Half the thrill is in the chase: Twisted inferences from embodied cognitions and brand evaluation

That people physically approach positive stimuli is not surprising, but do they also infer a stimulus is positive because they feel bodily sensations of approach toward it? We posit that because people usually approach rewards, in their minds, approach equals reward. As a consequence, if people associate the bodily sensation of approach with a stimulus, even a negative stimulus, they feel more positively toward it. These positive effects on liking are also observed toward other stimuli linked in memory to the original negative stimulus. We discuss the implications of such embodied sensations of approach on affect regulation. (97 words)