Affect infusion model

The Affect infusion model (AIM) is a theoretical model in the field of human psychology. Developed by social psychologist Joseph Paul Forgas in the early 1990s, it attempts to explain how mood affects one's ability to process information. A key assertion of the AIM is that the effects of mood tend to be exacerbated in complex situations that demand substantial cognitive processing. In other words, as situations become more complicated and unanticipated, mood becomes more influential in driving evaluations and responses. The Affect infusion model (AIM) is a theoretical model in the field of human psychology. Developed by social psychologist Joseph Paul Forgas in the early 1990s, it attempts to explain how mood affects one's ability to process information. A key assertion of the AIM is that the effects of mood tend to be exacerbated in complex situations that demand substantial cognitive processing. In other words, as situations become more complicated and unanticipated, mood becomes more influential in driving evaluations and responses. Forgas defined the term affect infusion as 'the process whereby affectively loaded information exerts an influence on and becomes incorporated into the judgmental process, entering into the judge's deliberations and eventually coloring the judgmental outcome'. In other words, a process that determines the degree to which mood can affect our judgement. According to the AIM, affect (mood and emotion) exerts a notable influence not only on information processing but on the resulting response behaviors as well. For example, if a person receives an inordinately large electric bill, they will respond differently if they have had a relaxing and stress-free day than they will if they have just been stuck in traffic for two hours. Under this latter circumstance, the person will experience high levels of affect infusion, as their agitated state will undoubtedly be made worse upon seeing the electric bill. An assumption of the AIM is that this effect will generally occur more strongly as the complexity of a situation increases. Highly complex situations can exhibit a number of qualities, such as the amount of effort needed to process the information, whether the situation is familiar or entirely new and how severely the situation affects the person. Some common activities that tend to produce high affect infusion include: choosing whether or not to drink or take drugs, selecting or getting to know a new partner, explaining a conflict or allocating rewards to a group. According to Forgas, the varying levels of affect infusion can be seen as a continuum, with four alternative processing strategies as markers along that continuum. These strategies represent the different degrees of severity in which mood exerts its influence. In identifying these strategies, two important differentiating factors are considered: Several factors related to the judgment target, context, and judger influence which processing strategy is selected.