Evidence for mixed feelings of happiness and sadness from brief moments in time

Larsen, Jeff T.; Green, Jennifer D.

doi:10.1080/02699931.2013.790782

Cited by 29 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…happy and sad, amusement and disgust) for personal experiences, films, and music44. Mixed emotions can occur even during the same section of films and music4546. Already, some chills studies have suggested a positive relationship between chills and mixed emotions (happy and sad)63547.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two types of peak emotional responses to music: The psychophysiology of chills and tears

Mori

Iwanaga²

2017

Sci Rep

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People sometimes experience a strong emotional response to artworks. Previous studies have demonstrated that the peak emotional experience of chills (goose bumps or shivers) when listening to music involves psychophysiological arousal and a rewarding effect. However, many aspects of peak emotion are still not understood. The current research takes a new perspective of peak emotional response of tears (weeping, lump in the throat). A psychophysiological experiment showed that self-reported chills increased electrodermal activity and subjective arousal whereas tears produced slow respiration during heartbeat acceleration, although both chills and tears induced pleasure and deep breathing. A song that induced chills was perceived as being both happy and sad whereas a song that induced tears was perceived as sad. A tear-eliciting song was perceived as calmer than a chill-eliciting song. These results show that tears involve pleasure from sadness and that they are psychophysiologically calming; thus, psychophysiological responses permit the distinction between chills and tears. Because tears may have a cathartic effect, the functional significance of chills and tears seems to be different. We believe that the distinction of two types of peak emotions is theoretically relevant and further study of tears would contribute to more understanding of human peak emotional response.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Two types of peak emotional responses to music: The psychophysiology of chills and tears

Mori

Iwanaga²

2017

Sci Rep

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“…Emotionally, intense low arousal states seem at least rare (Ho et al, 2015;Kron, Pilkiw, Banaei, Goldstein, & Anderson, 2015;Reisenzein, 1994). Finally, only models that use unipolar axis for negative and positive valence allow for mixed emotions that seem relatively common at least in humans (Larsen & Green, 2013).…”

Section: Valuating a Set Of Stimuli-reactive And Proactive Emotionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wanting, liking and welfare: The role of affective states in proximate control of behaviour in vertebrates

Gygax

2017

Ethology

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Animals choose a course of action countless times each day. To do so, they need to prioritise their behaviour within a set of alternative actions and decide which of these actions to perform at any one time and for how long, that is, determine when the behaviour has reached its desired effect. This process has classically been called the proximate behavioural control mechanism. Several aspects contribute to this process: internal and external stimuli, the emotions that they elicit, motivation (wants), behavioural goals, valuation, decision‐making and its modulation by mood, and the assessment of behavioural outcomes (liking). I will address all these aspects in the form of an integrated conceptual model. In the process of behavioural control, options need to be valued, and I will refer to evidence showing that an affective hedonic process in respect to (future) reward and punishment heavily affects this value. Moreover, I view motivation, the force that finally drives a specific behavioural output, as being primarily influenced by affective states or even corresponding fully to them. Given the feedback in behavioural control by (dis‐)liking outcomes of behaviour, I reason that in respect to welfare it is more important for animals to reach proximate goals than to avoid negative stimuli. All behavioural choices are modulated, and I show how mood, a long‐term affective state, can cause such modulation. Proximate control of behaviour takes place in the brain, and I will briefly discuss how current and future brain research may elucidate how the brain computes these processes. Furthermore, the inclusion of affective states in the conceptual model raises the question of the subjective experience of animals, and I will address some of the important open questions in this area of research. I will conclude that neural studies cannot currently provide a detailed and general theory on the algorithms of proximate behavioural control. In parallel to further developing these approaches, I propose to strengthen a refined ethological approach with a focus on the states of “wanting” and “liking” in ecologically meaningful circumstances and with a strong ontogenetic (within species) and comparative (between species) component. I consider this ethological approach to be a highly promising step in understanding proximate behavioural control.

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“…Composites of multiple items tapping pleasant and unpleasant affective states are commonly used, yet these items often differ on more than one dimension (e.g., valence and arousal), and the interpretation of mixed emotions becomes more difficult when factorially diverse items are examined (Kessler & Staudinger, 2009; Russell & Carroll, 1999). The present study focuses on assessments of happiness and sadness, given that these consistently emerge as polar opposites on the valence dimension of the circumplex model of emotion (Remington, Fabrigar, & Visser, 2000), and have been repeatedly used in studies examining evidence for the experience of mixed emotions in experimental research (Carrera & Oceja, 2007; Larsen & Green, 2013; Larsen et al, 2001). Moreover, the co-occurrence of happiness and sadness has been considered to be paradigmatic of experiences of “poignancy” (Ersner-Hershfield, Carvel, & Isaacowitz, 2009; Ersner-Hershfield et al, 2008).…”

Section: Challenges In the Measurement Of Mixed Emotionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mixed emotions across the adult life span in the United States.

Schneider¹,

Stone²

2015

Psychology and Aging

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Mixed emotions involve the co-occurrence of positive and negative affect, such that people feel happy and sad at the same time. The purpose of the present study was to investigate age-related differences in the experience of mixed emotions across the adult life span in two nationally representative samples of U.S. residents. Data collected by the Princeton Affect and Time Survey (PATS, n = 3,948) and by the 2010 Wellbeing Module of the American Time Use Survey (ATUS, n = 12,828) were analyzed. In both surveys, respondents (aged 15 years or older) provided a detailed time diary about the preceding day and rated their happiness and sadness for three of the day's episodes. From these reports, three different indices of mixed emotions were derived. Results indicated small, but robust, increases in mixed emotions with age. Linear age increases were consistently evident in both PATS and ATUS, and replicated across the different indices of mixed emotions. There was no significant evidence for curvilinear age trends in either study. Several sociodemographic factors that could plausibly explain age-differences in mixed emotions (e.g., retirement, disability) did not alter the age-effects. The present study adds to the growing literature documenting vital changes in the complexity of emotional experience over the lifespan.

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Evidence for mixed feelings of happiness and sadness from brief moments in time

Cited by 29 publications

References 20 publications

Two types of peak emotional responses to music: The psychophysiology of chills and tears

Two types of peak emotional responses to music: The psychophysiology of chills and tears

Wanting, liking and welfare: The role of affective states in proximate control of behaviour in vertebrates

Mixed emotions across the adult life span in the United States.

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