Ideal Affect Cultural Causes and Behavioral Consequences
- 31 August 2007
- journal article
- review article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Perspectives on Psychological Science
- Vol. 2 (3), 242-259
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-6916.2007.00043.x
Abstract
Most research focuses on actual affect, or the affective states that people actually feel. In this article, I demonstrate the importance and utility of studying ideal affect, or the affective states that people ideally want to feel. First, I define ideal affect and describe the cultural causes and behavioral consequences of ideal affect. To illustrate these points, I compare American and East Asian cultures, which differ in their valuation of high-arousal positive affective states ( e. g., excitement, enthusiasm) and low-arousal positive affective states ( e. g., calm, peacefulness). I then introduce affect valuation theory, which integrates ideal affect with current models of affect and emotion and, in doing so, provides a new framework for understanding how cultural and temperamental factors may shape affect and behavior.This publication has 149 references indexed in Scilit:
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