Sharing the filmic experience - The physiology of socio-emotional processes in the cinema

Abstract

As we identify with characters on screen, we simulate their emotions and thoughts. This is accompanied by physiological changes such as galvanic skin response (GSR), an indicator for emotional arousal, and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA), referring to vagal activity. We investigated whether the presence of a cinema audience affects these psychophysiological processes. The study was conducted in a real cinema in Berlin. Participants came twice to watch previously rated emotional film scenes eliciting amusement, anger, tenderness or fear. Once they watched the scenes alone, once in a group. We tested whether the vagal modulation in response to the mere presence of others influences explicit (reported) and implicit markers (RSA, heart rate (HR) and GSR) of emotional processes in function of solitary or collective enjoyment of movie scenes. On the physiological level, we found a mediating effect of vagal flexibility to the mere presence of others. Individuals showing a high baseline difference (alone vs. social) prior to the presentation of film, maintained higher RSA in the alone compared to the social condition. The opposite pattern emerged for low baseline difference individuals. Emotional arousal as reflected in GSR was significantly more pronounced during scenes eliciting anger independent of the social condition. On the behavioural level, we found evidence for emotion-specific effects on reported empathy, emotional intensity and Theory of Mind. Furthermore, people who decrease their RSA in response to others’ company are those who felt themselves more empathically engaged with the characters. Our data speaks in favour of a specific role of vagal regulation in response to the mere presence of others in terms of explicit empathic engagement with characters during shared filmic experience.

Conscious processing of narrative stimuli synchronizes heart rate between individuals

“…In our view, it is the processing of the common stimulus, and not the co-presence in the same physical space, that causes the synchronization of the heart rate fluctuations. We predict that many results obtained with live performances (Konvalinka et al, 2011;Palumbo et al, 2017;Kaltwasser et al, 2019) or in-person interactions (Cohen et al, 2018) could be recovered with asynchronous playback of the same experience recorded with video. Evidently the experience may be less powerful than live in-person experiences (Golland et al, 2015), but the modulating factors of rela- tionships, emotions, or empathy may still prevail in this virtual context.…”

“…This literature emphasizes physical interaction and social relationships as the factors driving this synchronization. Even in the context of music, theater, or film, the emphasis is on the concurrent and shared experience of an audience that synchronizes heart rate to one another (Konvalinka et al, 2011;Bernardi et al, 2017;Kaltwasser et al, 2019;Ardizzi et al, 2020). Here, we have emphasized that it is the stimulus that synchronizes HR, or more precisely, a similar processing of a common stimulus.…”

Conscious processing of narrative stimuli synchronizes heart rate between individuals

“…Even in the context of music, theater, or film, the emphasis is on the concurrent and shared experience of an audience that synchronizes heart rate to oneanother. 38,39,56,57 Here we have emphasized instead that it is the stimulus that synchronizes HR, or more precisely, a similar processing of a common stimulus. There is no need for individuals to directly interact, be related to one another or perceive the stimulus together at the same time.…”

Acting Oneself as Another: An Actor’s Empathy for her Character

“…On this view, we can empathize with a character in a film by simulating her actions and emotions. This is evidenced by physiological changes such as galvanic skin response (GSR), which indicates emotional arousal (see Kaltwasser 2018). Murray Smith (2017) picks up on this account and on Gallese's notion of embodied simulation, as a way to explain a viewer's empathy with a character.…”