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Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Frontiers in Neuroscience

Mixed emotions evoked when incongruent outward appearance and motion are combined

  • Ryousuke Kato1,2
  • Mai Takafuji1
  • Hiroshi Yamada1,3
  1. 1Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, Kansei, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, University of Tsukuba
  2. 2Graduate School of Engineering, Tokyo Polytechnic University
  3. 3Division of Biomedical Science, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba
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Abstract

Understanding mixed emotions is crucial for capturing the ambivalence of human information processing. However, how specific visual factors, such as outward appearance and motion, interact to evoke these conflicting feelings remains unclear. Here, we present three-dimensional (3D) characters as visual stimuli that evoke mixed feelings, providing empirical insights into emotional phenomena such as “kimo-kawaii” by focusing on their outward appearances and motions. Congruent stimuli (e.g., pleasant appearance with pleasant motion) and incongruent stimuli (e.g., pleasant appearance with unpleasant motion) were evaluated. Characters with congruent features evoked a single feeling: pleasant or unpleasant. In contrast, the combination of pleasant outward appearance and unpleasant motion evoked both pleasant and unpleasant feelings. Moreover, the combination of unpleasant outward appearance and pleasant motion strongly evoked unpleasant feelings rather than pleasant feelings. These findings suggest that, within the present stimulus set, outward appearance may exert a stronger influence on affective evaluation than motion. The observed co-activation of positive and negative affect may be relevant to mixed affective experiences such as “kimo-kawaii,” although further research using construct-specific measures is needed to establish this relationship.

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Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{kato2026mixed,
  title = {{Mixed emotions evoked when incongruent outward appearance and motion are combined}},
  author = {Ryousuke Kato and Mai Takafuji and Hiroshi Yamada},
  journal = {Frontiers in Neuroscience},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.3389/fnins.2026.1976417},
  url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2026.1976417/full},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Mixed emotions evoked when incongruent outward appearance and motion are combined
AU  - Ryousuke Kato
AU  - Mai Takafuji
AU  - Hiroshi Yamada
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/06
JO  - Frontiers in Neuroscience
DO  - 10.3389/fnins.2026.1976417
UR  - https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2026.1976417/full
AB  - Understanding mixed emotions is crucial for capturing the ambivalence of human information processing. However, how specific visual factors, such as outward appearance and motion, interact to evoke these conflicting feelings remains unclear. Here, we present three-dimensional (3D) characters as visual stimuli that evoke mixed feelings, providing empirical insights into emotional phenomena such as “kimo-kawaii” by focusing on their outward appearances and motions. Congruent stimuli (e.g., pleasant appearance with pleasant motion) and incongruent stimuli (e.g., pleasant appearance with unpleasant motion) were evaluated. Characters with congruent features evoked a single feeling: pleasant or unpleasant. In contrast, the combination of pleasant outward appearance and unpleasant motion evoked both pleasant and unpleasant feelings. Moreover, the combination of unpleasant outward appearance and pleasant motion strongly evoked unpleasant feelings rather than pleasant feelings. These findings suggest that, within the present stimulus set, outward appearance may exert a stronger influence on affective evaluation than motion. The observed co-activation of positive and negative affect may be relevant to mixed affective experiences such as “kimo-kawaii,” although further research using construct-specific measures is needed to establish this relationship.
SN  - 1662-453X
SN  - 1662-4548
ER  -