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  1. Towards a psychological construct of being moved

    The emotional state of being moved, though frequently referred to in both classical rhetoric and current language use, is far from established as a well-defined psychological construct. In a series of three studies, we investigated eliciting... more

     

    The emotional state of being moved, though frequently referred to in both classical rhetoric and current language use, is far from established as a well-defined psychological construct. In a series of three studies, we investigated eliciting scenarios, emotional ingredients, appraisal patterns, feeling qualities, and the affective signature of being moved and related emotional states. The great majority of the eliciting scenarios can be assigned to significant relationship and critical life events (especially death, birth, marriage, separation, and reunion). Sadness and joy turned out to be the two preeminent emotions involved in episodes of being moved. Both the sad and the joyful variants of being moved showed a coactivation of positive and negative affect and can thus be ranked among the mixed emotions. Moreover, being moved, while featuring only low-to-mid arousal levels, was experienced as an emotional state of high intensity; this applied to responses to fictional artworks no less than to own-life and other real, but media-represented, events. The most distinctive findings regarding cognitive appraisal dimensions were very low ratings for causation of the event by oneself and for having the power to change its outcome, along with very high ratings for appraisals of compatibility with social norms and self-ideals. Putting together the characteristics identified and discussed throughout the three studies, the paper ends with a sketch of a psychological construct of being moved.

     

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    Source: CompaRe
    Language: English
    Media type: Article
    Format: Online
    DDC Categories: 800
    Collection: Max-Planck-Institut für empirische Ästhetik
    Subjects: Neurobiologie; Einfühlung; Trauer; Freude
    Rights:

    creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

    ;

    info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

  2. The emotional power of poetry: neural circuitry, psychophysiology and compositional principles

    It is a common experience—and well established experimentally—that music can engage us emotionally in a compelling manner. The mechanisms underlying these experiences are receiving increasing scrutiny. However, the extent to which other domains of... more

     

    It is a common experience—and well established experimentally—that music can engage us emotionally in a compelling manner. The mechanisms underlying these experiences are receiving increasing scrutiny. However, the extent to which other domains of aesthetic experience can similarly elicit strong emotions is unknown. Using psychophysiology, neuroimaging and behavioral responses, we show that recited poetry can act as a powerful stimulus for eliciting peak emotional responses, including chills and objectively measurable goosebumps that engage the primary reward circuitry. Importantly, while these responses to poetry are largely analogous to those found for music, their neural underpinnings show important differences, specifically with regard to the crucial role of the nucleus accumbens. We also go beyond replicating previous music-related studies by showing that peak aesthetic pleasure can co-occur with physiological markers of negative affect. Finally, the distribution of chills across the trajectory of poems provides insight into compositional principles of poetry.

     

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    Content information: free
    Source: CompaRe
    Language: English
    Media type: Article
    Format: Online
    DDC Categories: 800
    Collection: Max-Planck-Institut für empirische Ästhetik
    Subjects: Neuroästhetik; Nucleus accumbens; Lyrik; Ästhetik; Musikästhetik
    Rights:

    creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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    info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

  3. Tears falling on goosebumps : Co-occurrence of emotional lacrimation and emotional piloerection indicates a psychophysiological climax in emotional arousal

    This psychophysiological study is the first to examine the relationship between emotional tears and emotional piloerection (i.e., goosebumps). Although both phenomena have been related to peak states of being moved, details about their temporal... more

     

    This psychophysiological study is the first to examine the relationship between emotional tears and emotional piloerection (i.e., goosebumps). Although both phenomena have been related to peak states of being moved, details about their temporal occurrence and the associated levels of physiological arousal have remained unknown. In our study, we used emotionally powerful film scenes that were self-selected by participants. Our findings show that even within peak moments of emotional arousal, a gradation of intensity is possible. The overlap of tears and goosebumps signifies a maximal climax within peak moments. On the side of the stimulus, we found that displays of prosocial behavior play a crucial role in the elicitation of tears and goosebumps. Finally, based on the results of a formal film analysis of the tears-eliciting clips provided by our participants, as compared to randomly extracted, equally long control clips from the same films, we show how the technical and artistic making of the clips was optimized for the display of social interaction and emotional expressions.

     

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    Source: CompaRe
    Language: English
    Media type: Article
    Format: Online
    DDC Categories: 800
    Collection: Max-Planck-Institut für empirische Ästhetik
    Subjects: Film; Gänsehaut; Ergriffenheit; Gefühl
    Rights:

    creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

    ;

    info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

  4. Reading a suspenseful literary text activates brain areas related to social cognition and predictive inference

    Stories can elicit powerful emotions. A key emotional response to narrative plots (e.g., novels, movies, etc.) is suspense. Suspense appears to build on basic aspects of human cognition such as processes of expectation, anticipation, and prediction.... more

     

    Stories can elicit powerful emotions. A key emotional response to narrative plots (e.g., novels, movies, etc.) is suspense. Suspense appears to build on basic aspects of human cognition such as processes of expectation, anticipation, and prediction. However, the neural processes underlying emotional experiences of suspense have not been previously investigated. We acquired functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data while participants read a suspenseful literary text (E.T.A. Hoffmann's "The Sandman") subdivided into short text passages. Individual ratings of experienced suspense obtained after each text passage were found to be related to activation in the medial frontal cortex, bilateral frontal regions (along the inferior frontal sulcus), lateral premotor cortex, as well as posterior temporal and temporo-parietal areas. The results indicate that the emotional experience of suspense depends on brain areas associated with social cognition and predictive inference.

     

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    Source: CompaRe
    Language: English
    Media type: Article
    Format: Online
    DDC Categories: 800
    Collection: Max-Planck-Institut für empirische Ästhetik
    Subjects: Spannung; Literatur; Hoffmann, E. T. A.; Funktionelle Kernspintomografie; Präfrontaler Cortex; Erzähltechnik; Gefühl; Affekt
    Rights:

    creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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    info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

  5. READING and FEELING : the effects of a literature-based intervention designed to increase emotional competence in second and third graders

    Emotional competence has an important influence on development in school. We hypothesized that reading and discussing children’s books with emotional content increases children’s emotional competence. To examine this assumption, we developed a... more

     

    Emotional competence has an important influence on development in school. We hypothesized that reading and discussing children’s books with emotional content increases children’s emotional competence. To examine this assumption, we developed a literature-based intervention, named READING and FEELING, and tested it on 104 second and third graders in their after-school care center. Children who attended the same care center but did not participate in the emotion-centered literary program formed the control group (n = 104). Our goal was to promote emotional competence and to evaluate the effectiveness of the READING and FEELING program. Emotional competence variables were measured prior to the intervention and 9 weeks later, at the end of the program. Results revealed significant improvements in the emotional vocabulary, explicit emotional knowledge, and recognition of masked feelings. Regarding the treatment effect for detecting masked feelings, we found that boys benefited significantly more than girls. These findings underscore the assumption that children’s literature is an appropriate vehicle to support the development of emotional competence in middle childhood.

     

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    Content information: free
    Source: CompaRe
    Language: English
    Media type: Article
    Format: Online
    DDC Categories: 800
    Collection: Max-Planck-Institut für empirische Ästhetik
    Subjects: Gefühl; Intelligenz; Kinderliteratur; Kind; Entwicklung; Affektive Entwicklung
    Rights:

    creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

    ;

    info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess