Affect heuristic

[swatiraohnlu]

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.

 

[swatiraohnlu]

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.

 

[swatiraohnlu]

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.