Affect heuristic
Overview
The affect heuristic is a mental shortcut: when you face a complicated judgment, you lean on the feelings you already have about the thing (like or dislike, pleasant or unpleasant) instead of analyzing it logically. Paul Slovic and his colleagues discussed the idea in papers in the 2000s.
"I like this person, so their opinion is probably right." "This food looks gross, so it probably tastes bad too." There's no logical basis for either, but the feeling makes the call. Judging by feeling is fast and takes little effort. But accuracy tends to suffer.
The affect heuristic in a question box
People answering a question box tend to be swayed by how they feel the moment they read a question. They may answer a question written in a friendly tone carefully, and one written in an off-putting tone sloppily. Not only what the question asks, but also the emotional impression it leaves, affects the quality of the answer.
The moment you think "this question is creepy," your ability to calmly look at what it's asking can waver. It might be a sincere question, yet that first emotional reaction can lead you to decide "I should just skip this one." The affect heuristic is fast, but it can also get things wrong.
Separating feelings from logic
It's hard to get rid of the affect heuristic completely, and you don't need to. Feelings are an important source of information. The problem is letting feelings make the whole decision on their own.
A practical fix is a two-step process: notice the feeling first, then check it with logic. If a question makes you uncomfortable, start by recognizing, "I'm feeling uncomfortable right now." Next, ask yourself, "Is this discomfort coming from what the question says, or from how it's written?" If the content is the problem, hold off on answering. If only the tone is the problem, it may be worth focusing on the content and answering. Don't deny the feeling; just put a step of logic after it. That one extra step helps support fairness in your answers.