Robert Zajonc's Theory of Affective Primacy

cognition and emotion. These two concepts have often been considered separately, although most people tend to think in them as in aspects that are linked: the emotion arises from the evaluation of the information processed cognitively.

But it is also possible that emotional reactions are spontaneous and only after the emotion does the information processing that allows us to make sense of these reactions arise. There have been many authors who have defended one position or another, and multiple models and theories have been developed. One of them is Robert Zajonc's theory of affective primacy..

Brief preamble: a generic definition of emotion

To understand Robert Zajonc's theory of affect primacy, it may be useful to briefly review the concept of emotion.

Defining the concept of emotion is really complex, since it is easy to confuse it with other terms and it has a large number of nuances to take into account. Roughly speaking, emotion can be defined as that type of affect or psychic state of short duration and linked to the stimulation that it generates that prepares us for certain types of action and allows us to adapt in the middle.

They can be considered subjective reactions, of physiological origin and directed to a specific but unconscious purpose., which allow us to mobilize the energies of our organism in order to respond to external or internal phenomena and express our sensations.

This concept has been explored by multiple authors and on occasions there has been speculation about the relationship that emotion has with cognition. Some authors have considered that the first precedes the second, as expressed in Zajonc's theory of affective primacy.

Zajonc's theory of affective primacy: a controversial position

Zajonc's theory of affective primacy proposes, contrary to most theories in this regard, that emotion and cognition are two processes that are independent of each other. In fact, the theory proposes that the affective reaction to a stimulus or emotion arises from and precedes the cognitive reaction or cognitive processing. And even, that emotions can appear without any type of cognitive processing.

Zajonc relies on the presence of differentiated structures that are in charge of emotional and cognitive processes, such as limbic system and the basal ganglia and the frontal cortex.

This theory proposes different aspects that support part of his theoretical model and the author even proposes situations in which it is evident that the emotion arises before the information can be processed cognitively.

Aspects that support this theory

Zajonc's theory of affective primacy is supported by different arguments, which reflect that it is true that emotion precedes cognition in some cases.

In the first place, one of the points in which we can contemplate how emotion can precede cognition is observed in our own development process. When we are babies we are still incapable of cognitive processing that allows us to interpret situations, but it has been shown that emotional reactions such as fear, anguish or satisfaction.

Furthermore, while cognition develops slowly over the course of development, basic emotions they are active early, being largely innate and inherited from our ancestors.

Another point on which the theory of affective primacy is based is the fact that the emotional reaction to an event occurs faster than the period of time we need to process it cognitively. If, for example, we experience physical pain, our physical and emotional reactions will be immediate.

brain and emotion

Relying on biological arguments, Zajonc points out that there are specialized brain structures for emotional processing and cognitive processing, resulting in the subcortical structures being mostly linked to the emotional and the cortical to the cognitive.

Similarly, emotions can be generated from artificial methods without changing the subject's cognition (as occurs with psychoactive drugs linked to mood disorders).

The fact that we cannot verbalize our affective states or why we have them is another of the points defended by the proposal of the affective primacy theory: if we cannot explain them, it is because we have not cognitively processed those sensations and why they are over there.

Likewise, it also highlights the fact that we can change our way of thinking without changing our feelings and emotions and vice versa. That is to say, I can change my way of thinking and want to change how I feel about it, but without success. In the same way, I can feel a certain way with a specific subject despite the fact that at a cognitive level we evaluate it in a way that is discordant with our emotion.

current consideration

Although broadly speaking today there is a tendency to have a more cognitive vision and in which it is considered that there is a relationship bidirectional between cognition and emotion, the truth is that some aspects of Zajonc's theory of primacy have been observed and held consider.

It is even possible to consider that some phenomena originate from emotional processing prior to cognitive processing. For example, the effect of mere exposure in which by the fact of having contact with a certain stimulus or subject causes us a better predisposition towards it without being able to determine the why.

Today it is accepted that emotions can occur without cognitive processing conscious, but the idea that there is an independence between emotion and cognition. In fact, that there is no conscious processing of information does not mean that it is not carried out at an unconscious level, which could generate phenomena such as intuition.