Overview & Description:

Affect Theory posits that emotions play a central role in the formation of individual identity and social bonds. It emphasizes the significance of emotions, feelings, and moods in understanding human experiences.

Key Points:

1. Bodily Experience: Emotions are not just cognitive but are felt within the body.
2. Social Formation: Affects can lead to the formation of social bonds and disconnections.
3. Emotion vs. Affect: While emotions are subjective, personal experiences, affects are non-conscious experiences of intensity.

Implications:

1. Emotion Research: Provides a framework for studying emotions not just as individual experiences but in a broader, societal context.
2. Therapeutic Approaches: Can inform psychotherapy by focusing on bodily experiences.

References:

• Massumi, B. (1995). The Autonomy of Affect. Cultural Critique, 31, 83-109.