Affective Context of Sadness and Physiological Response Patterns

Abstract

This study was conducted to test the hypothesis that two films that induce a sad feeling would elicit different physiological responses depending on an additional context of the film contents related to either avoidance (disgust) or attachment (tenderness). Reactivity was evaluated for facial behavior, heart rate, pulse transit time, skin conductance, and subjective experience. Participants reported feeling less happy and showed increased facial activity related to the sad content of both films. The sad film related to avoidance induced an increase in skin conductance level and response rate. In contrast, the sad film related to attachment induced a decrease in amplitude of skin conductance responses and heart rate. The study showed that while the common sad content of both films disturbed mood or provoked negative feelings, additional affective contexts induced either a decrease or an increase in physiological arousal.