Affectivism and the Emotional Elephant: How a Componential Approach Can Reconcile Opposing Theories to Serve the Future of Affective Sciences

Abstract

This article discusses how the affectivism framework and the componential approach to emotion may serve the future of affective sciences. A particular aim of the article is to show that an appraisal-based componential approach to emotion can help reconcile opposing theories. It begins by contextualizing the evolution of emotion science within the framework of affectivism, acknowledging that the significant epistemological differences between various theories have paradoxically spurred interest in studying emotion across various perspectives and disciplines. If affectivism is regarded as the pursuit of a deeper understanding of not only emotions and other affective processes but also cognitive and behavioral processes, then its success can be partly attributed to the existence of multiple approaches, allowing each discipline and perspective to advance using the most suitable theory and methodology. We contend that a componential approach reveals that the five principal theories of emotion have each focused on one of five components of emotion. Overall, based on the analysis of several articles published in the special issue on the future of affective science, we argue that affective scientists are well equipped not only to build a future in which conceptual and methodological tools will be used to test diverging hypotheses between competing theories but also to acknowledge and celebrate where such theories converge.