2000/05/01 by Stefan Wiens, Elizabeth Mezzacappa, Edward S. Katkin · 1 citation
Neuroscience · Medicine · Psychology · #Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment #Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments #Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
paper · doi:10.1080/026999300378905
openalex publication_date 2000/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
Although many theories of emotion hypothesise a crucial role for the self-perception of visceral activity, there has been little empirical investigation of the relationship between visceral self-perception and emotion. In this study, 52 undergraduates (19 males, 33 females) performed a heartbeat detection task and were classified as good (n=9) or poor (n=43) heartbeat detectors. Subjects were then presented with sets of two film clips, each targeting one of three different emotional valences (amusement, anger, fear). Subjects reported their affective responses to the clips on 9-point scales indicating intensity and pleasantness. Good detectors reported more intense emotions than poor detectors across all three emotional valences, but no differences were found on pleasantness ratings between the groups. These results suggest that visceral perception plays a role in the experience of the intensity of emotions.