{"title":"The affective gradient hypothesis: an affect-centered account of motivated behavior","authors":"Amitai Shenhav","doi":"10.1016/j.tics.2024.08.003","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Everyone agrees that feelings and actions are intertwined, but cannot agree how. According to dominant models, actions are directed by estimates of value and these values shape or are shaped by affect. I propose instead that affect is the only form of value that drives actions. Our mind constantly represents potential future states and how they would make us feel. These states collectively form a gradient reflecting feelings we could experience depending on actions we take. Motivated behavior reflects the process of traversing this affective gradient, towards desirable states and away from undesirable ones. This affective gradient hypothesis solves the puzzle of where values and goals come from, and offers a parsimonious account of apparent conflicts between emotion and cognition.","PeriodicalId":49417,"journal":{"name":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":16.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Trends in Cognitive Sciences","FirstCategoryId":"102","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2024.08.003","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"心理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Everyone agrees that feelings and actions are intertwined, but cannot agree how. According to dominant models, actions are directed by estimates of value and these values shape or are shaped by affect. I propose instead that affect is the only form of value that drives actions. Our mind constantly represents potential future states and how they would make us feel. These states collectively form a gradient reflecting feelings we could experience depending on actions we take. Motivated behavior reflects the process of traversing this affective gradient, towards desirable states and away from undesirable ones. This affective gradient hypothesis solves the puzzle of where values and goals come from, and offers a parsimonious account of apparent conflicts between emotion and cognition.
期刊介绍:
Essential reading for those working directly in the cognitive sciences or in related specialist areas, Trends in Cognitive Sciences provides an instant overview of current thinking for scientists, students and teachers who want to keep up with the latest developments in the cognitive sciences. The journal brings together research in psychology, artificial intelligence, linguistics, philosophy, computer science and neuroscience. Trends in Cognitive Sciences provides a platform for the interaction of these disciplines and the evolution of cognitive science as an independent field of study.