The affective core of first impressions

Résumé :  When we see someone or something for the first time, we often have an affective reaction to what we see: we immediately like or dislike it. This suggests that in some cases our perceptual experiences are affectively valenced. Yet the precise relation between perceptual experience and affective valence is puzzling. Is affective valence a constitutive feature of some of our perceptual experiences? 

Is it represented in perceptual content as a high-level property (Siegel, 2010)? Or is it rather a distinctive form of perceptual attitude (de Vignemont, 2023), or maybe a metacognitive feeling attached to perceptual processing (Proust, 2013)? In my talk, I will draw on recent discussions of affective valence (Carruthers, 2018, 2023; Colombetti & Kuppens, 2024) to explore the possible ways in which affect can color our everyday perceptual experiences, with special focus on the case of perceptual first impressions.