The utility of the emBODY tool as a novel method of studying complex phenomena-related emotions

Bodily sensations are one of the major building blocks of emotional experience. However, people differ in their ability to recognise and name their emotions, especially those in response to complex phenomena such as climate change or the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we investigated whether the bodi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inScientific reports Vol. 12; no. 1; pp. 19884 - 10
Main Authors Herman, Aleksandra M., Zaremba, Dominika, Kossowski, Bartosz, Marchewka, Artur
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Nature Publishing Group UK 18.11.2022
Nature Publishing Group
Nature Portfolio
Subjects
631/378/1457
631/477
Climate change
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Emotions
Emotions - physiology
Happiness
Humanities and Social Sciences
Humans
multidisciplinary
Pandemics
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Sensation
Sensation - physiology
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Summary:Bodily sensations are one of the major building blocks of emotional experience. However, people differ in their ability to recognise and name their emotions, especially those in response to complex phenomena such as climate change or the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, we investigated whether the bodily sensation maps (BSMs) approach can be employed to study emotions related to phenomena that are likely to evoke various, and perhaps even conflicting, emotions in people. Using a unique topographical self-report method—the previously established emBODY tool, 548 participants marked where in the body they feel sensations (activations and deactivations) when they experience distinct emotions (e.g. happiness) and when they think about different phenomena, namely climate change, COVID-19 pandemic, war, nature, friends, and summer holidays. We revealed maps of bodily sensations associated with different emotions and phenomena. Importantly, each phenomenon was related to a statistically unique BSM, suggesting that participants were able to differentiate between feelings associated with distinct phenomena. Yet, we also found that BSMs of phenomena showed some similarity with maps of emotions. Together, these findings indicate that the emBODY tool might be useful in uncovering the range of emotions individuals experience towards complex phenomena.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-022-23734-4