Affect and cognition are a major area of study in
psychology. Psychology has a major approach
regarding this topic: affect-as-information (AAI).
According to the AAI view, people make decisions
based on their feelings and asking questions like “how
do I feel about it?”. Affect is informative and functional.
Negative mood informs people of a problematic
situation. It makes people process information more
carefully and systematically in order to mitigate their
problematic situation. However, people in a positive
mood feel more secure about their current situation.
They are not fully motivated to process information in a
comprehensive way. Thus, affect influences the types
of information that individuals seek during information
processing.