Most of the words that make up a language lead relatively sedate lives and rarely call attention to themselves.

This is not, however, the case with “vibe.” It has undergone several transformations, and its use may be a telling reflection of contemporary culture.

The vibe concept was popularized by the Beach Boys’ song “Good Vibrations,” which was released in 1966.

The counterculture megahit elevated a niche bit of psychedelic drug slang into a synonym for a positive atmosphere. Its shortened form, “good vibes” has become a common way to refer to positive feelings.

But the rise of vibe can also be connected to a long-running controversy concerning the primacy of emotion over cognition.

The social psychologist Robert Zajonc was well known for making this argument; in a frequently cited article, he claimed that “Preferences need no inferences” (1980, p. 161). One consequence of this is that “People may doubt their beliefs, but they . . . never doubt their feelings” (De Houwer & Hermans, 2010, p. 39).

But why should this be?

Part of the reason could be that feelings are simply more salient or memorable than facts. According to a quotation frequently attributed to Maya Angelou, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

A predilection for trusting one’s feelings over facts may make sense in a........

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