Robert Zajonc’s Affective Primacy theory

In what ways are emotions and thoughts linked?

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

But it is also possible that emotional reactions are spontaneous and only after the emotion arises the processing of information that allows us to make sense of these reactions. Many authors have defended one or the other position, 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 affective primacy, a brief review of the concept of emotion may be useful.

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

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

This concept has been explored by many authors and sometimes there has been speculation about the relationship between emotion and cognition. Some authors have considered that the former precedes the latter, 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 on the subject, 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 and precedes the cognitive reaction or cognitive processing. And even, that emotions can appear without any cognitive processing.

Zajonc relies on the presence of differentiated structures in charge of emotional and cognitive processes, such as the limbic system and the basal ganglia and 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 cognitively processed.

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.

First, one of the points at which we can see how emotion can precede cognition is in our own developmental process. When we are infants we are still incapable of cognitive processing that allows us to interpret situations, but emotional reactions such as fear, anguish or satisfaction have been shown to be.

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

Another of the points on which the theory of affective primacy is based is the fact that emotional reaction to an event occurs faster than the period of time we need to process it cognitively. 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

Based on Biological arguments, Zajonc points out that there are brain structures specialized in emotional processing and cognitive processing, the subcortical structures being the subcortical structures of the brain.The subcortical structures are mostly linked to the emotional and the cortical structures to the cognitive.

Similarly, emotions can be generated from artificial methods without changing the cognition of the subject (as is the case with psychotropic drugs linked to mood disorders).

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

Likewise, it also highlights the fact that we can change our way of thinking without changing our feelings and emotions and vice versa. In other words, I can change the way I think and want to change the way I feel about it, but to no avail..... Similarly, I may feel a certain way about a particular subject even though at a cognitive level we evaluate it in a way that is discordant with our emotion.

Current consideration

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

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

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