THE ROLE OF AFFECT IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS RESEARCH - Human-Computer Interaction and Management Information Systems: Foundations - page 277

C HAPTER 14
THE ROLE OF AFFECT IN INFORMATION
SYSTEMS RESEARCH
A Critical Survey and a Research Model
H ESHAN S UN AND P ING Z HANG
Abstract: Most existing models or theories in IS focus on the cognitive and behavioral aspects of
human decision-making processes and on individual reactions to using technologies in organiza-
tions and other contexts. The influence of affect or emotion is traditionally neglected. The affective
aspect, however, is considered crucial, and has gained attention in psychology, marketing, organi-
zational behavior, and other fields. Recently, affect and related concepts have attracted attention
from researchers in information systems (IS) and human-computer interaction (HCI). Yet, studies of
affect have been scattered and less systematic. This paper first examines the theoretical advance-
ment of affect studies in several referencing disciplines to IS: psychology, organizational psychol-
ogy, and marketing and consumer behavior. An abstract model of the individual interacting with an
object (IIO) is developed to represent the important contributors to behavior intention and behavior
of people interacting with objects. Then the chapter continues with a comprehensive survey of exist-
ing studies on affect in the IS discipline to demonstrate the current status of the research stream,
some conceptual discrepancies and limitations, and some potential areas for future research. An IT-
specific model of IIO, a model of individual interaction with IT (IIIT), is constructed as both a
framework and a theoretical model to interpret and predict individual IT user behavior. This study
is an attempt to highlight and systematically analyze the influence of affect in IS and therefore has
great implications for both researchers and practitioners.
Key words: Affect, Emotion, Cognition, Information Systems, Personality Trait, Affective Reactions
Toward Using IT, Cognitive Reactions Toward Using IT
INTRODUCTION
Affect, a general word for several related but different concepts, normally refers to mood, emotion,
and feelings (Russell, 2003). Affect is conceived as an umbrella for a set of more specific mental
processes including emotions, moods, and attitudes (Bagozzi et al., 1999; Liljander and Mattsson,
2002). It is noteworthy that affect is too broad a class of events to be a single scientific category
(Russell and Barrett, 1999). Affect's boundary is so blurry that it keeps being the most mysterious
aspect of the psychology of human beings (Russell, 2003). Despite this, research on affect is of
great interest to researchers in fields such as psychology, marketing and customer research, and
organizational behavior, due to continuously recognized important impacts that affect has on people's
everyday social judgments (Forgas, 1995).
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