The impact of affective and cognitive focus on attitude formation

We examined the effects of unobtrusive affective and cognitive focus on attitude formation. To induce focus, participants worked on a word-search puzzle consisting of either affective (e.g., emotion) or cognitive (e.g., reasoning) words. They then read positive and negative affective and cognitive information about a new attitude object. In the affective focus condition, evaluations were more congruent with the valence of the affective information than they were in the cognitive focus condition, where evaluations were more congruent with the valence of the cognitive information than they were in the affective focus condition. Affective focus also resulted in enhanced recall of affective information. The effects on evaluations remained stable over time, whereas effects on memory disappeared. Finally, affective focus was associated with faster response times, suggesting enhanced accessibility of affect-based attitudes. The present research shows that an affective or cognitive focus leads to the formation of different attitudes.     

The effects of affective states on the formation of performance expectancies

Positive vs. negative affective states are associated with the use of broad vs. specific knowledge structures. These findings were applied to the field of performance expectancies. It was predicted that individuals with positive mood should infer their performance expectancies concerning a specific task from their general self-concept, whereas given negative mood, performance expectancies should be inferred from the relevant specific self-concept. In an experiment, positive vs. negative mood was induced in 158 university students. General and specific self-concepts were assessed. Furthermore, we assessed task-specific performance expectancies and task performance. Specific self-concept was predictive of expectancies given negative mood, whereas with positive mood, expectancies could only be predicted on the basis of the general self-concept. Furthermore, mean expectancies were higher and less accurate with positive mood. The results are in line with the theoretical predictions. They underline that affective states also influence the formation of motivational variables like performance expectancies.     

Impact of negation salience and cognitive resources on negation during attitude formation

Because of the increased cognitive resources required to process negations, past research has shown that explicit attitude measures are more sensitive to negations than implicit attitude measures. The current work demonstrated that the differential impact of negations on implicit and explicit attitude measures was moderated by (a) the extent to which the negation was made salient and (b) the amount of cognitive resources available during attitude formation. When negations were less visually salient, explicit but not implicit attitude measures reflected the intended valence of the negations. When negations were more visually salient, both explicit and implicit attitude measures reflected the intended valence of the negations, but only when perceivers had ample cognitive resources during encoding. Competing models of negation processing, schema-plus-tag and fusion, were examined to determine how negation salience impacts the processing of negations.     

Asymmetric transfer effects between cognitive and affective task disturbances

Task-irrelevant features of a stimulus can disturb performance on a given task, and this can occur for cognitive reasons such as irrelevant stimulus position, and affective reasons such as high stimulus valence. The human brain adapts to such disturbances in order to ensure successful task performance. Adaptations can occur in a transient manner in response to recent events, and they can also be sustained to account for overall probabilities of disturbances. Here, we study the mutual interplay between affective and cognitive task disturbances under conditions of sustained conflict adaptation. More precisely, we examined the trajectory of finger movements in a speeded classification task and investigated whether adaptation to a high probability of spatial disturbances transfers to the impact of affective disturbances (Experiment 1) and whether adaptation to a high probability of affective disturbances transfers to the impact of spatial disturbances (Experiment 2). Our observations point towards an asymmetric transfer from adaptation to affective onto the processing of cognitive disturbances, but not the other way around.     

Individual differences in attitude structure: Variance in the chronic reliance on affective and cognitive information

Two studies examined the proclivity of individual differences in attitude structure. Study 1 found considerable variation across individuals in the degree to which their attitudes were correlated with the favorability of their affective and cognitive responses. Study 1 also revealed that such variation was associated with individual differences in the Need for Affect (Maio & Esses, 2001) and the Need to Evaluate (Jarvis & Petty, 1996). Study 2 explored one outcome associated with individual differences in attitude structure. This study found that an affect-based appeal was more persuasive among individuals with affective (as compared to cognitive) attitudes, and that individuals with cognitive attitudes were more persuaded by a cognitive (as compared to affective) appeal. The findings are discussed in relation to the important roles of affective and cognitive information in guiding attitudes (Eagly & Chaiken, 1993; Zanna & Rempel, 1988).     

The affective regulation of cognitive priming

Semantic and affective priming are classic effects observed in cognitive and social psychology, respectively. The authors discovered that affect regulates such priming effects. In Experiment 1, positive and negative moods were induced before one of three priming tasks; evaluation, categorization, or lexical decision. As predicted, positive affect led to both affective priming (evaluation task) and semantic priming (category and lexical decision tasks). However, negative affect inhibited such effects. In Experiment 2, participants in their natural affective state completed the same priming tasks as in Experiment 1. As expected, affective priming (evaluation task) and category priming (categorization and lexical decision tasks) were observed in such resting affective states. Hence, the authors conclude that negative affect inhibits semantic and affective priming. These results support recent theoretical models, which suggest that positive affect promotes associations among strong and weak concepts, and that negative affect impairs such associations (Clore & Storbeck, 2006; Kuhl, 2000).     

The interactive effects of affective demeanor, cognitive processes, and perspective-taking focus on helping behavior

The author manipulated affective demeanor (positive or negative) and cognitive processes (positive or negative) displayed by a target person, along with the perspective-taking focus (affect or cognitions) of participants, to assess the unique and interactive effects of those variables on the participants' helping behavior, operationalized as time volunteered to help other students. An ethnically diverse sample (N = 109) of U.S. working adults (mean age = 31.56 years, SD = 8.21) viewed a videotape of a female target talking about returning to college. Participants adopting an affective perspective-taking focus volunteered more time than did those who adopted a cognitive perspective-taking focus. Also, a significant interaction between participants' perspective-taking focus and target's affective demeanor revealed that participants who focused on the target's feelings and who viewed a warm, cheerful target volunteered more time than did the other groups. Moreover, a significant interaction between participants' perspective-taking focus and target's cognitive processes revealed that the participants who focused on the target's feelings and who viewed a confused and unfocused target volunteered more time than did the other groups. The author also discusses the relationship between empathy, personal distress, and helping.     

The cognitive attitude of rational trust

I provide an account of the cognitive attitude of trust that explains the role trust plays in the planning of rational agents. Many authors have dismissed choosing to trust as either impossible or irrational; however, this fails to account for the role of trust in practical reasoning. A can have therapeutic, coping, or corrective reasons to trust B to ${\phi}$ , even in the absence of evidence that B will ${\phi}$ . One can choose to engage in therapeutic trust to inspire trustworthiness, coping trust to simplify one’s planning, or corrective trust to avoid doing a testimonial injustice. To accommodate such types of trust, without accepting doxastic voluntarism, requires an account of the cognitive attitude of trust broader than belief alone. I argue that trust involves taking the proposition that someone will do something as a premise in one’s practical reasoning, which can be a matter of believing or accepting the proposition. I defend this account against objections that it (i) provides insufficient rational constraints on trust, (ii) conflates trust and pretense of trust, and (iii) cannot account for the rationality of back-up planning.     

Impact of cognitive absorption on Facebook on students' achievement

In the great expansion of the social networking activity, young people are the main users whose choices have vast influence. This study uses the flow theory to gauge the impact of Facebook usage on Tunisian students' achievements, with the presumption that the high usage level might reduce students' scholar achievements. The research design suggests that this impact would vary among students with different interests for the university and multitasking capabilities. Facebook usage would develop students' satisfaction with friends and family, which could enhance their academic performance. Analyses from 161 Tunisian students show that Facebook usage does not affect significantly students' academic performance and their satisfaction with the family, whereas it decreases their actual satisfaction with friends. Yet, a high level of satisfaction of the student with his family continues to enhance his academic performance. Overall, though, Facebook usage appears to do not have a significant effect on undergraduate students' academic performance. However, this interdependency is significantly moderated by the student's interest for the university and his multitasking capabilities. Students with multitasking skills and students with initial interest for the university might experience a positive effect of Facebook usage on their studies, as they keep control over their activity and make it a beneficial leisure activity. However, students who do not have these characteristics tend to not have any significant effect. Results help to understand the psychological attitude and consequent behavior of the youths on this platform. Implications, limitations, and further research directions are offered.     

The Facebook paths to happiness: effects of the number of Facebook friends and self-presentation on subjective well-being

The current study investigates whether and how Facebook increases college-age users' subjective well-being by focusing on the number of Facebook friends and self-presentation strategies (positive vs. honest). A structural equation modeling analysis of cross-sectional survey data of college student Facebook users (N=391) revealed that the number of Facebook friends had a positive association with subjective well-being, but this association was not mediated by perceived social support. Additionally, we found that there was a negative curvilinear (inverted U-shape curve) relationship between Facebook friends and perceived social support. As for self-presentation strategies, whereas positive self-presentation had a direct effect on subjective well-being, honest self-presentation had a significant indirect effect on subjective well-being through perceived social support. Our study suggests that the number of Facebook friends and positive self-presentation may enhance users' subjective well-being, but this portion of happiness may not be grounded in perceived social support. On the other hand, honest self-presentation may enhance happiness rooted in social support provided by Facebook friends. Implications of our findings are discussed in light of affirmation of self-worth, time and effort required for building and maintaining friendships, and the important role played by self-disclosure in signaling one's need for social support.     

The effects of counterfeiting on consumer search

• Counterfeit products and the brand pirates who make, distribute, and sell them continue to be a challenge for many marketers around the globe. Estimates of global sales for bogus products are in the hundreds of billions of dollars and recent evidence suggests that fakes are prevalent in both developed and developing countries. We investigate brand/product counterfeiting from a consumer search perspective. As the quality of counterfeits improves, it is becoming more difficult for the consumer to identify them. Interviews with 102 international informants yield a picture of the cues consumers use to detect counterfeits and the roles of face and taste in decisions to purchase or not to purchase fake goods. We conclude with a discussion of some managerial implications.

Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Perceptual,affective, and cognitive judgments of odors: pleasantness and handedness effects

The present study sought to examine the differential processing of pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant odors. The effects of the nostril stimulated (left or right) and the type of judgment (perceptual, affective, or cognitive) performed on the olfactory stimuli were also studied. To this end, 64 subjects were asked to smell pleasant, neutral, and unpleasant odors under four conditions (detection, intensity, pleasantness, and familiarity tasks). The participants were to perform these tasks as quickly as possible, while response times were recorded. The results showed that (i) unpleasant odors were assessed more rapidly than neutral or pleasant odors, and that this was specifically true (ii) during right nostril stimulation, and (iii) during pleasantness assessment, suggesting possible differential cerebral hemisphere involvement, with a right-side advantage for processing of unpleasant affect in olfaction. A handedness effect on familiarity judgment is also discussed.     

Organizational identification and the communication of identity: effects of message characteristics on cognitive and affective identification

This paper reports an experimental study (N= 321) that tests how the cognitive and affective component of organizational identification (OI) can be affected by peripheral characteristics of organizational communication. Results show that adding cues in emails that signal organizational identity, such as the company logo, font, and colour of text, positively affect the cognitive component of OI, but not the affective component. In contrast, a personal focus in the message had a positive effect on the affective, but not on the cognitive component of OI. This study supports the idea that OI is a multi-faceted construct comprising a cognitive and affective component, and that these different components can be affected by different characteristics of organizational email messages.     

The impact of personality on cognitive, behavioral, and affective political processes: the effects of need to evaluate

Need to evaluate (NE) is a personality trait that reflects a person's proclivity to create and hold attitudes; people high in NE are especially likely to form attitudes toward all sorts of objects. Using data from the 1998 National Election Survey Pilot and the 2000 National Election Survey, NE was shown to predict a variety of important attitude-relevant cognitive, behavioral, and affective political processes beyond simply holding attitudes: NE predicted how many evaluative beliefs about candidates a person held, the likelihood that a person would use party identification and issue stances to determine candidate preferences, the extent to which a person engaged in political activism, the likelihood that a person voted or intended to vote, the extent to which a person used the news media for gathering information, and the intensity of emotional reactions a person felt toward political candidates. Thus, NE appears to play a powerful role in shaping important political behavior, emotion, and cognition.     

Stress modulation of cognitive and affective processes

This review summarizes the major discussion points of a symposium on stress modulation of cognitive and affective processes, which was held during the 2010 workshop on the neurobiology of stress (Boulder, CO, USA). The four discussants addressed a number of specific cognitive and affective factors that are modulated by exposure to acute or repeated stress. Dr David Morilak discussed the effects of various repeated stress situations on cognitive flexibility, as assessed with a rodent model of attentional set-shifting task, and how performance on slightly different aspects of this test is modulated by different prefrontal regions through monoaminergic neurotransmission. Dr Serge Campeau summarized the findings of several studies exploring a number of factors and brain regions that regulate habituation of various autonomic and neuroendocrine responses to repeated audiogenic stress exposures. Dr Kerry Ressler discussed a body of work exploring the modulation and extinction of fear memories in rodents and humans, especially focusing on the role of key neurotransmitter systems including excitatory amino acids and brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Dr Israel Liberzon presented recent results on human decision-making processes in response to exogenous glucocorticoid hormone administration. Overall, these discussions are casting a wider framework on the cognitive/affective processes that are distinctly regulated by the experience of stress and some of the brain regions and neurotransmitter systems associated with these effects.     

Mirror, mirror on my Facebook wall: effects of exposure to Facebook on self-esteem

Contrasting hypotheses were posed to test the effect of Facebook exposure on self-esteem. Objective Self-Awareness (OSA) from social psychology and the Hyperpersonal Model from computer-mediated communication were used to argue that Facebook would either diminish or enhance self-esteem respectively. The results revealed that, in contrast to previous work on OSA, becoming self-aware by viewing one's own Facebook profile enhances self-esteem rather than diminishes it. Participants that updated their profiles and viewed their own profiles during the experiment also reported greater self-esteem, which lends additional support to the Hyperpersonal Model. These findings suggest that selective self-presentation in digital media, which leads to intensified relationship formation, also influences impressions of the self.     

The effects of schematic and affective processes on metaphorical invention

This research predicted that greater knowledge, stronger affect, and positive attitudes concerning a topic would lead to the construction of laboratory-induced metaphorical statements. Subjects (n=45) were given a list of 13 politicians and instructed to create metaphors about several of their choosing. Politicians selected as the topics of metaphors were compared to those not selected. Respondents possessed more knowledge, had stronger feelings, and intended to vote for the politicians who were the topics of metaphors more than for those not selected. Future research should futher investigate the role of knowledge, prevailing mood, and attitudes on metaphorical invention, and examine spontaneously occuring metaphors.     

The moderating effects of financial broad‐scope trust on consumer knowledge,cognitive effort,and financial healthiness

Substantial research results suggest the global financial crisis has negatively affected consumers' trust in financial service providers. Notably, trust not only relates to consumer trust in individual companies but also relates to the broader business context in which consumers may plan and carry out their financial behavior. This latter form of trust can be referred to as “broad‐scope” trust (BST). BST is especially important in a society context because lack of BST may reduce financial market dynamism, competition, and productivity. Consequently, financial service providers assume an important social responsibility in order to develop BST. Unfortunately, not much is known about the interplay between BST and consumer financial behavior. Based on two surveys comprising 1155 bank consumers and 756 mutual fund investors, respectively, this study investigates the moderating influence of BST on relations between knowledge, cognitive effort, and financial healthiness and also examines the direct influence of BST on cognitive effort and financial healthiness. The results indicate that BST negatively moderates relations between knowledge and financial healthiness and between cognitive effort and financial healthiness. In addition, it is demonstrated that BST negatively influences cognitive effort and positively influences financial healthiness. Our results demonstrate the importance of developing BST as it may ease the burdens put on consumers' financial knowledge and processing capabilities, which in turn may facilitate their financial well‐being. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Decreasing complexity of affective space in older adults lower on cognitive control: affective effects in a nonaffective task and with nonaffective stimuli

Many theoretical accounts predict that as people age, they rely increasingly on affect. At least one account (Dynamic Integration Theory) makes the additional prediction that an accompanying effect of aging is a narrowing of affective space. These predictions were tested in the context of the relatively automatic low-level cognitive process of lexical access (auditory word recognition). Experiment 1 used emotion words and Experiment 2 used nonemotion words. Both experiments provided support for both predictions. Compared to younger adults (ns = 36 and 56), older adults (ns = 36 and 54) showed larger but less complex effects of dimensions of affective connotation. In addition, older adults with more cognitive resources showed a data pattern like that of younger adults, while those with fewer resources did not. Affective effects emerge even in nonaffective contexts. The tight link between affect and cognition is discussed.