Cited by 1,335Psychosomatic Disorders and Their TreatmentsHeart Rate Variability and Autonomic ControlTactile and Sensory Interactions

Heart beat perception and emotional experience

Schandry, Rainer·1981·Psychophysiology

Abstract

ABSTRACT The main assumption of the present study is that emotional experience is coupled to perception of bodily processes. From this it is deduced that individuals who show good perception of heart activity tend to exhibit higher levels of a momentarily experienced emotion (in this case anxiety) and to score higher on the personality trait “Emotional Lability.” The aspect of cardiac awareness considered here is perception of heart beats. Subjects were instructed to count heart beats (only by concentrating on their body but not by taking their pulse) during a signalled time interval and the reported number of beats was then compared to the actual number of beats as extracted from the EKG. Additionally, skin conductance and respiration were recorded. During the experimental task (i.e., counting heart beats) increases in heart rate, respiration rate and number of spontaneous fluctuations in skin conductance were recorded. Groups of good and poor perceivers were formed on the basis of accuracy on the perception task. The two groups did not differ in heart rate; however, in State Anxiety and Emotional Lability, the group of good perceivers had significantly higher scores. The importance of visceroception for emotional experience is pointed out and the relevance for clinical psychology is discussed.

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Crossref · 10.1111/j.1469-8986.1981.tb02486.x

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  • The extent to which beliefs about heartbeat affect interoceptive accuracy estimates in the heartbeat counting task may depend on the task instructions given.

    “The extent to which beliefs about heart beat affect interoceptive accuracy estimates in the heartbeat counting task may depend on the task instructions given; whilst early instructions encouraged participants to ‘estimate’ if they could not feel their heartbeat (Brener and Ring, 2016; Schandry, 1981) more recent approaches advocate a response of zero in this instance (Murphy, Brewer, et al., 2018)”
  • Across individuals, interoceptive accuracy is correlated with emotional lability.

    “Much of this evidence utilises an individual differences approach to demonstrate that, across individuals, interoceptive accuracy is correlated with emotional lability (Rainer Schandry, 1981)”

    From Atypical interoception as a common risk factor for psychopathology: A review (2021) · cites this paper as Rainer Schandry, 1981

  • The heartbeat detection task is believed to be a reliable and valid quantifiable measure of interoceptive awareness.

    “The HBD task is believed to be a reliable and valid quantifiable measure of IA (Whitehead and Drescher, 1980; Schandry, 1981), in which the participants are instructed to perceive his or her heartbeats without feeling for a pulse.”

    From Mindfulness, Interoception, and the Body: A Contemporary Perspective (2019) · cites this paper as Schandry, 1981

  • Greater interoceptive awareness is associated with increased anxiety and panic, especially when bodily sensations are catastrophized.

    “Greater interoceptive awareness is associated with increased anxiety and panic, especially when those bodily sensations are catastrophized (Schandry, 1981; Ehlers and Breuer, 1992; Barlow, 2002; Pollatos et al., 2009; Paulus and Stein, 2010) during self-referential processing, such as in worry (e.g., Pollatos et al., 2009; Paulus and Stein, 2010).”

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Authors
Schandry, R.
Affiliations
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
Corresponding author
Schandry, Rainer
Venue
Psychophysiology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
1981-07
Volume
18
Issue
4
Pages
483-488
ISSN
  • 0048-5772 (ISSN-L)
  • 1469-8986
OpenAlex
W2104552834
Cited by
1,335
References
9
Citations by year
2026: 88 · 2025: 119 · 2024: 122 · 2023: 117 · 2022: 99 · 2021: 129 · 2020: 114 · 2019: 94 · 2018: 78 · 2017: 63 · 2016: 64 · 2015: 52 · 2014: 43 · 2013: 35 · 2012: 15
FWCI
2.98
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Psychophysiology (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
Keywords
visceral sensation, emotional experience, anxiety, emotional lability, state anxiety, skin conductance, respiration, heart rate, body awareness
MeSH terms
Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety, Emotions, Female, Heart Rate, Humans, Male, Perception, Personality

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