Publications on Kama Muta and Relational Models Theory

2026

Wiecha, J., Åbom, A. K., Śmieja, M., Wójcik, M. E. (2026). The Fabric of Connection? Exploratory Studies on Being Moved in Committed Relationships. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology.
https://doi.org/10.1111/sjop.70068

Fiske, A. P. (2026). Fiske, A.P. Why just these four ways of coordinating, and how Homo sapiens got them. Theory and Society55, 78. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-026-09733-8

Schubert, T. W. (2026). Extending the reach of relational models theory: measurement, model mixing, null relations, and mere dominance. Theory and Society55, 43. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-026-09712-z

Seibt, B. (2026). Beyond commodification: A taxonomy of relational model degradation and the limits of the UDHR framework. Theory and Society, 55, 46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11186-026-09713-y

Schubert, T. W., & Seibt, B. (2026). How to get from here to a relational social psychology. Behavioral and Brain Sciences49, e46. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X2510126X

Fiske, A. P. (2026). Shift to a new paradigm: realizing the relational models. Behavioral and Brain Sciences49, e31. doi:10.1017/S0140525X25101180

2025

Fiske, A. P., Schubert, T. W., & Seibt, B. (2025). Seeking communal emotions in social practices  that culturally evolved to evoke the emotions: Worship, kitten videos, memorials, narratives of love, and more. Annual Review of Psychology, 76, 607-633. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-psych-020124-023338

(open access)

Fiske, A. P. (2025). Representing Relationships: Modes of Cognition and Connection. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108942645

2024

Steinnes, K. K., Blomster Lyshol, J. K., Zickfeld, J. H., Schubert, T. W., & Seibt, B. (2024). Kama muta: The cuteness emotion. In L. Al-Shawaf & T. K. Shackelford (Eds.). The Oxford handbook of evolution and the emotions (pp. 339-356). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197544754.013.16 [preprint]

2023

Seibt, B., Zickfeld, J. H., & Østby, N. (2023). Global heart warming: Kama muta evoked by climate change messages is associated with intentions to mitigate climate change. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1112910. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1112910 [open access]

Blomster Lyshol, J. K., Seibt, B., Oliver, M. B., & Thomsen, L. (2023). Moving political opponents closer: How kama muta can contribute to reducing the partisan divide in the US. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 26, 493-511. https://doi.org/10.1177/13684302211067152 [open access]

Colleou, S. K. (2023). Kama muta in the workplace. Unpublished Master thesis, University of Oslo, https://nva.sikt.no/registration/019c95aa2fb6-8aa96d30-5e05-42d5-92a5-622092df5598

Leyva Salas, M. A. (2023). Exploring emotional paths towards collective giving. Unpublished Master thesis, University of Oslo, https://nva.sikt.no/registration/019c9592d8de-e4a66ca0-4cf9-44c1-b174-13695bfdd282

2022

Herting, A. K. & Schubert, T. W. (2022). Valence, sensations and appraisals co-occurring with feeling moved: Evidence on kama muta theory from intra-individually cross-correlated time series. Cognition and Emotion, DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2022.2089871 [open access]

Blomster Lyshol, J. K., Pich, O., & Seibt, B. (2022). Moved to Norway, Then Moved by Norway: How Moments of Kama Muta Is Related With Immigrants’ Acculturation. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220221221104944 [open access]

Lizarazo Pereira, D. M., Schubert, T. W., & Roth, J. (2022). Moved by social justice: The role of kama muta in collective action toward racial equality. Frontiers in Psychology. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.780615/ [open access]

Grüning, D. J., & Schubert, T. W. (2022). Emotional campaigning in politics: Being moved and anger in political ads motivate to support candidate and party. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 781851. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.781851 [open access]

Vuoskoski, J. K., Zickfeld, J. H., Alluri, V., Moorthigari, V., & Seibt, B. (2022). Feeling moved by music: Investigating continuous ratings and acoustic correlates. PLoS ONE 17(1): e0261151. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261151 [open access]

2021

Swarbrick, D., Seibt, C. B., Grinspun, N. & Vuoskoski, J. K. (2021). Corona Concerts: The Effect of Virtual Concert Characteristics on Social Connection and Kama Muta. Frontiers in Psychology. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.648448 [open access]

Zickfeld, J., van de Ven, N., Pich, O., Schubert, T. W., Berkessel, J., Pizarro Carrasco, J. J., … Orjiakor, C. (2021). Tears trigger the intention to offer social support: A systematic investigation of the interpersonal effects of emotional crying across 41 countries. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104137 [preprint]

Schubert, T. W., & Grüning, D. J. (2021). Proper understanding of grounded procedures of separation needs a dual inheritance approach. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 44.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X20000308 [preprint]

Janicke-Bowles, S. H., Schubert, T. W., Blomster, J. K. (2021). Kama muta as an eudaimonic entertainment experience. In P. Vorderer & C. Klimt (Eds.), Oxford Handbook of Entertainment Theory. Oxford University Press. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190072216.013.22 [preprint missing]

Petersen, E., Bischoff, A., Liedtke, G., & Martin, A. J. (2021). How Does Being Solo in Nature Affect Well-Being? Evidence from Norway, Germany and New Zealand. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health18(15), 7897. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18157897 [preprint missing]

Petersen, E., Martin, A. J. (2021). Kama muta (≈ being moved) helps connect people in and to nature: A photo elicitation approach. Ecopsychology Mar 2021, 37-47. http://doi.org/10.1089/eco.2020.0032 [preprint missing]

Lizarazo Pereira, D. M. (2021) Moved by Racial Justice: The Role of Kama muta in Collective Action toward Racial Equity among Advantaged and Disadvantaged Racial Groups. Master thesis at the University of Oslo, Norway. https://nva.sikt.no/registration/019c959d8001-c6aa9ab3-31cf-4880-962f-a510aa4a1906

Rmeileh, R. (2021). “Sumud is to Always be One Hand”: Culturally Informed Resilience Among Palestinian Refugee Men in Lebanon. Master thesis at the University of Oslo, Norway. https://nva.sikt.no/registration/019c959d9481-e809d404-97fa-49bf-b391-c8d8e328bf5a

2020

Hartford Sundquist, J. (2020). “That Book Gave Me the Feels”: The Relation Between Tension and Kama Muta When Reading Fiction. Master thesis, University of Oslo, Norway. https://nva.sikt.no/registration/019c9596afee-39b5eb44-b642-47db-acb1-98b03db8589d

Åbom, Anette K. (2020). Self-initiated Autonomy- and Intimacy-promoting Love Expressions. Master thesis, University of Oslo, Norway. https://nva.sikt.no/registration/019c9596e842-6ecac9ec-1989-4fd6-afb0-45529a603612

Hoëm, H. & Lunnan-Reitan, A. (2020). Foreldres erfaringer med å bli rørt i tiden rundt fødsel: En kvalitativ studie av fire foreldrepar. (master’s thesis). University of Oslo, Norway. https://nva.sikt.no/registration/019c959e7d49-5113b03d-e4e2-4630-b1e8-96273c11bcbb 

Blomster Lyshol, J. K., Thomsen, L., & Seibt, B. (2020). Moved by observing the love of others: kama muta evoked through media fosters humanization of out-groups. Frontiers in psychology11, 1240.1. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01240 (open access)

Fiske, A. P. (2020). Ways of Knowing Emotion, and What You Don’t Know about Your Own Emotions: The Case of Kama Muta. Social Research: An International Quarterly87(1), 171-195. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/758640 [preprint missing]

Fiske, A. P. (2020). The lexical fallacy in emotion research: Mistaking vernacular words for psychological entities. Psychological Review127(1), 95 – 113. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000174 [Preprint]

Zickfeld, J. H., Arriaga, P., Vilar Santos, S., Schubert, T. W., Seibt, B. (2020). Tears of joy, aesthetic chills and heartwarming feelings: Physiological correlates of Kama Muta. Psychophysiology. https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.13662 [preprint]

2019

Fiske (2019). Kama muta: Discovering the connecting emotion. London: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367220952

Fiske, A. P., Seibt, B., & Schubert, T. (2019). The sudden devotion emotion: Kama muta and the cultural practices whose function is to evoke it. Emotion Review11(1), 74-86. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1754073917723167 [preprint]

Petersen, E., Fiske, A. P., Schubert, T. W. (2019). The role of social relational emotions for human-nature connectedness. Front. Psychol. 10:2759. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02759 (open access)

Steinnes, K. K., Blomster, J. K., Seibt, B., Zickfeld, J. H., & Fiske, A. P. (2019). Too cute for words: Cuteness evokes the heartwarming emotion of kama muta. Frontiers in Psychology10, 387. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00387 (open access)

Zickfeld, J. H., Schubert, T. W., Seibt, B., & Fiske, A. P. (2019). Moving through the literature. What is the emotion often denoted being moved? Emotion Review, 11, 123-139. https://doi.org/10.1177/2F1754073918820126 [preprint]

Zickfeld, J. H., Schubert, T. W., Seibt, B., Blomster, J. K., Arriaga, P., Basabe, N., … & Fiske, A. P. (2019). Kama Muta: Conceptualizing and measuring the experience often labelled being moved across 19 nations and 15 languages. Emotion, 19, 402-424. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/emo0000450 [preprint]

Shivranjani, G. (2019). Exploring the treads of service providers working with refugees in Istanbul, Turkey. Master thesis at the University of Oslo, Norway. https://nva.sikt.no/registration/019c959322c6-ab44b4b3-298d-4c0b-87d8-e4277ad4d406

Pich, O. (2019). Social awe: A mixed methods investigation. Master thesis at the University of Oslo, Norway. https://www.duo.uio.no/handle/10852/83924

2018

Zickfeld, J. H., Schubert, T. W. (2018). Warm and touching tears: tearful individuals are perceived as warmer because we assume they feel moved and touched. Cognition and Emotion, 32, 1691-1699.https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2018.1430556 [preprint]

Zickfeld, J. H., van de Ven, N., Schubert, T. W., & Vingerhoets, A. (2018). Are tearful individuals perceived as more competent? Probably not. Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology, 3, 119-139. https://doi.org/10.1080/23743603.2018.1514254 [preprint]

Seibt, B., Schubert, T. W., Zickfeld, J. H., & Fiske, A. P. (2018). Touching the base: heart-warming ads from the 2016 U.S. election moved viewers to partisan tears. Cognition and Emotion, 33, 197-212. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2018.1441128 [preprint]

Seibt, B., Schubert, T. W., Zickfeld, J. H., Zhu, L., Arriaga, P., Simão, C., … & Fiske, A. P. (2018). Kama muta: similar emotional responses to touching videos across the United States, Norway, China, Israel, and Portugal. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology49(3), 418-435. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0022022117746240 [download preprint]

Schubert, T. W., Zickfeld, J. H., Seibt, B., & Fiske, A. P. (2018). Moment-to-moment changes in feeling moved match changes in closeness, tears, goosebumps, and warmth: Time series analyses. Cognition and Emotion32(1), 174-184. doi:10.1080/02699931.2016.1268998 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/02699931.2016.1268998 or download preprint

also, an interactive visualisation of the data shows data for one video

Østby, Nora (2018). Attitudes, cognition and affect related to climate refugees: Altering Norwegian attitudes towards climate change, refugees and climate refugees. (master’s thesis). University of Oslo, Norway. https://nva.sikt.no/registration/019c959dc477-88fdc51f-347b-436a-b95b-5ce6fe6228ab

Heiervang, Camilla Helen (2018). «I was playing and I just felt that… this is me.» Examining the role of positive emotions as motivators for professional musicians (Hovedoppgave). University of Oslo, Norway. https://nva.sikt.no/registration/019c9590cf15-484f90b6-f8a8-4a0c-94e9-f17bc24d0ab0 

2017

Fiske, A. P., Schubert, T. W., & Seibt, B. (2017). The best loved story of all time: Overcoming all obstacles to be reunited, evoking kama muta. Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture, 1, 67-70.

Fiske, A. P., Schubert, T. W., & Seibt, B. (2017). A bootstrapping approach to studying “kama muta” or “being moved by love”: The ontology and epistemology of an emotion. In J. Cassaniti & U. Menon (Eds.), Universalism without uniformity:  Explorations of mind at the crossroads of psychology and anthropology (pp. 79-100). University of Chicago Press. Doi: 10.7208/chicago/9780226501710.001.0001 [publisher] preprint below

Schubert, T. W., Seibt, B., Zickfeld, J. H., Blomster, J. K., & Fiske, A. P. (2017). Being moved is a positive emotion, and emotions should not be equated with their vernacular labels. Commentary in Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 40, e374. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0140525X17001820

Seibt, B., Schubert, T. W., Zickfeld, J. H., & Fiske, A. P. (2017). Interpersonal closeness and morality predict feelings of being moved. Emotion, 17(3), 389–394. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000271 [preprint]

Zickfeld, J. H., Schubert, T. W., Seibt, B., & Fiske, A. P. (2017). Empathic concern is part of a more general communal emotion. Frontiers in Psychology, 8(723). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00723 [open access]

Steinness, Kamilla K. (2017). Too cute for words: Cuteness Evokes the Kama Muta Emotion and Motivates Communal Sharing (master’s thesis). University of Oslo, Norway. https://nva.sikt.no/registration/0198cc78c6b6-d760df19-956b-4813-86bf-d8155dd0abd6

2016

Miguel, Rita Ramos (2016). Being moved: how do attachment styles and emotion regulation affect the experience of being moved? (master’s thesis). ISCTE-IUL, Lisbon, Portugal. http://hdl.handle.net/10071/11974 

2015

Zickfeld, Janis Heinrich (2015). Heartwarming Closeness Being Moved Induces Communal Sharing And Increases Feelings of Warmth (master’s thesis). University of Oslo, Norway. http://urn.nb.no/URN:NBN:no-52508