Predicting individual differences in peak emotional response
PNAS Nexus February 29, 2024 F. Schoeller, Leonardo Christov-Moore, C. Lynch et al.
Individual differences in the experience of aesthetic chills—the feeling of cold and shivers down the spine during peak experiences—are predicted by a combination of age, sex, pre-exposure arousal, predisposition to Kama Muta (KAMF), and absorption (modified tellegen absorption scale [MODTAS]). A study of over 2,900 participants used mass data mining to create a large database of ecologically sourced chills-evoking stimuli, then applied machine learning (LASSO and SVM) and multilevel modeling. These factors predicted the occurrence of chills with 73.5% accuracy and accounted for 48% of the variance in chills intensity. The approach enables assignment of stimuli tailored to individual biopsychosocial profiles, increasing experimental control and revealing how sociocultural factors, psychological traits, and contextual states shape subjective phenomena.