The Rise of Affectivism

Authors

Terry A. Maroney, Vanderbilt University Law School
David Dukes, University of Fribourg--Switzerland
et al.

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Nature Human Behavior

Publication Date

6-2021

Page Number

816

Keywords

affectivism, emotions, motivations, moods, cognitive mechanisms

Disciplines

Law | Law and Psychology | Neuroscience and Neurobiology

Abstract

Research over the past decades has demonstrated the explanatory power of emotions, feelings, motivations, moods, and other affective processes when trying to understand and predict how we think and behave. In this consensus article, we ask: has the increasingly recognized impact of affective phenomena ushered in a new era, the era of affectivism? ...

The behavioural and cognitive sciences have faced perennial challenges of incorporating emotions, feelings, motivations, moods, and other affective processes into models of human behaviour and the human mind. Such processes have long been marginalised or ignored, typically on the basis that they were irrational, un-measurable, or simply unenlightening. However, it has become increasingly difficult to deny that these processes are not only linked to our well-being, but also shape our behaviour and drive key cognitive mechanisms such as attention, learning, memory, and decision-making.

Recommended Citation

Terry A. Maroney, David Dukes, and et al., The Rise of Affectivism, 5 Nature Human Behavior. 816 (2021)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/faculty-publications/1432