The Affect Infusion Model (AIM) is a theoretical model in the field of human psychology. Developed by Joseph Forgas in the early 1990s, it attempts to explain how mood affects one's ability to process information. A key assertion of the AIM is that the effects of mood tend to be exacerbated in complex situations that demand substantial cognitive processing. In other words, as situations become more complicated and unanticipated, mood becomes more influential in driving evaluations and responses.
For some practical tips about AIM, see "Change Psychology: Affect Infusion Model" (Change Psychology).
Some of the suggestions in the blog post ring a bit manipulative to me, but the post can help clarify AIM. Of course, you may choose how and if you use the Model.Change Psychology has an entry on another nugget from psychology, also related to decision making: Affect Perseverance. Click to read the post. For a more complete explanation of the phenomenon, read "Affective Perseverance: The Resistance of Affect to Cognitive Invalidation" (Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin). From the article (cite removed):
Affective dispositions to objects and persons are difficult to change. Once an individual forms a positive or negative feeling, to a certain city, a model of a car, or a type of food, then that feeling tends to persist. Others may assail the individual with facts and evidence to sway the feeling—the pros and cons of the given city, the fuel efficiency of the new car, the voluminous calories of the food—but once formed, the affect tends to persevere.
As these examples suggest, the tendency of affect to persevere despite evidence to the contrary is a very common phenomenon covering a rich range of experiences. Feelings are often independent of facts and evidence and it seems to be the case that it is harder to change how a person feels than what a person believes to be true. ...