ABSTRACT
Psychological theorists from Allport (1946) to Zajonc (1980) and from Rogers (1959) to Skinner (1953) have agreed that affective reaction – assigning some degree of positive or negative valence to the events one encounters – is automatic, universal and adaptive. Rogers (1959) described this as an organismic valuing process, an evaluative or affective response to each experience that reflects its potential to enhance or damage the organism. The precise tuning of people’s ability to discern each experience’s value and react accordingly is a product of adaptive biological evolution.
