The combination of multiple affective experiences and their impact on valuation judgments

Abstract

People's affective experiences can be influenced by multiple informational inputs. It remains unclear however how this occurs? In this paper, we investigate the construction of affective experiences dependent on the varying number of previously presented, affectively-charged, informational inputs. In addition, because affect is often used as a cue in judgment and decision-making, we probe whether the resulting affective experience is mapped onto people's valuation judgments (how much people are willing-to-pay for target rewards and experiences). In three studies, we show that people's overall affective experience is constructed by averaging the affect of the previously presented, affectively-charged inputs. Subsequently, we find that people rely on the resulting affective experience as a cue for their judgments, as willingnessto-pay valuations were predicted by the combined affective experience. We measured integral, expected, as well as momentary affectusing both self-report and physiological measures. We discuss the potential for studying further how multiple inputs change affect as well as the implications for judgment and decision making.

Sensitivity to the Average and Summative Impact of Multiple Events: When “More is More” and When “More is Less”

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Metaphoric Function and Emotional Cognition of English Loanwords in the Internet Environment

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Risky Therefore Not Beneficial: Replication and Extension of Finucane et al.’s (2000) Affect Heuristic Experiment

“…Reliance on affect is a general process and, consistent with an AH, a wide range of findings support the idea that affect provides valuable information that people use to simplify their decision-making. For instance, affect-laden imagery has been shown to predict people’s preferences in investment decisions (MacGregor et al, 2000), smoking (Benthin et al, 1995), information integration (Anderson, 1981; Efendić et al, 2019), simple choice gambles (Bateman et al, 2007), and morality judgments (Slovic & Västfjäll, 2010).…”