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Schoeller, F., Christov-Moore, L., Lynch, C., Diot, T., & Reggente, N. (2024). Predicting Individual Differences in Peak Emotional Response. PNAS Nexus, 3(3). https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae066
Schoeller, Félix, Leonardo Christov-Moore, et al. “Predicting Individual Differences in Peak Emotional Response.” PNAS Nexus, vol. 3, no. 3, Feb. 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae066.
@article{Schoeller_Christov-Moore_Lynch_Diot_Reggente_2024, title={Predicting Individual Differences in Peak Emotional Response}, volume={3}, url={https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae066}, DOI={10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae066}, number={3}, journal={PNAS Nexus}, author={Schoeller, Félix and Christov-Moore, Leonardo and Lynch, Caitlin and Diot, Thomas and Reggente, Nicco}, year={2024}, month=feb }
Predicting Chills: Unraveling the Factors Behind a Powerful Emotional Response
Have you ever felt a shiver run down your spine when deeply moved by a piece of music or a scene in a film? Those “aesthetic chills” offer a fascinating glimpse into the interplay of our emotions and our individual experiences. In a recent study published in PNAS Nexus, we aimed to understand what makes some people more likely to feel these chills.
The Study Design
Our approach was multifaceted:
- Stimuli Selection: We used innovative data mining techniques on social media platforms to curate a database of stimuli with a proven track record of inducing chills.
- Diverse Participants: We exposed a diverse group of over 2,900 participants from Southern California to these stimuli. Data on their demographics, personality traits, and emotional responses were carefully collected.
Key Findings: Who’s Most Likely to Experience Chills
Our results were illuminating:
- Demographics: Certain demographic factors, such as being middle-aged, highly educated, and male, were associated with a greater likelihood of experiencing chills.
- Personality’s Impact: We also identified specific personality traits, like extraversion and conscientiousness, that were linked to more intense chills responses.
- Microcultures and Resonance: Perhaps the most intriguing finding was the use of latent class analysis to uncover hidden “microcultures.” These subgroups, characterized by specific combinations of demographic and psychological attributes, were significantly more likely to experience chills. This points to the role of cultural resonance in shaping these emotional experiences.
Predictive Power: Can We Foresee Chills?
We pushed the analysis further by employing machine learning algorithms to see if we could predict the occurrence and intensity of chills based on a combination of personal characteristics. Our models achieved up to 73.5% accuracy in predicting whether someone would experience chills and accounted for 48% of the variance in chills intensity.
The Significance of Our Work
This study has far-reaching implications. By identifying the key factors that shape our susceptibility to aesthetic chills, we open doors to more targeted and personalized approaches to studying these experiences in a laboratory setting. Furthermore, understanding these “chills profiles” could pave the way for using music, art, or other stimuli in therapeutic contexts – perhaps helping reduce symptoms like anhedonia in depression.