Prefeeling

Prefeeling is a term used to describe an anticipatory affective state that arises before encountering a specific event, stimulus, or situation. The concept emphasizes the emotional quality of anticipation itself, rather than the actual emotion elicited by the event. Prefeeling can include positive, negative, or mixed affect and may vary in duration from seconds to hours, depending on the forecasted outcome.

In theoretical discussions, prefeeling is linked to predictive processing and affective forecasting, where the brain simulates possible futures to guide behavior. Prefeeling can arise from memory, knowledge about a situation, expectations about social evaluation, or sensory priors. It may influence attention, perception, risk assessment, and decision making, by weighting anticipated emotions alongside other information.

Examples span everyday and applied contexts. A person may feel exhilaration before giving a public speech, or tense apprehension before receiving medical test results. In consumer research, prefeeling can shape choices by triggering anticipated pleasure or disappointment from a product or service. In clinical settings, excessive or dysregulated prefeeling has been discussed in relation to anxiety disorders and some affective conditions, where anticipatory states occupy a large share of experience.

Measurement and challenges are part of the discourse. Prefeeling is typically assessed through self-report during anticipation and may be accompanied by physiological indicators such as heart rate or skin conductance. Critics note that the term is not uniformly defined across disciplines and can overlap with related constructs like mood, affective forecasting, and anticipatory anxiety. Clear definitions and standardized methods are needed to distinguish prefeeling from these related notions.