Personality

Published research study about mindfulness and ASMR

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityBeverley Fredborg, James Clark, and Stephen Smith have published another ASMR research study titled, “Mindfulness and ASMR.”  The study was published August 7, 2018 in PeerJ.

The goal of this study was to investigate the potential relationships between ASMR and mindfulness.

In their introduction, they provide these descriptions of mindfulness:

  • “…a two-component process by which one engages in both intentional self-regulation of attention and a nonjudgmental awareness and acceptance of the present moment.”
  • “…involves an openness to sensations, attentional control, emotional regulation, and resilience.”

The authors then highlight the similarities between mindfulness and ASMR:

  • “…the focused attention method of mindfulness meditation requires individuals to focus on a specific external stimulus or internal thought…During ASMR experiences, individuals focus attention on an external stimulus that triggers tingling sensations.”
  • “Both mindfulness and ASMR can lead to a feeling of relaxation that enhances people’s subjective well-being.”

These similarities definitely make one wonder if mindfulness is a form of ASMR, if ASMR is a form of mindfulness, or is there some other relationship?

The authors also teased out more data about ASMR and trigger preferences, age of onset, similarity to music chills, and frequency of using ASMR media to help with relaxation and sleeping.

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Published research study focuses on misophonia and ASMR

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityThis is the second ASMR research study published by Dr Agnieszka Janik McErlean (Bath Spa University, UK) and Dr Michael Banissy (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK).

Their prior study was titled, “Assessing individual variation in personality and empathy traits in self-reported ASMR” and was published March 30, 2017 in the journal Multisensory Research.

Their latest study is titled, “Increased misophonia in self-reported ASMR” and was published August 6, 2018 in the journal PeerJ.

Misophonia is common in discussions about ASMR because some people greatly enjoy ASMR trigger sounds like whispering, mouth sounds, and chewing but others will respond to those same sounds with annoyance, anger, or anxiety (misophonia).

Curiously, some people who report experiencing ASMR to some triggers also report experiencing misophonia to other triggers.  This hyper-sensitivity to sounds has people often wondering if people who experience ASMR are more likely to also experience misophonia.

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Published research study demonstrates physiological benefits of ASMR

/ Dr. Richard / 3 Comments

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityA peer-reviewed research study is the first to report physiological changes while individuals experience ASMR.

The publication is titled, “More than a feeling: ASMR is characterized by reliable changes in affect and physiology” and is authored by Giulia Lara Poerio, Emma Blakey, and Theresa Veltri from the University of Sheffield (UK) and Thomas Hostler from the Manchester Metropolitan University (UK).  The research was published June 20, 2018 in the journal PLOS ONE.

The publication reported the results of two studies.  The first study involved about 1000 participants watching videos and reporting how they felt.  The second study involved about 100 participants watching videos, reporting how they felt, and having some physiological responses measured.

I will first summarize the methods and results of the first study, then summarize the methods and results of the second study.

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Interview with Dr Agnieszka Janik McErlean – lead author of the research study on ASMR triggers, personality, and empathy

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityDr Agnieszka Janik McErlean is the lead author of the publication, “Assessing individual variation in personality and empathy traits in self-Reported Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response.”

At the time of the publication she was a Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at James Cook University in Singapore.  In January 2018, she will be a Senior Lecturer in the Dept of Psychology at Bath Spa University in the UK.

Dr Janik McErlean co-authored the paper with Dr Michael Banissy and the research was published March 30, 2017 in the journal Multisensory Research.

In my interview with Dr Janik McErlean she shares how she became interested in researching ASMR, the goals and methods of her study, the insights she uncovered about ASMR triggers, and her findings about the personality and empathy traits of ASMR responders.

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Science of ASMR: The third peer-reviewed research publication (podcast episode #12)

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian ResponseIn this podcast episode, I will be summarizing the third peer-reviewed research publication about ASMR and sharing an interview with the authors.

The paper is titled, ““An Examination of Personality Traits Associated with Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR)”)” and was published in the journal, Frontiers in Psychology on February 23, 2017. The authors are Beverley Fredborg, Jim Clark, and Stephen Smith from the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada.

This podcast episode will cover the following topics:

  • What are the personality traits associated with ASMR-sensitive individuals?
  • What are the most intense ASMR triggers?
  • How they recruited participants and determined ASMR sensitivity.
  • The focus of their next ASMR research publication.
  • and more.

Subscribe to the ASMR University Podcast to hear all of the past and future episodes or listen to this one episode right here:

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Interview with Bev Fredborg, author of the recent research publication about ASMR and personality traits.

/ Dr. Richard / 3 Comments

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityResearchers at the University of Winnipeg in Canada have recently published their second peer-reviewed research publication about ASMR.

The paper is titled, “An Examination of Personality Traits Associated with Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR)” and was published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology on February 23, 2017.

The publication was authored by Beverley Fredborg, an adjunct lab member in the Embodied Emotion Laboratory, Dr. Jim Clark, the Chair of the Department of Psychology, and Dr. Stephen Smith, an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology.

I recently wrote a short article which summarized some of the findings of this new publication.

This article now brings you an explanation of their study in the words of the lead author, Beverley “Bev” Fredborg, who is also currently pursuing her Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada.

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Peer-reviewed research publication about ASMR, personality traits, and ASMR triggers.

/ Dr. Richard / 2 Comments

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityIn 2016, Stephen Smith and Beverley Fredborg from the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada published a research paper about ASMR and brain activity (summary, interview, podcast episode).

The dynamic duo has now done it again, publishing their second research paper about ASMR.

The paper is titled, “An Examination of Personality Traits Associated with Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR)” and was published in the journal Frontiers in Psychology on February 23, 2017.  The article was authored by Beverley Fredborg, Jim Clark, and Stephen Smith.

The goal of the study was to investigate if ASMR is associated with specific personality traits, and they also analyzed data about the perceived intensity of specific ASMR triggers.

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Undergraduate student researching ASMR, flow states, and highly sensitive person traits

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ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityAnna Zajac is an undergraduate student at Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland.  She is in her final year as a Psychology Major and is working as a research assistant at her university.

In addition, she is an intern at Sensum Co., a marketing research company which specializes in neuromarketing.

Anna has teamed up with Dr. Jonathan Rolison to do her senior dissertation thesis on ASMR.  She has decided to apply her research skills and computer software experience to investigate the relationship of ASMR with flow states and highly sensitive person traits.

In my interview with Anna she shares her inspiration for doing a research project on ASMR, the objectives of her project, advice to others considering doing research on ASMR, and more.

Below are my questions in bold, her replies in italics, and links to learn more about her and her thesis supervisor. Continue reading →

*Participate now in research survey about ASMR and Personality Traits*

/ Dr. Richard / 1 Comment

ASMR Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response UniversityBeverley “Bev” Fredborg recently received her B.Sc. degree in Biopsychology from the University of Winnipeg in Canada. As part of a summer project, she is continuing an ASMR research project about personality traits which she was involved with as an undergraduate student.

I’ve reported on several students working on ASMR research projects previously, but this one has two important differences which demonstrate the progress of ASMR research.

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