Sammendrag
Interestingly, and quite strangely, interview methods have hardly ever been used to investigate the experiential mysteries of emotion. Interest-excitement is an emotion that has undergone less research than other emotions. Thus, the present study has two goals: First, to describe different aspects of the phenomenology of interest-excitement. What are the typical characteristics of the experience of interest-excitement? Secondly, to consider and assess whether interview methods in general and the affect consciousness interview in particular are suitable for exploring the subjective experience of emotion and whether such methods can enrich and replenish our knowledge of emotions.
The sample in the present study consisted of healthy, non-clinical people, varied on several factors. The approach was qualitative and based on thematic analysis of data collected with the affect consciousness interview (ACI), an interview intended to tap the subjective experience of basic affective states and their organization within the individual. After recruiting, the author carried out the interviews, transcripts and the analysis.
The paper presents what appears to be typical eliciting event/scenes, 2) awareness cues, 3) tolerance, and 4) expressions of interest-excitement. The typical experience of interest-excitement involves different nuances of experience: physiologically (energy), feeling states (glad, enlivened, calm, anxious), cognitive changes (curiosity, motivation, focus), facial expressions (staring, smiling), vocal expressions (eager, loud, talking a lot), and conceptual expressions (making questions, stating opinions, discussing topic) e.g. The author believes that the ACI and other open or semi-structured interviews are highly suitable for the study of the experience of emotion and can enrich and replenish our knowledge of emotions.