Image: Wikimedia Commons

affect

Experience of feeling or emotion

Instance of: psychology concept
Subclass of: pattern
, feeling
, emotion

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

Affect, in psychology, is the underlying experience of feeling, emotion, attachment, or mood. It encompasses a wide range of emotional states and can be positive or negative. Affect is a fundamental aspect of human experience and plays a central role in many psychological theories and studies. It can be understood as a combination of three components: emotion, mood, and affectivity. In psychology, the term affect is often used interchangeably with several related terms and concepts, though each term may have slightly different nuances. These terms encompass: emotion, feeling, mood, emotional state, sentiment, affective state, emotional response, affective reactivity, and disposition. Researchers and psychologists may employ specific terms based on their focus and the context of their work.

Overview

All data

33 statements · 24% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Different from: affection
pseudobulbar affect
Facet of: emotion
Significant person: Wilhelm Wundt

On other databases

26 identifiers linking affect across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

24%

externally sourced

Source last edited August 14, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

Suggest a fact or correction

Links

Use this data

curl https://aidb.si/api/v1/entities/Q159904

API docs, limits & keys

Cite this page

AIDB. (2026). affect (Q159904). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/affect-Q159904