Tingles, chills and being moved by love Flashcards
What is meant by benign masochism?
People seem to like their physiological reactions to innately negative experiences. There’s a general assumption that people pursue pleasure and avoid pain but for some of us, we actively pursue experiences that are negative
What is meant by dimorphous emotional expression?
Specific kind of complex emotional experience in which intense positive/negative emotion elicits an opposing valenced emotional expression.
You display negative emotions when you feel positive (e.g., crying, screaming, biting). You display positive emotions when you feel negative (e.g., smile when you’re embarrassed, laugh when you’re angry).
During dimorphous displays, both positive and negative expressions occur simultaneously in a disorganised manner, which means you have to rely on the context of the situation to interpret them.
What is meant by Kama Muta?
“Moved by love”
A social emotion which people experience as a positive heart-warm feeling, evoked by a sudden increase in interpersonal closeness
What are two features of kama muta?
Thought to be elicited by a sudden increase in communal sharing (e.g., exceptional kindness, compassion, sharing of resources) which creates a feeling of ‘oneness’ with others. Examples include situations such as: reunions, proposals, acts of kindness.
Research suggests that feeling kama muta in response to out-group members makes people view out-groups as more “human” – decreases dehumanisation (Blomster Lyshol et al., 2020).
What are some physiological signs strong Kama muta includes?
A warm feeling in the chest, tears, goosebumps, lump in the throat, exhilaration
Zickfield et al (2020) showed that Kama muta is associated with what?
Reduced heart rate
Increased number of SCRs
Higher zygomaticus activity (smiling)
Increased piloerection (goosebumps)
Increased skin temperature around chest (literally heart warming!)
What is piloerection?
A physiological reaction (hairs standing on end) elicited by emotional stimuli. Frisson is a correlate of awe, feeling moved/touched (e.g., kama muta), strong positive emotions, and most often, music. There are even reports that some people can induce goosebumps voluntarily.Not clear why it happens in relation to emotion. Functions of piloerection include temperature regulation and response to threat/mating in non-human animals
Lots of research on ‘frisson’ especially in relation to music (i.e., music induced chills). There are features that make it more likely to occur (e.g., in music – unexpected harmonies, sudden or gradual increases in volume, alternating between a solo instrument and orchestra).
What is the neural basis of individual differences in music-induced chills?
People who consistently experience chills in response to music have stronger neural pathways (structural connectivity – white matter) between auditory and reward processing regions.
The more a participant experiences chills, the larger the volume of white matter connectivity among these neural regions.
What does ASMR stand for? What is ASMR?
Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response is a pleasant scalp-tingling and relaxing sensation which can spread throughout the body. It is elicited in some (but not all) people in response to a common set of triggers.
What has ASMR been shown to co-occur with?
Misophonia
Chills
Synaesthesia
What is the estimated prevalence rate of ASMR?
20%
What is meant by the term dimorphous emotion?
When appearances can be deceiving…
During dimorphous displays, both positive and negative expressions occur simultaneously in a disorganised manner, which means you have to rely on the context of the situation to interpret them.
