The impact of changes in spatial distance on emotional responses.

Abstract

Drawing on motivational approaches to emotion, the authors propose that the perceived change in spatial distance to pictures that arouse negative emotions exerts an influence on the significance of these pictures. Two experiments induced the illusion that affective pictures approach toward the observer, recede from the observer, or remain static. To determine the motivational significance of the pictures, emotional valence and arousal ratings as well as startle responses were assessed. Approaching unpleasant pictures were found to exert an influence on both the valence and the arousal elicited by the pictures. Furthermore, movement of pleasant or neutral pictures did not influence startle responses, while the second experiment showed that approaching unpleasant pictures elicited enhanced startle responses compared to receding unpleasant pictures. These findings support the view that a change of spatial distance influences motivational significance and thereby shapes emotional responses.

Effects of approach-avoidance related motor behaviour on the startle response during emotional picture processing

“…Our results are in line with a recent study that could demonstrate that changes in spatial distance, in this case the illusion of a movement towards or away from the participant, can increase the motivational effects of emotional stimuli on the startle response (Muhlberger, Neumann, Wieser, & Pauli, 2008). However, the stimuli in our study remained static and did not respond to the motor action of the participant.…”

Watching Closely

“…Mühlberger, Neumann, Wieser, and Pauli (2008) found that approaching (growing in size) unpleasant images evoked increased physiological arousal compared to the same picture moving away (shrinking in size). A similar effect was found when only the mental representation of looming was manipulated (Davis, Gross, and Ochsner, 2011).…”

Is There a Negative Interpretation Bias in Depressed Patients? An Affective Startle Modulation Study

“…Magnitudes were calculated for the three categories. Participants with mean magnitudes below 5 μV across all trials were coded as non-responders and excluded from further analyses; therefore, 4 depressive patients and 2 healthy controls from the original sample were eliminated [43]. …”