15:00 - 16:30
Mon-P3-Poster I-4
Mon-Poster I-4
Room: P3
Feeling in Charge: Arousal and Individual Differences Impact the Sense of Agency
Mon-P3-Poster I-403
Presented by: Anna Render
Anna Render 1, 2, 3, Hedwig Eisenbarth 3, Matt Oxner 3, 4, Petra Jansen 2
1 Faculty of Psychology University of Passau Germany, 2 Faculty of Human Sciences University of Regensburg Germany, 3 Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand, 4 Institute of Psychology University of Leipzig Germany
The sense of agency varies as a function of arousal and valence in negative affect but is the same true for positive affect? Moreover, will inter-individual characteristics predict those effects? Temporal binding, an implicit measure of the sense of agency, was determined in 59 participants before and after watching a positive film clip with either high or low arousal compared to a neutral clip. Analyses included participants’ subjective affective ratings, physiological arousal (pupillometry, skin conductance, heart rate), and individual differences (arousal reactivity via psychopathy, eyeblink rates). Linear mixed models showed low arousal reactivity lessened the effect of high arousal on binding towards actions and facilitated an effect of low arousal on binding towards actions. Low arousal reactivity reversed the effects of high arousal on binding towards outcomes. These results provide evidence that individual differences influence the extent to which the sense of agency is affected by positive affect.
Keywords: Sense of Agency, Temporal Binding, Arousal Reactivity, Striatal Dopamine Levels, Sexual Arousal