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Proceedings of the National Academy of... Feb 2019
Topics: Dopamine; Emotions; Music; Pleasure; Reward
PubMed: 30770455
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1900369116 -
International Journal of Environmental... Mar 2023Many people listen to music that conveys challenging emotions such as sadness and anger, despite the commonly assumed purpose of media being to elicit pleasure. We...
Many people listen to music that conveys challenging emotions such as sadness and anger, despite the commonly assumed purpose of media being to elicit pleasure. We propose that eudaimonic motivation, the desire to engage with aesthetic experiences to be challenged and facilitate meaningful experiences, can explain why people listen to music containing such emotions. However, it is unknown whether music containing violent themes can facilitate such meaningful experiences. In this investigation, three studies were conducted to determine the implications of eudaimonic and hedonic (pleasure-seeking) motivations for fans of music with violent themes. In Study 1, we developed and tested a new scale and showed that fans exhibit high levels of both types of motivation. Study 2 further validated the new scale and provided evidence that the two types of motivations are associated with different affective outcomes. Study 3 revealed that fans of violently themed music exhibited higher levels of eudaimonic motivation and lower levels of hedonic motivation than fans of non-violently themed music. Taken together, the findings support the notion that fans of music with violent themes are driven to engage with this music to be challenged and to pursue meaning, as well as to experience pleasure. Implications for fans' well-being and future applications of the new measure are discussed.
Topics: Humans; Pleasure; Motivation; Music; Emotions; Anger
PubMed: 36982066
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph20065157 -
Proceedings. Biological Sciences May 2017Today's society is pleasure seeking. We expect to obtain pleasurable experiences fast and easily. We are used to hyper-palatable foods and drinks, and we can get... (Review)
Review
UNLABELLED
Today's society is pleasure seeking. We expect to obtain pleasurable experiences fast and easily. We are used to hyper-palatable foods and drinks, and we can get pornography, games and gadgets whenever we want them.
THE PROBLEM
with this type of pleasure-maximizing choice behaviour we may be turning ourselves into mindless pleasure junkies, handing over our free will for the next dopamine shoot. Pleasure-only activities are fun. In excess, however, such activities might have negative effects on our biopsychological health: they provoke a change in the neural mechanisms underlying choice behaviour. Choice behaviour becomes biased towards short-term pleasure-maximizing goals, just as in the addicted brain (modulated by the amygdala, posterior ventromedial prefrontal cortex' (VMPFC), striatum, nucleus accumbens; 'A-system') and away from long-term prosperity and general well-being maximizing objectives (normally ensured by the insula, anterior VMPFC, hippocampus, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC); 'I-system'). This paper outlines, first, what 'pleasure' is and what 'pleasure-only' activities are (e.g. social media engagement, hyper-palatable eating). Second, an account is given of the type of action that might aid to maintain the neural systems underlying choice behaviour balanced. Finally, it is proposed that engagement with the arts might be an activity with the potential to foster healthy choice behaviour-and not be just for pleasure. The evidence in this rather new field of research is still piecemeal and inconclusive. This review aims to motivate targeted research in this domain.
Topics: Amygdala; Brain; Brain Mapping; Choice Behavior; Humans; Pleasure; Prefrontal Cortex
PubMed: 28469018
DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2016.2837 -
Trends in Cognitive Sciences Nov 2009The pursuit of happiness is a preoccupation for many people. Yet only the pursuit can be promised, not happiness itself. Can science help? We focus on the most tractable... (Review)
Review
The pursuit of happiness is a preoccupation for many people. Yet only the pursuit can be promised, not happiness itself. Can science help? We focus on the most tractable ingredient, hedonia or positive affect. A step toward happiness might be gained by improving the pleasures and positive moods in daily life. The neuroscience of pleasure and reward provides relevant insights, and we discuss how specific hedonic mechanisms might relate to happiness or the lack thereof. Although the neuroscience of happiness is still in its infancy, further advances might be made through mapping overlap between brain networks of hedonic pleasure with others, such as the brain's default network, potentially involved in the other happiness ingredient, eudaimonia or life meaning and engagement.
Topics: Animals; Brain Mapping; Cerebral Cortex; Happiness; Humans; Neuroanatomy; Pleasure
PubMed: 19782634
DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2009.08.006 -
The International Journal on Drug Policy Jul 2022GHB is used among some sexuality and gender diverse populations at elevated rates, however little qualitative research has explored GHB use among these populations with...
BACKGROUND
GHB is used among some sexuality and gender diverse populations at elevated rates, however little qualitative research has explored GHB use among these populations with regards to diverse contexts, settings, practices, and experiences of use. Internationally, harms relating to GHB overdose appear to be increasing. Research outlining consumers' experiences of GHB-related pleasures and their strategies to reduce harms may inform GHB education and intervention responses.
METHODS
N = 31 participants reporting three or more occasions of GHB use within the previous 12 months were recruited via digital advertising and snowball methods. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, data were transcribed and analysed in NVivo using a thematic framework analysis. Emergent themes were charted, and divergences and convergences were considered with regards to the sexuality and gender identities of participants.
RESULTS
Pleasures associated with GHB were described in relation to the sensation of the GHB high and experiences of intimacy, and connection. GHB was used to enhance socialising and sex in domestic, private, and commercial venues. Participants prioritised terminology of 'control' when describing their practices associated with GHB dosing, measuring, timing and peer moderation. Most participants reported personal experience of GHB overdose with loss of consciousness.
CONCLUSION
Participants' near-ubiquitous experience of GHB overdose highlights ongoing education needs around overdose prevention. Efforts must target people new to GHB use who appeared particularly susceptible to overdose. Inconsistencies in understandings around GHB overdose, the perceived severity of overdose and the differences between GHB and its precursors GBL and 1,4-BD, highlight potential focus areas of future education responses. Further research is required to better understand consumers' experiences of sexual violence in the context of GHB use.
Topics: Drug Overdose; Gender Identity; Humans; Pleasure; Sexual Behavior; Sexuality; Sodium Oxybate
PubMed: 35643047
DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103747 -
British Dental Journal May 2020
Topics: Anxiety; Humans; Music; Oral Surgical Procedures; Pilot Projects; Pleasure
PubMed: 32444723
DOI: 10.1038/s41415-020-1683-7 -
BMC Psychiatry May 2022Gender differences have been found to be associated with individuals' pleasure. Cognitive flexibility and emotional expressivity might play an important role between...
BACKGROUND
Gender differences have been found to be associated with individuals' pleasure. Cognitive flexibility and emotional expressivity might play an important role between gender differences and pleasure. This current study is to explore the mediating role of cognitive flexibility and emotional expressivity in the relationship between gender differences and pleasure.
METHOD
In this cross-sectional study, a sample of 1107 full-time university students from five colleges in Tianjin, Chinese mainland was investigated by questionnaire. All participants completed the Temporal Experience of Pleasure Scale (TEPs), the Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (CFI), and the Berkeley Expressivity Questionnaire (BEQ).
RESULTS
The results of independent T-test suggested that females reported better emotional expressivity, anticipatory pleasure and consummatory pleasure than males, whereas males had better cognitive flexibility than females. Using bootstrapping approach revealed that the partially mediation effects of cognitive flexibility on gender differences in anticipatory and consummatory pleasure, and that of emotional expressivity on gender differences in anticipatory and consummatory pleasure. Results of this present study stated that cognitive flexibility and emotional expressivity play a partial mediating role in explaining gender differences in anticipatory and consummatory pleasure.
CONCLUSION
Females had higher anticipatory and consummatory pleasure because they tend to use emotional regulation strategy to express their emotion.
Topics: Anhedonia; Cognition; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Humans; Male; Pleasure; Sex Factors; Surveys and Questionnaires
PubMed: 35513818
DOI: 10.1186/s12888-022-03945-9 -
American Journal of Public Health Feb 2020Sex education in the United States is limited in both its content and the measures used to collect data on what is taught. The risk-reduction framework that guides the...
Sex education in the United States is limited in both its content and the measures used to collect data on what is taught. The risk-reduction framework that guides the teaching of sex education in the United States focuses almost exclusively on avoiding unintended pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, overlooking other critical topics such as the information and skills needed to form healthy relationships and content related to sexual pleasure.Young people express frustration about the lack of information on sexuality and sexual behavior that is included in sex education programs; sexual and gender minority youths, in particular, feel overlooked by current approaches.International guidance provides a more robust framework for developing and measuring sex education and suggests a number of areas in which US sex education can improve to better meet the needs of youths.
Topics: Adolescent; Child Welfare; Humans; Pleasure; Risk Reduction Behavior; Sex Education; Sexual Behavior; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; United States
PubMed: 31855482
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2019.305320 -
Journal of Abnormal Psychology Feb 2017Pleasure and displeasure can be parsed into anticipatory and consummatory phases. However, research on pleasure and displeasure in major depressive disorder (MDD), a...
Pleasure and displeasure can be parsed into anticipatory and consummatory phases. However, research on pleasure and displeasure in major depressive disorder (MDD), a disorder characterized by anhedonia, has largely focused on deficits in the consummatory phase. Moreover, most studies in this area have been laboratory-based, raising the question of how component processes of pleasure and displeasure are experienced in the daily lives of depressed individuals. Using experience sampling, we compared anticipatory and consummatory pleasure and displeasure for daily activities reported by adults with MDD (n = 41) and healthy controls (n = 39). Participants carried electronic devices for one week and were randomly prompted eight times a day to answer questions about activities to which they most and least looked forward. Compared to healthy controls, MDD participants reported blunted levels of both anticipatory and consummatory pleasure and elevated levels of both anticipatory and consummatory displeasure for daily activities. Independent of MDD status, participants accurately predicted pleasure but overestimated displeasure. These results are the first to provide evidence that, across both anticipatory and consummatory phases, individuals with MDD experience blunted pleasure and elevated displeasure for daily activities. Our findings clarify the disturbances in pleasure and displeasure that characterize MDD and may inform treatment for this debilitating disorder. (PsycINFO Database Record
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Anhedonia; Anticipation, Psychological; Consummatory Behavior; Depressive Disorder, Major; Female; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Pleasure; Young Adult
PubMed: 27936838
DOI: 10.1037/abn0000244 -
Psychiatry Research Mar 2015A large number of imaging studies have examined the neural correlates of consummatory pleasure and anticipatory pleasure in schizophrenia, but the brain regions where... (Meta-Analysis)
Meta-Analysis Review
A large number of imaging studies have examined the neural correlates of consummatory pleasure and anticipatory pleasure in schizophrenia, but the brain regions where schizophrenia patients consistently demonstrate dysfunctions remain unclear. We performed a series of meta-analyses on imaging studies to delineate the regions associated with consummatory and anticipatory pleasure dysfunctions in schizophrenia. Nineteen functional magnetic resonance imaging or positron emission tomography studies using whole brain analysis were identified through a literature search (PubMed and EBSCO; January 1990-February 2014). Activation likelihood estimation was performed using the GingerALE software. The clusters identified were obtained after controlling for the false discovery rate at p<0.05 and applying a minimum cluster size of 200 mm(3). It was found that schizophrenia patients exhibited decreased activation mainly in the rostral medial prefrontal cortex (rmPFC), the right parahippocampus/amygala, and other limbic regions (e.g., the subgenual anterior cingulate cortex, the putamen, and the medial globus pallidus) when consummating pleasure. Task instructions (feeling vs. stimuli) were differentially related to medial prefrontal dysfunction in schizophrenia. When patients anticipated pleasure, reduced activation in the left putamen was observed, despite the limited number of studies. Our findings suggest that the medial prefrontal cortex and limbic regions may play an important role in neural dysfunction underlying deficits in consummatory pleasure in schizophrenia.
Topics: Adult; Consummatory Behavior; Female; Gyrus Cinguli; Humans; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Pleasure; Positron-Emission Tomography; Prefrontal Cortex; Putamen; Schizophrenia
PubMed: 25637357
DOI: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2015.01.001