Amount Awarded: $24,900
Kama muta theory explains being moved, touched or having heartwarming experiences. In online experiments, diary and recall studies we have confirmed, among other conclusions, that this emotion is evoked by a sudden intensification of a communal relation, that it often encompasses one or several perceivable bodily sensations, and that it increases self-reported devotion to a relationship. This opens the intriguing possibility that one person's being moved in a dyadic relationship signals to both relationship partners the closeness and value of this relationship, creating a virtuous dynamic, increasing trust in, commitment to, and satisfaction with the relationship. In this project, we plan to create such moving experiences in couples in the lab and explore their consequences for the couple. We will also explore whether the consequences differ as a function of each person's propensity to feel the emotion and their willingness to express it. We will compare these to outcomes of ordinary interactions in otherwise comparable couples. We plan to conduct one study with newly acquainted couples at UC Berkeley and one study with romantic couples at University of Oslo.