Marcus, MacKuen, & Neuman (2011). Parsimony and complexity: Developing and testing theories of affective intelligence. - Article summary

The theory of affective intelligence states that an individual’s emotions help govern a reliance on political habits or govern deliberation and attention to new political information. A dispositional system of emotion incorporates people’s normal feelings about things. Dispositions are guided by enthusiasm and aversion.

A surveillance system of emotion manages attention. It relies on anxiety, fear or uncertainty. It requires emotions that notify that conscious attention is necessary. Partisanship becomes less powerful when the surveillance system is active. Citizens stimulated by anxiety will vote in accord with their sense of which candidate promises the best policy package.

A one-dimensional conceptualization of affect misses much about human experience. There are three dimensions of emotion that have distinctive effects on political attention:

1. Enthusiasm
2. Aversion
3. Anxiety

Enthusiasm drives active participation. Aversion pushes avoidance and the defensive reactions of motivated reasoning. Anxiety triggers attention and learning.