The effect of pleasurable emotions on weight perception

Based on the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions and embodied cognition theory, this study explored the effects of two different forms of pleasure on the perception of object weight through two experiments. Experiment 1 induced pleasure by having participants watch a funny video and further investigated the effect of pleasure on weight perception. The results showed that the weight estimation of the pleasure group participants was significantly lower than that of the calm group. Experiment 2 induced pleasure through embodied pleasure postures and further investigated the effect of pleasure on weight perception. The results showed that subjects in the embodied pleasure posture group had lighter weight estimates compared to the calm posture and no posture groups. This study suggests that pleasure affects individuals' perception of the weight of objects, and pleasure makes individuals more optimistic in their perception of object weight.