Appraisal theories of emotions

Appraisal theories of emotions provide a framework for understanding people's emotional reactions to political messages or events. The central assumption of these theories is that the nature and intensity of emotions is determined by the cognitive evaluation of situations along several dimensions. Researchers and political communicators can thus predict emotional reactions and resulting behavior based on features of political communication. The theory suggests that different emotions of the same valence (e.g., anger and fear) have differential effects on political attitudes or behavior. Appraisal theories have been applied in many domains of political communication research, for example to explain the formation of policy preference, political participation, engagement with political messages on social media, cross-cutting exposure, or trust in politicians.