Photo of Erkin Asutay

Erkin Asutay

Senior Associate Pro

My research focuses on how affective processes influence attention, information
processing, and judgment and decision-making.

Emotion, attention, and decision-making

We navigate complex environments and receive a stream of sensory signals that influences our affective experience. However, there are still unanswered questions on how different factors defining the dynamic sensory environment are represented in affective experience, as well as how this dynamic representation of affect influences our behavior and decisions.

I study how the affective consequences of events (including expectations, uncertainty, and prediction errors) are integrated into an overall affective experience, and how this affective integration influences decision-making. I am also interested in understanding the impact of emotions on perception and attention in auditory and visual domains.

I use psychophysics (e.g., signal detection theory), psychophysiology (e.g., facial EMG, skin conductance, heart rate), behavioral methods, and computational modeling.

Publications

2026

Hulda Karlsson-Larsson, Erkin Asutay, Daniel Västfjäll (2026) Affective integration in climate change communication: recency effects and negativity bias in responses to climate picture sequences Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 17, Article 1797253 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1797253
Ritta Issa, Hajdi Moche, Erkin Asutay, Daniel Västfjäll (2026) Affective forecasting and scope sensitivity of warm glow - Comparisons between joint and separate evaluations Acta Psychologica, Vol. 268, Article 107292 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2026.107292
Daniel Västfjäll, Erkin Asutay, Gustav Tinghög (2026) Beyond nudging: affective paternalism and affect architecture for impactful behavioral public policy Frontiers in Behavioral Economics, Vol. 5, Article 1866819 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/frbhe.2026.1866819

2025

Camilla Strömbäck, Per Andersson, Erkin Asutay, Hulda Karlsson-Larsson, Daniel Västfjäll (2025) Positive anticipated affective reactions increase pro-environmental behavior iScience, Vol. 28, Article 112389 (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.112389
Lewend Mayiwar, Erkin Asutay, Gustav Tinghög, Daniel Västfjäll, Kinga Barrafrem (2025) Determinants of digital well-being AI & Society: Knowledge, Culture and Communication (Article in journal) https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00146-024-02071-2

Organisation