Affective preferences in benign masochism

Abstract

Seeking hedonic reversals is central to benign masochism, which reflects enjoyment of aversive experiences falsely interpreted as threatening. However, evidence linking benign masochism to greater pleasure following such experiences is incomplete. To fill this gap, participants were given an option to choose what emotional experiences they wanted to feel and reported how they felt afterwards. In Study 1, benign masochism was associated with greater preference for stimuli characterized by high arousal and negative valence. High benign masochists reported greater positive affect after exposure to such repulsive stimuli than low benign masochists. Study 2 replicated these findings while accounting for sensation seeking. These findings provide support for the utility of the benign masochism in examining contrahedonic motives in self-regulation.