THE ROLE OF EMOTION IN SOCIAL JUDGMENTS - AN INTRODUCTORY REVIEW AND AN AFFECT INFUSION MODEL (AIM)

This paper presents an overview of current evidence for the role of affect in social judgments, and the work represented in this Special Issue in particular. A new integrative theory, the Affect Infusion Model (AIM) is outlined as a comprehensive and parsimonious explanation of these effects. The model assumes that the degree of affect infusion into judgments varies along a processing continuum, and identifies four alternative processing strategies: (a) direct access, (b) motivated, (c) heuristic, and (d) substantive processing. Consistent with the empirical material reviewed here, the AIM predicts that judgments requiring constructive, generative processing (heuristic and substantive strategies) are more likely to be 'infused' by affect than are simple, reconstructive judgements (direct access and motivated processing). The role of target, judge and situational features in recruiting different processing strategies is considered, and evidence supporting the model is reviewed