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34 - Affect-Based Interventions

from Part III - Behavior Change Interventions: Practical Guides to Behavior Change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2020

By
Mark Conner ,
David M. Williams  and
Ryan E. Rhodes
Edited by
Martin S. Hagger ,
Linda D. Cameron ,
Kyra Hamilton ,
Nelli Hankonen  and
Taru Lintunen
Martin S. Hagger
Affiliation:
University of California, Merced
Linda D. Cameron
Affiliation:
University of California, Merced
Kyra Hamilton
Affiliation:
Griffith University
Nelli Hankonen
Affiliation:
University of Helsinki
Taru Lintunen
Affiliation:
University of Jyväskylä
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Summary

This chapter provides an overview of the use of affect-based interventions to change behavior. Affect is defined in terms of affect proper and affect processing; both of these terms are used regularly in research on affect interventions. The evidence of direct modification of these affect constructs is then reviewed. Based on this evidence, step-by-step guides to techniques focusing on changing two key aspects of affective processing are provided: changing affective attitudes and anticipated affect. The guides to these techniques include typical means of delivery, target audience, behaviors, enabling or inhibiting factors, training and skills required, intensiveness, typical materials needed, and typical examples of implementation. In addition, application of implementation intentions, fear appeals, evaluative conditioning, and exercise games as other ways to change affect as a means to changing behavior are reviewed. Finally, two additional intervention pathways that could have impact on behavior change are reviewed: direct modification of other sources of behavioral influence (e.g., traditional social cognitive factors) in order to overcompensate for the impact of affect and self-regulation of the intensity of the affect experience as a means of inhibiting its impact.

Keywords

affective attitudesanticipated emotionsanticipated regretfear appealsevaluative conditioningfocusing attentionaffective processingaffective judgments
Type
Chapter
Information
The Handbook of Behavior Change , pp. 495 - 509
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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