The Paradox of Fiction Revisited-Improvised Fictional and Real-Life Social Rejections Evoke Associated and Relatively Similar Psychophysiological Responses.

Sirke Seppänen,Tapio Toivanen,Iiro P Jääskeläinen,Tommi Makkonen,Kaisa Tiippana

doi:10.3390/brainsci11111463

Abstract

Theatre-based practices, such as improvisation, are frequently applied to simulate everyday social interactions. Although the improvisational context is acknowledged as fictional, realistic emotions may emerge, a phenomenon labelled the ‘paradox of fiction’. This study investigated how manipulating the context (real-life versus fictional) modulates psychophysiological reactivity to social rejection during dyadic interactions. We measured psychophysiological responses elicited during real-life (interview) and fictional (improvisation exercises) social rejections. We analysed the heart rate (HR), skin conductance, facial muscle activity, and electrocortical activity (electroencephalographic (EEG) alpha asymmetry) of student teachers (N = 39) during various social rejections (devaluing, interrupting, nonverbal rejection). All social rejections evoked negative EEG alpha asymmetry, a measure reflecting behavioural withdrawal motivation. Psychophysiological responses during real-life and fictional rejections correlated, and rejection type modified the responses. When comparing responses across all rejection types, facial muscle activity and EEG alpha asymmetry did not differ between real-life and fictional rejections, whereas HR decelerated and skin conductance increased during fictional rejections. These findings demonstrate that regardless of cognitive awareness of fictionality, relatively subtle social rejections elicited psychophysiological reactivity indicating emotional arousal and negative valence. These findings provide novel, biological evidence for the application of theatre-based improvisation to studying experientially everyday social encounters.

Highlights

An RM-ANOVA for TIME was performed for heart rate (HR), facial EMG, and EEG asymmetry to examine whether rejection responses differed from baseline
We analysed student teachers’ heart rates (HRs), skin conductance, facial muscle activity, and electrocortical activity during a 5 s time window beginning from the onset of rejections
Fictional stimuli that elicit personal, self-relevant memories may counterbalance this effect, and prompt an emotional arousal. This aspect of self-relevance might explain why we found no systematic attenuation of the psychophysiological arousal or valence related to the fictionality of the stimuli

Summary

Introduction

I found myself feeling slightly annoyed and taken aback that they were not interested in what I was saying’ This reflection from one student teacher describes their experiences from emotional moments during a theatre-based improvisation course, carried out as a 4.0/). The paradox of fiction refers to emotions we feel towards fictional characters and events even when we know they do not exist Other participants of this course described similar sensations, as did numerous participants from previous improvisation courses conducted by the same instructor (first author) over a decade. These apparently strong, frequently occurring, and clearly physical reactions inspired this study, which explores the psychophysiology of social rejections during improvisation exercises. We attempt to answer the following question: if the student teachers genuinely responded emotionally to a fictional simulation of a social interaction, was the physiological arousal of the emotion genuine as well?

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion