{"title":"Tingles and Society: The Emotional Experience of ASMR as a Social Phenomenon","authors":"Michael Grothe‐Hammer","doi":"10.1111/soin.12618","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ASMR (“Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response”) is commonly defined as an emotional experience of a tingling sensation in the head and neck. It is said to be triggered by certain auditory, visual, interpersonal, tactile, and often socially intimate stimuli. A great many people around the world reportedly experience ASMR regularly. However, it was not before the year 2007 that the phenomenon has been publicly noticed. Since then, ASMR has become a persistent globalized phenomenon receiving enormous attention. But sociology has remained silent about the phenomenon. Therefore, this paper aims at bringing ASMR to the attention of sociology. ASMR constitutes a unique case of the social construction of a new emotion within the past 15 years or so. The paper offers a first attempt to grasp ASMR sociologically by looking at situational triggers, physiological sensations, the cultural labelling, and the problem of expressive gestures. The paper also identifies several areas of sociology for which ASMR has relevance and outlines potential research avenues.","PeriodicalId":47699,"journal":{"name":"Sociological Inquiry","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2024-06-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Sociological Inquiry","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/soin.12618","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"SOCIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
ASMR (“Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response”) is commonly defined as an emotional experience of a tingling sensation in the head and neck. It is said to be triggered by certain auditory, visual, interpersonal, tactile, and often socially intimate stimuli. A great many people around the world reportedly experience ASMR regularly. However, it was not before the year 2007 that the phenomenon has been publicly noticed. Since then, ASMR has become a persistent globalized phenomenon receiving enormous attention. But sociology has remained silent about the phenomenon. Therefore, this paper aims at bringing ASMR to the attention of sociology. ASMR constitutes a unique case of the social construction of a new emotion within the past 15 years or so. The paper offers a first attempt to grasp ASMR sociologically by looking at situational triggers, physiological sensations, the cultural labelling, and the problem of expressive gestures. The paper also identifies several areas of sociology for which ASMR has relevance and outlines potential research avenues.
期刊介绍:
Sociological Inquiry (SI) is committed to the exploration of the human condition in all of its social and cultural complexity. Its papers challenge us to look anew at traditional areas or identify novel areas for investigation. SI publishes both theoretical and empirical work as well as varied research methods in the study of social and cultural life.