The influence of interoceptive accuracy on the verbalization of emotions

Abstract

Interoception, which pertains to the physiological state of the body, is associated with subjective emotional experiences. In particular, the accuracy of perceiving interoceptive signals (interoceptive accuracy [IAcc]) is linked to the intensity of emotional arousal, known as arousal focus (AF). IAcc is believed to influence the granularity of emotional experiences. Here, we examined the relationship between IAcc and assessment and verbalisation of one's own or others' emotions. Study I demonstrated that individuals with higher IAcc exhibited significantly greater AF when evaluating their own positive emotions. Furthermore, although no correlation between IAcc and AF was found in free descriptions of emotions, a significant positive correlation was found between IAcc and the number of emotion-related words. Study II showed that individuals with higher IAcc displayed significantly higher AF when assessing the positive emotions of characters in videos. Additionally, in free descriptions of these characters, a significant positive correlation was observed between predicted verbal IQ and the number of emotion-related words. These findings support the notion that interoception is associated with AF during assessment of one's own or others' positive emotions as well as the abundance of emotion-related words. This study demonstrates the relationship between bodily sensations and social aspects of human embodiment.