Experiential Attitude and Anticipated Affect

Abstract

Recent research has explored the effects of two affective influences within models such as the theory of planned behavior and reasoned action approach: experiential attitude and anticipated affect. Both refer to perceptions of future affect, that is, cognitively mediated affect. Primary studies and meta-analytic reviews supporting the role of these two affective variables on health behavior are presented. The correlational data use prospective designs and control for other health cognitions and past behavior. The experimental data also explore whether the affective variables mediate the impact of the “affective intervention” on behavior. Strong support is found across studies for both experiential attitude and anticipated affect as important determinants of health behaviors even when controlling for other health cognitions and past behavior. The need for further experimental studies with objective measures of health behavior is noted. Further the testing of the combined effects of manipulating both affective variables is highlighted for further attention.

Cite this work

No public copy is stored for this record, so only the metadata is cited.

Stored only when both papers are in the corpus — 6 citations exist upstream.