Emotion in aesthetics: Reactive and reflective models

Cupchik, Gerald C.

doi:10.1016/0304-422x(94)00014-w

Cited by 110 publications

(124 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…A piece of art gains personal significance [122], and meaningfulness [6] because it triggers memory and frontal experiential systems (I-system). The moment of meaning-assignation, also called 'mastering' or 'understanding' an artwork, is therefore a pleasurable experience [123][124][125][126], engaging similar brain mechanisms as the 'aha!' moment when the solution to a problem comes to mind [127,128].…”

Section: The Arts Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Pleasure junkies all around! Why it matters and why ‘the arts’ might be the answer: a biopsychological perspective

Christensen

2017

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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Today's society is pleasure seeking. We expect to obtain pleasurable experiences fast and easily. We are used to hyper-palatable foods and drinks, and we can get pornography, games and gadgets whenever we want them. The problem: with this type of pleasure-maximizing choice behaviour we may be turning ourselves into mindless pleasure junkies, handing over our free will for the next dopamine shoot. Pleasure-only activities are fun. In excess, however, such activities might have negative effects on our biopsychological health: they provoke a change in the neural mechanisms underlying choice behaviour. Choice behaviour becomes biased towards short-term pleasure-maximizing goals, just as in the addicted brain (modulated by the amygdala, posterior ventromedial prefrontal cortex' (VMPFC), striatum, nucleus accumbens; ‘A-system’) and away from long-term prosperity and general well-being maximizing objectives (normally ensured by the insula, anterior VMPFC, hippocampus, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC); ‘I-system‘). This paper outlines, first, what ‘pleasure’ is and what ‘pleasure-only’ activities are (e.g. social media engagement, hyper-palatable eating). Second, an account is given of the type of action that might aid to maintain the neural systems underlying choice behaviour balanced. Finally, it is proposed that engagement with the arts might be an activity with the potential to foster healthy choice behaviour—and not be just for pleasure. The evidence in this rather new field of research is still piecemeal and inconclusive. This review aims to motivate targeted research in this domain.

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Section: The Arts Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 99%

Pleasure junkies all around! Why it matters and why ‘the arts’ might be the answer: a biopsychological perspective

Christensen

2017

Proc. R. Soc. B.

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“…For nearly two decades, the work of Gerald Cupchik and his associates (Cupchik, 1995;Cupchik & Gignac, 2007;Cupchik, Oatley, & Vorderer, 1998;Cupchik & Shereck, 1998) has dealt with a topic that entertainment researchers have only begun to fully appreciate and explore in recent years, namely the relationship of emotion and cognition in art and entertainment experience. It is commonplace assumption in emotion theory that emotion and cognition are inseparable (cf., Damasio, 1994;Lazarus, 1991;Scherer, 2001), however, in the field of entertainment research, relatively little is known still about the ways emotion and cognition intertwine in individuals' processing of movies, novels, games, TV shows, and other entertainment offerings.…”

Section: Making Sense Of Entertainmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This line of research on defensive biases in information processing and how they can be overcome seems to offer a promising framework for entertainment scholars as well, specifically when studying more serious forms of entertainment experiences like those described by the reflective model of aesthetic experience (Cupchik, 1995), and the concept of appreciation (Oliver & Bartsch, 2010). For example, it may be speculated that the blends of positive and negative feelings that are typically associated with the experience of appreciation ) could reflect a form of entertainment experience where painful memories and insights are framed in an affectively positive and reassuring way that makes it easier for viewers to accept this information as part of their self-image and to use it as an incentive for self-improvement and personal growth.…”

Section: Making Sense Of Entertainment 11mentioning

confidence: 99%

Making Sense of Entertainment

Bartsch

Oliver

2011

Journal of Media Psychology

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This essay explores the relationship of emotion and cognition in entertainment experience. Drawing on the reflective model of aesthetic experience (Cupchik, 1995) and the concept of appreciation (Oliver & Bartsch, 2010), we propose a multi-level view of affective processing that includes simple affect schemata as well as more elaborate forms of sociomoral reasoning that build on this basic layer of emotional meaning. To better understand how affective factors can stimulate or impede cognitive elaboration processes, we review research on motivated cognition that has dealt with the influence of arousal, valence, and personal relevance on cognitive depth. The role of affect in defensive information processing (i.e., the motivated neglect or denial of information) is also considered. Specifically, we discuss how research on motivated cognition can help explain thought-provoking entertainment experiences, and the potential of such experiences to stimulate self-reflection and personal growth.

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“…For example, Cupchik (1994) noted that emotions strongly relate to one's own bodily responses and experiences. Kuiken et al (2004) showed that readers were likely to take self-referential perspectives, especially in emotionally complex contexts.…”

Section: Story Comprehension and Emotionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of Perceptual and Personal Memory Retrieval on Story Comprehension

Tsunemi

Kusumi

2011

PSYCHOLOGIA -An International Journal of Psychological Sciences

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This study focused on the relationship between personal perceptual memory and story comprehension. In two experiments, participants read story texts. Half the participants were asked to retrieve highly vivid perceptual memories (Exp. 1) or autobiographical memories as highly perceptual and personal memories (Exp. 2) before reading a story, and the other half were asked to retrieve less vivid perceptual memories, as a control task, before reading. Results showed that participants read more slowly under the highly perceptual memory retrieval condition only when their experiences were relatively similar to the experiences depicted in the story. Additionally, similarity between story content and participants' experiences was positively correlated with enjoyment of the story in both experiments. We interpreted the results as indicating that individuals are involved in emotional processes when they are able to integrate their own perceptual memories into the story content. Personal perceptual memory also appeared to contribute to story comprehension.

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Emotion in aesthetics: Reactive and reflective models

Cited by 110 publications

References 14 publications

Pleasure junkies all around! Why it matters and why ‘the arts’ might be the answer: a biopsychological perspective

Pleasure junkies all around! Why it matters and why ‘the arts’ might be the answer: a biopsychological perspective

Making Sense of Entertainment

The Effect of Perceptual and Personal Memory Retrieval on Story Comprehension

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