[1] Beginning in the late 1990s, Harmon-Jones and his colleagues began a series of studies examining whether affective valence (positive vs. negative affect) or motivational direction (approach vs. withdrawal) best explained the relationship between properties of emotions and left vs. right prefrontal cortical activation.
[2] Another line of research conducted by Harmon-Jones and colleagues examined was how emotions influenced cognitive scope, or the narrow versus broad processing of information.
However, Harmon-Jones and colleagues' research revealed that motivational intensity, regardless of affective valence, was a more accurate determinant of cognitive scope.
This model posits that many perceptions and cognitions automatically impel organisms to act in specific ways.
The state of dissonance signals to the organism that there is a problem and that the cognitive inconsistency needs to be resolved so that behavior can occur.