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Approach‐Avoidance Motivation and the Use of Affect as Information
Author(s) -
Kramer Thomas,
Yoon SongOh
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of consumer psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.433
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1532-7663
pISSN - 1057-7408
DOI - 10.1016/s1057-7408(07)70019-0
Subject(s) - affect (linguistics) , valence (chemistry) , psychology , trait , social psychology , regulatory focus theory , negative information , cognitive psychology , communication , physics , quantum mechanics , creativity , computer science , programming language
Individuals often rely on their affect for information. However, positive or negative affect may not be informative for individuals who are more prone to feel affect of this particular valence in general, unless they chronically monitor their internal states. A series of studies demonstrates that differences in individuals’ internal versus external focus of attention and in trait affective valence associated with their approach versus avoidance motivation determine reliance on affect as information. Specifically, our findings show that while positive affect is used as an input in product satisfaction judgments regardless of individuals’ approach versus avoidance motivation, negative affect is used only by individuals with a predominant approach motivation.