ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridional Response) is a perceptual feature where certain triggers, most often sound, cause a very pleasant sensation of tingling and goosebumps running from the head and neck all over the body. This phenomenon brings pleasant sensations to emotionally unstable people with increased anxiety.
There is a whole genre of ASMR videos on the web that have millions of views. The most common triggers are the sounds of whispering, rustling, rustling, light tapping, and so on.
However, not all people experience ASMR. Those who are prone to ASMR say that this phenomenon gives them a feeling of pleasure, deep relaxation, calmness, relieves stress and helps them fall asleep.
To find out which personality traits are associated with enjoying ASMR, psychologists from the University of Northumbria (UK), whose article in the journal PLOS ONE, conducted an experiment involving 64 volunteers. 36 of them were ASMR connoisseurs, and the rest were not.
Participants were shown an ASMR video and asked to undergo psychological testing for neuroticism (emotional instability, excitability, anxiety, insecurity, hypersensitivity to stress) and general tendency to experience anxiety. In addition, participants were tested for momentary anxiety before and after watching the video.
As it turned out, neuroticism and anxiety in the personality of ASMR lovers are much more pronouncedthan in the nature of people who do not enjoy such videos. ASMR fans also experienced intense anxiety prior to watching the video and calmed down after watching it. Watching the video did not have such an effect on the rest of the participants.
Thus, the researchers concluded that ASMR tends to receive pleasure and benefit from precisely emotionally unstable, anxious people, and the corresponding videos are a good means of psychological help for them.
1. «Untangling the tingle: Investigating the association between the Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR), neuroticism, and trait & state anxiety», Plos One.