Kama muta: Conceptualizing and measuring the experience often labelled being moved across 19 nations and 15 languages.

Janis H. Zickfeld, Thomas W. Schubert, Beate Seibt, J. K. Blomster , Patrícia Arriaga, Nekane Basabe, Agata Blaut, Amparo Caballero, Pilar Carrera, I Dalgar, Y Ding, Kitty Dumont, V Gaulhofer, Asmir Gračanin, R Gyenis, H Chuan-Peng, Igor Kardum, Ljiljana B. Lazarevic, L Mathew, Sari MentserRavit Nussinson, M Onuki, Darío Páez, A Pásztor, K Peng, B Petrović, José J. Pizarro, Victoria Schönefeld, Magdalena Śmieja, A Tokaji, A Vorster, Jonna K. Vuoskoski, Alan Page Fiske

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

English-speakers sometimes say that they feel “moved to tears,” “emotionally touched,” “stirred,” or that something “warmed their heart;” other languages use similar passive contact metaphors to refer to an affective state. The authors propose and measure the concept of kama muta to understand experiences often given these and other labels. Do the same experiences evoke the same kama muta emotion across nations and languages? They conducted studies in 19 different countries, 5 continents, 15 languages, with a total of 3,542 participants. They tested the construct while validating a comprehensive scale to measure the appraisals, valence, bodily sensations, motivation, and lexical labels posited to characterize kama muta. The results are congruent with theory and previous findings showing that kama muta is a distinct positive social relational emotion that is evoked by experiencing or observing a sudden intensification of communal sharing. It is commonly accompanied by a warm feeling in the chest, moist eyes or tears, chills or piloerection, feeling choked up or having a lump in the throat, buoyancy, and exhilaration. It motivates affective devotion and moral commitment to communal sharing. Although the authors observed some variations across cultures, these 5 facets of kama muta are highly correlated in every sample, supporting the validity of the construct and the measure. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)
Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)402–424
JournalEmotion
Volume19
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - 2018

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Kama muta: Conceptualizing and measuring the experience often labelled being moved across 19 nations and 15 languages.'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this