weber, Hsee, & Welch, 2001). It is argued that affect is very important inrisk perception, seemingly supporting <strong>the</strong> traditional view that dread is adominating factor in perceived risk (Fischh<strong>of</strong>f, Slovic, Lichtenstein, Read, &Combs, 1978; Slovic, 1987). It has been suggested that <strong>the</strong>re is an ‘‘affec<strong>the</strong>uristic’’ which would account for much <strong>of</strong> perceived risk.Defining EmotionSome <strong>of</strong> this discussion is hard to follow because <strong>the</strong> word affect is beingused in varying ways. What does affect mean in <strong>the</strong> natural language?According to Merriam-Webster, 3 affect (as a noun) means<strong>the</strong> conscious subjective aspect <strong>of</strong> an emotion considered apart from bodilychanges.The dictionary also notes two o<strong>the</strong>r meanings, said to be now obsolete, viz.feeling and affection. To understand this statement we also need to know <strong>the</strong>meaning <strong>of</strong> emotion. The dictionary meaning is<strong>the</strong> affective aspect <strong>of</strong> consciousness : FEELING b : a state <strong>of</strong> feeling c : apsychic and physical reaction (as anger or fear) subjectively experienced asstrong feeling and physiologically involving changes that prepare <strong>the</strong> body forimmediate vigorous actionClearly, <strong>the</strong>n, feeling is ano<strong>the</strong>r key term, reported by Merriam-Websterto be a synonym <strong>of</strong> emotion. 4 Feeling is also a more complex term, but wefind among its possible meanings thataffection applies to feelings that are also inclinations or likingsHence, one <strong>of</strong> many specialized meanings <strong>of</strong> affect is ‘‘feelings <strong>of</strong> liking,’’found also in contemporary writings on <strong>the</strong> psychology <strong>of</strong> emotions (Ekman& Davidson, 1994). The overall picture is that words such as affect, emotion2 The cognitive analysis <strong>of</strong> decision making and action, dominating for many years, failed torecognize <strong>the</strong> difficulties <strong>of</strong> sustaining long-term commitments, obvious in <strong>the</strong> addictions(Sjöberg, 1980b) where emotions play a crucial role (Elster, 1983, 1999), but also in manyo<strong>the</strong>r contexts. People re-interpret and re-structure information so as to fit preconceivedpreferences, <strong>the</strong>y do not proceed in a straightforward and seemingly rational manner to makedecisions and act upon given information (Montgomery, 1989).3 The Internet on-line edition was used, see http://www.m-w.com/netdict.htm.4 Yet, it is clear that feeling is a broader term than emotion. There are feelings having noemotional contents.
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