The intellectual contact between psychology and poetry is scarce and, when it takes place, often
tends to be exploitative. If we happen to come across a poem that appears to support one of our favorite generalizations, we are tempted to cite it (not as evidence, of course, but more in the form of a testimonial). Or we might confer upon it the status of an epigraph in one of our forthcoming chapters (commonly, to the detriment of both the poem and the chapter). But when poetry disagrees with us we are apt to ignore the conflict
altogether.

Robert Zajonc. Feeling and Thinking. Preferences Need No Inferences. AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGIST • FEBRUARY 1980 • 151. Vol. 35, No. 2, 151-175.