A systematic examination of the determinants of affect

A large amount of research effort goes into studying affect, its constituent elements, its dynamics, and its role in mental disorders, mental health, resilience, and decision making. However, surprisingly little is known about the causal determinants of affect. Although several determinants have been proposed by different theories, systematic research comparing the impact of the various determinants is scarce. Previous research from disparate areas, such as consumer research, experimental aesthetics, and affective science, often only incidentally reported on the effects and interactions of affect determinants using various operationalizations, making the scarce findings difficult to compare and synthesize. Here, we examine the effects of goal congruence, goal relevance, unexpectedness, and reward prediction errors on self-reported affect in a simple probabilistic choice task. Participants are presented with a 4 by 4 grid of tiles, each hiding a monetary reward or loss. They are informed about the probabilities of the possible outcomes (e.g., 3 tiles hide +2£, 13 tiles hide -1£). After a participant has chosen a tile, and the outcome is revealed, they are asked to report on their subjective affect using a single-item measure. We report the effects and interactions of the selected causal determinants of affect, and compare the different operationalizations of these determinants found in the literature. We hope that this systematic study can help map out the complexity involved in the antecedents of affect and contribute to providing a stable foundation for affective science.