The difference between Affect and Emotion

When used as nouns, affect means one's mood or inclination, whereas emotion means a person's internal state of being and involuntary physiological response to an object or a situation, based on or tied to physical state and sensory data.


Affect is also verb with the meaning: to influence or alter.

check bellow for the other definitions of Affect and Emotion

  1. Affect as a verb (transitive):

    To influence or alter.

    Examples:

    "The experience affected me deeply."

    "The heat of the sunlight affected the speed of the chemical reaction."

  2. Affect as a verb (transitive):

    To move to emotion.

    Examples:

    "He was deeply affected by the tragic ending of the play."

  3. Affect as a verb (transitive):

    Of an illness or condition, to infect or harm (a part of the body).

    Examples:

    "Hepatitis affects the liver."

  4. Affect as a verb (transitive, archaic):

    To dispose or incline.

  5. Affect as a verb (transitive, archaic):

    To tend to by affinity or disposition.

  6. Affect as a verb (transitive, archaic):

    To assign; to appoint.

  1. Affect as a verb (transitive):

    To make a show of; to put on a pretence of; to feign; to assume. To make a false display of.

    Examples:

    "to affect ignorance"

    "He managed to affect a smile despite feeling quite miserable."

  2. Affect as a verb (obsolete, transitive):

    To aim for, to try to obtain.

  3. Affect as a verb (transitive, now, _, rare):

    To feel affection for (someone); to like, be fond of.

  4. Affect as a verb (transitive, obsolete):

    To show a fondness for (something); to choose.

  1. Affect as a noun (obsolete):

    One's mood or inclination; mental state.

  2. Affect as a noun (obsolete):

    A desire, an appetite.

  3. Affect as a noun (psychology):

    A subjective feeling experienced in response to a thought or other stimulus; mood, emotion, especially as demonstrated in external physical signs.

  1. Emotion as a noun:

    A person's internal state of being and involuntary physiological response to an object or a situation, based on or tied to physical state and sensory data.

  2. Emotion as a noun:

    A reaction by a non-human organism with behavioral and physiological elements similar to a person's response.