Tears of joy, aesthetic chills and heartwarming feelings: Physiological correlates of Kama Muta

Zickfeld, Janis; Arriaga, Patrí­cia; Santos, Sara; Schubert, Thomas W.; Seibt, Beate

doi:10.1111/psyp.13662

Cited by 37 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 102 publications

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“…Overall, the categorical objective occurrence of piloerection was quite low (3% in total across three videos; see S2 Table for complete frequencies). This is lower than, but similar to, recent reports (Zickfeld, Arriaga, Schubert, & Seibt, 2020). Surprisingly, 59% (across all three videos) selfreported experiencing goosebumps and 61% self-reported experiencing chills (counting those who answered above the lowest point on the scale).…”

Section: Frequency Of Piloerectionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Piloerection is not a reliable physiological correlate of awe

McPhetres

Shtulman

2021

International Journal of Psychophysiology

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In scientific and popular literature, piloerection (e.g. goosebumps) is often claimed to accompany the experience of awe, though this correlation has not been tested empirically. Using two pre-registered and independently collected samples (N = 233), we examined the objective physiological occurrence of piloerection in response to awe-inducing stimuli. Stimuli were selected to satisfy three descriptors of awe, including perceptual vastness, virtual reality, and expectancy-violating events. The stimuli reliably elicited self-reported awe to a great extent, in line with previous research. However, awe-inducing stimuli were not associated with the objective occurrence of piloerection. While participants self-reported high levels of goosebumps and "the chills," there was no physical evidence of this. These results suggest that piloerection is not reliably connected to the experience of awe-at least using stimuli known to elicit awe in an experimental setting.

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Section: Frequency Of Piloerectionsupporting

confidence: 73%

Piloerection is not a reliable physiological correlate of awe

McPhetres

Shtulman

2021

International Journal of Psychophysiology

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“…For example, researchers have claimed they're related to being moved (Benedek & Kaernbach, 2011) or touched (Schubert, Zickfeld, Seibt, & Fiske, 2018). It's often believed they occur as a physiological correlate of awe (Quesnel & Riecke, 2018;Schurtz et al, 2012), although some evidence suggests otherwise (McPhetres & Shtulman, 2020;Zickfeld, Arriaga, Schubert, & Seibt, 2020). They are reported to occur at the peak of the pleasure response (e.e., the peak arousal hypothesis; Salimpoor, Benovoy, Longo, Cooperstock, & Zatorre, 2009) and in response to strong positive emotions (Grewe et al, 2011;Maruskin et al, 2012;Sumpf, Jentschke, & Koelsch, 2015;Wassiliwizky, Wagner, Jacobsen, & Menninghaus, 2015).…”

Section: Positive Emotionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Researchers have recorded the occurrence of piloerection at several bodily locations. Most researchers (Benedek & Kaernbach, 2011;McPhetres & Shtulman, 2020;Quesnel & Riecke, 2018;Sumpf et al, 2015;Zickfeld et al, 2020) placed the camera on the non-dominant forearm or visually observed the arm (Craig, 2005). Wassiliwizky and colleagues Wassiliwizky, Koelsch, et al, 2017) placed the camera on the leg above the calf muscle.…”

Section: Goosecammentioning

confidence: 99%

The physiological study of emotional piloerection: A literature review and guide for future research

McPhetres¹

2021

Preprint

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This paper provides an accessible review of the biological and psychological evidence to guide new and experienced researchers in the study of emotional piloerection in humans. I first discuss the mechanisms and function of non-emotional and emotional piloerection. A systematic review (N = 27) reveals that indices of sympathetic activation are abundant, suggesting emotional piloerection occurs with increased skin conductivity and heart rate. Measures of emotions and parasympathetic activation are lacking and no clear conclusions can be drawn. Finally, I provide an overview of the methodological possibilities and I highlight some pressing questions researchers may wish to answer in future studies.

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“…This emotion is thought to be mixed in terms of valence (e.g., bittersweet), in that mostly positive but also negative feelings are elicited when feeling moved (Menninghaus et al, 2015;Vuoskoski & Eerola, 2017). Possibly as a reflection of this negative valence, some empirical evidence points to increased muscular activity around the eyes (e.g., corrugator) when people feel moved (Wassiliwizky et al, 2017a(Wassiliwizky et al, , 2017b; but see Zickfeld et al, 2020). Robust cross-cultural evidence also suggests that feeling moved is displayed and identified via tear droplets and crying (Schubert et al, 2018;Seibt et al, 2018;Zickfeld et al, 2019b).…”

Section: Nonverbal Expressions Of Positive Emotionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Do People Agree on How Positive Emotions Are Expressed? A Survey of Four Emotions and Five Modalities Across 11 Cultures

et al. 2021

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While much is known about how negative emotions are expressed in different modalities, our understanding of the nonverbal expressions of positive emotions remains limited. In the present research, we draw upon disparate lines of theoretical and empirical work on positive emotions, and systematically examine which channels are thought to be used for expressing four positive emotions: feeling moved, gratitude, interest, and triumph. Employing the intersubjective approach, an established method in cross-cultural psychology, we first explored how the four positive emotions were reported to be expressed in two North American community samples (Studies 1a and 1b: n = 1466). We next confirmed the cross-cultural generalizability of our findings by surveying respondents from ten countries that diverged on cultural values (Study 2: n = 1826). Feeling moved was thought to be signaled with facial expressions, gratitude with the use of words, interest with words, face and voice, and triumph with body posture, vocal cues, facial expressions, and words. These findings provide cross-culturally consistent findings of differential expressions across positive emotions. Notably, positive emotions were thought to be expressed via modalities that go beyond the face.

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Tears of joy, aesthetic chills and heartwarming feelings: Physiological correlates of Kama Muta

Abstract: This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.

Cited by 37 publications

References 102 publications

Piloerection is not a reliable physiological correlate of awe

Piloerection is not a reliable physiological correlate of awe

The physiological study of emotional piloerection: A literature review and guide for future research

Do People Agree on How Positive Emotions Are Expressed? A Survey of Four Emotions and Five Modalities Across 11 Cultures

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