Individual differences in aesthetic experience point to the role of bodily awareness in political orientation

Abstract Aesthetic chills are a peak response characterized by shivers and goosebumps in response to stimuli such as music or speech. In a previous study of 2947 California participants, conservatives and liberals reported experiencing chills with similar frequency when exposed to prevalidated audiovisual stimuli, but conservatism was associated with more intense chills. The present preregistered study examines whether this correlation was due to religiosity and/or being among a cultural minority (conservative within a progressive context), by assaying matched politically diverse populations in California ( n = 620) and Texas ( n = 262) while testing for religiosity and interoceptive awareness, based on links between conservatism and disgust sensitivity. The originally observed positive correlation between chills intensity and conservatism was replicated, did not show an effect of location, and appears strongly mediated by trait absorption, religiosity, and prestimulus mood. Post hoc analyses of nonlinear trends suggested that interoceptive awareness and chills intensity covary with distance from the political center, that is, extremism, rather than conservatism per se. This work suggests that heightened physiological/visceral intensity of experience may partly underlie political extremism and supports the utility of aesthetic responses as a tool to identify and even alter belief structures, including those underlying political world views.