Making a clean break with past : investigating the effects of haircut on embodiment of emotions

Embodiment is the concept that relates the body to internal mental processes. Metaphors are often used to explain the underlying mechanisms of embodiment because they help us comprehend abstract ideas by associating them with commonly understood concepts. Past research have explored the effect...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Chng, Jia Yun
Other Authors: Lee Kai Chung
Format: Final Year Project (FYP)
Language:English
Published: 2017
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/70610
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author Chng, Jia Yun
author2 Lee Kai Chung
author_facet Lee Kai Chung
Chng, Jia Yun
author_sort Chng, Jia Yun
collection NTU
description Embodiment is the concept that relates the body to internal mental processes. Metaphors are often used to explain the underlying mechanisms of embodiment because they help us comprehend abstract ideas by associating them with commonly understood concepts. Past research have explored the effects of physical cleansing, physical contact and physically enclosing objects on emotions experienced. These studies found out that changes in physical body states influenced emotions experienced by a person. Combining with the temporal self appraisal theory, the present study extends this area of research by looking at the impact of cutting hair on negative emotions experienced after recalling a regretful event. It was hypothesised participants who cut their hair after recalling a regretful event would feel less negative emotions as compared to participants who did not cut their hair. It was postulated that the act of cutting hair increased the subjective temporal distance between the past and current self, resulting in less negative emotions currently experienced. Sixty-five participants were undergraduates recruited from Nanyang Technological University. They recalled a regretful event through a written account, followed by a dexterity test with one of the task as cutting hair or a bundle of black thread and self-reported their current negative emotions towards the regretful event. Results of the study did not support the hypothesis. Suppressed magical thinking has been proposed to account for the results. Future studies could explore if the activation of magical thinking is essential for a haircut to result in reduction of negative emotions experienced.
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spelling ntu-10356/706102019-12-10T12:02:44Z Making a clean break with past : investigating the effects of haircut on embodiment of emotions Chng, Jia Yun Lee Kai Chung School of Humanities and Social Sciences DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology::Social psychology Embodiment is the concept that relates the body to internal mental processes. Metaphors are often used to explain the underlying mechanisms of embodiment because they help us comprehend abstract ideas by associating them with commonly understood concepts. Past research have explored the effects of physical cleansing, physical contact and physically enclosing objects on emotions experienced. These studies found out that changes in physical body states influenced emotions experienced by a person. Combining with the temporal self appraisal theory, the present study extends this area of research by looking at the impact of cutting hair on negative emotions experienced after recalling a regretful event. It was hypothesised participants who cut their hair after recalling a regretful event would feel less negative emotions as compared to participants who did not cut their hair. It was postulated that the act of cutting hair increased the subjective temporal distance between the past and current self, resulting in less negative emotions currently experienced. Sixty-five participants were undergraduates recruited from Nanyang Technological University. They recalled a regretful event through a written account, followed by a dexterity test with one of the task as cutting hair or a bundle of black thread and self-reported their current negative emotions towards the regretful event. Results of the study did not support the hypothesis. Suppressed magical thinking has been proposed to account for the results. Future studies could explore if the activation of magical thinking is essential for a haircut to result in reduction of negative emotions experienced. Bachelor of Arts 2017-05-05T03:39:31Z 2017-05-05T03:39:31Z 2017 Final Year Project (FYP) http://hdl.handle.net/10356/70610 en Nanyang Technological University 43 p. application/pdf
spellingShingle DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology::Social psychology
Chng, Jia Yun
Making a clean break with past : investigating the effects of haircut on embodiment of emotions
title Making a clean break with past : investigating the effects of haircut on embodiment of emotions
title_full Making a clean break with past : investigating the effects of haircut on embodiment of emotions
title_fullStr Making a clean break with past : investigating the effects of haircut on embodiment of emotions
title_full_unstemmed Making a clean break with past : investigating the effects of haircut on embodiment of emotions
title_short Making a clean break with past : investigating the effects of haircut on embodiment of emotions
title_sort making a clean break with past investigating the effects of haircut on embodiment of emotions
topic DRNTU::Social sciences::Sociology::Social psychology
url http://hdl.handle.net/10356/70610
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