ABSTRACT
Evaluation is a pervasive phenomenon in everyday life and it is difficult to imagine objects that are not evaluated. In fact, it appears that evaluation represents the most important aspect of the information enclosed in language (Osgood, Suci, & Tannenbaum, 1957). Zajonc (1980) has speculated that even in life the most important decisions in life hinge on evaluative processes. The pervasiveness of evaluative processes is further illustrated by the fact that they contribute to both emotions and attitudes (Eagly & Chaiken, 1998; Lazarus, 1991; Ortony, Clore, & Collins, 1988). Emotions are assumed to emerge from appraisal processes, which represent a sequence of stimulus evaluation checks that deal with the interaction of evaluative and descriptive processes (Scherer, 1988). Attitudes can be conceived of as a link between evaluation and an attitude object in memory (Fazio, 1989). Both attitudes and emotions can be activated automatically on the perception of relevant cues in the environment. This might be due to the fact that the evaluative processes underlying emotions and attitudes are, at least in part, elicited automatically.
