Affecive intelligence.docVIP

Affective intelligence: Towards understanding the role of affect in social thinking and behavior Joseph P. ForgasUniversity of New South Wales,Sydney, Australia This work was supported by a Special Investigator award from the Australian Research Council, and the Research Prize by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The contribution of Joseph Ciarrochi, Stephanie Moylan, Patrick Vargas and Joan Webb to this project is gratefully acknowledged. Please address all correspondence in connection with this paper to Joseph P. Forgas, at the School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia; email jp.forgas@.au. For further information on this research project, see also website at .au/~joef/jforgas.htm . Introduction It is a bright sunny day outside, and you are in an excellent mood. As you stop for cappuccino on your way to work, a person in the bar reminds you of a childhood friend, and happy memories about your school years come flooding back. At work, you are on a selection committee, and as you interview the first applicant, you notice with delight what a pleasant person he is. As you discuss your decision with your colleagues, you act in a cooperative and friendly way. What role does mood play in the way people think and act in such everyday situations? How and why do mild affective states influence our thoughts, memories and behaviors? This chapter reviews recent evidence documenting the pervasive influence of affect on social thinking and behavior, and argues that emotional intelligence necessarily involves knowing how, when and why such effects occur. Arguably, affect remains perhaps the ‘last frontier’ in our quest to understand the dynamics of human behavior. Although most of us intuitively know that our feelings and moods can have a crucial influence on our mental life and actions, until recently we did not fully understand how and why these influences occur. A critical – and so far rather neglected – component of ‘emotional intel