Increased affective influence: situational complexity or deliberation time?

The affect infusion model (AIM) is a prominent theory of when current emotional state is expected to influence the interpretation of a social stimulus (situation). We discuss the assumptions in AIM and conclude that its current specification predicts that both deliberation time and situational complexity should lead to affect infusion. The aim of this research was to clarify the relative importance of these factors in determining affect infusion and hence promote the development of AIM. We present an experimental design in which situational complexity and deliberation time can be manipulated orthogonally as independent factors. Our results show that the latter factor, but not the former, can influence the degree of affect infusion.