affectdriven

Affect-driven is an adjective used to describe processes, judgments, or behaviors that are guided primarily by affect, the immediate emotional response or mood, rather than by analytical reasoning. In psychology and related fields, affect refers to subjective feelings and their positive or negative valence, which can influence perception, attention, memory, and decision making.

In cognitive and social psychology, affect-driven processing is contrasted with deliberative or cognitive processing. Dual-process theories often distinguish a fast, automatic, affect-driven pathway (sometimes labeled System 1) from a slower, effortful, analytic pathway (System 2). Affects can shape judgments directly, or modulate how information is encoded and retrieved. The affect heuristic is a well-known example, where people rely on current feelings to judge risks and benefits.

Common domains where affect-driven influences are studied include decision making, moral judgments, risk assessment, and consumer behavior. For instance, mood states can bias risk estimates or influence product preference, while emotions such as disgust or compassion can shape moral judgments and social evaluations. The concept of affect as information describes how people use their emotional state as a cue in forming judgments about objects or events.

In applied fields such as affective computing and human–computer interaction, affect-driven models describe systems or agents whose behavior is guided by simulated emotions to create natural, engaging responses. In clinical and psychiatric contexts, excessive or maladaptive affect-driven responding may occur in mood and anxiety disorders, affecting appraisal and behavior.

Critiques note that affect and cognition interact dynamically, so separating them as strictly affect-driven versus cognitive-driven can oversimplify real-world processes.