Horváth Áron, Körmendi János, Drozdovszky Orsolya, Gál Vera, Köteles Ferenc
Institute of Psychology, Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary, Budapest, Hungary.
Ádám György Psychophysiology Research Group, Budapest, Hungary.
PLoS One. 2025 Jul 11;20(7):e0327881. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0327881. eCollection 2025.
Previous research showed that the activation of the arm extensor muscles is associated with a more negative attitude. In contrast, arm flexor muscle activation is associated with a more positive one. However, most of the studies tested these effects with isometric activation of the muscles. The current study was conducted to test if these effects occur with actual passive and active forearm movement (i.e., isotonic muscle activation). 56 university students participated in this preregistered experiment. The study design consisted of two within-subject factors: (1) type of motion (i.e., the arm of the participants was moved actively or passively), and (2) movement direction (i.e., the arm moved toward the body, away from the body, or remained at the middle position. Participants rated their preferences toward Chinese-like ideographs. Data was analysed with repeated measures (2x3) ANCOVAs with state and trait affectivity (i.e., the experience of positive and negative emotional states at the moment and the general tendency to experience them) as covariates. No significant type of motion and direction main effects, and interaction were found. In conclusion, slight isotonic and passive movements of the forearm do not change the affective evaluation of stimuli. Systematic manipulation of the parameters, most importantly the muscle effort needed to move the forearm, could shed more light on the background of the results.
先前的研究表明，手臂伸肌的激活与更消极的态度相关。相反，手臂屈肌的激活与更积极的态度相关。然而，大多数研究通过肌肉的等长激活来测试这些效应。本研究旨在测试这些效应是否在实际的被动和主动前臂运动（即等张肌肉激活）中出现。56名大学生参与了这项预先注册的实验。研究设计包括两个受试者内因素：（1）运动类型（即参与者的手臂被主动或被动移动），以及（2）运动方向（即手臂向身体移动、远离身体或保持在中间位置）。参与者对类似中文的表意文字进行偏好评分。数据采用重复测量（2×3）协方差分析，以状态和特质情感（即当下积极和消极情绪状态的体验以及体验这些情绪的总体倾向）作为协变量。未发现显著的运动类型和方向主效应以及交互作用。总之，前臂轻微的等张和被动运动不会改变对刺激的情感评价。对参数进行系统操纵，最重要的是移动前臂所需的肌肉力量，可能会更清楚地揭示结果背后的原因。
