Music, pandas, and muggers: on the affective psychology of value

Abstract

Music, pandas, and muggers: On the affective psychology of value

This research paper studies the relationship between the scope of a stimulus and its subjective value. The article contrasts two psychological processes that may be used to construct preferences: valuation by feeling and valuation by calculation. The authors suggest that under valuation by calculation, changes in scope had relatively constant influence on value throughout the entire range, while valuation by feeling yields relative scope-insensitivity. They provide examples and definitions of valuation by calculation and valuation by feeling. They detail how their notion of valuation by feeling is closely connected to the works of Kahneman, Ritov, and Schkade (2000); and Finucane, Alhakami, Slovic, and Johnson (2000). Lastly, the authors discuss several studies examining the hypothesis that relatively affect-rich targets and presentations engender more valuation by feeling, leading to scope-insensitivity, whereas relatively affect-poor targets and presentations engender more valuation by calculation, leading to scope-sensitivity. – AI-generated abstract.