ABSTRACT
Evaluative and affective reactions are a ubiquitous and important aspect of everyday experience. At the extreme end, they aid in survival by helping to determine which stimuli and environments should be avoided, and which
should be approached. Even seemingly more mundane reactions, such as the pleasure experienced watching a puppy at play or the displeasure felt at the occurrence of an injustice, are important, because they infuse our lives with meaning. Affect can also have important influences on and be influenced by cognitive processes. For example, affective and emotional experiences may themselves arise from cognitive processes (Frijda, 1986; Ortony, Clore, & Collins, 1988; Scherer, 1984; Smith & Ellsworth, 1985), and cognitive processes such as decision making and memory are influenced by affective states (Forgas, 1995; Schwarz & Clore, 1983). Finally, affective states are also associated with a host of bodily changes that help meet current and expected metabolic demands (Cacioppo, Berntson, Larsen, Poehlmann, & Ito, 2000). A full understanding of the affect system therefore facilitates a more complete understanding of how we navigate in our social world.
