What happened to the times when laughing came from happiness and emotions were the outcome of feeling? Gone forever, ignored by those who study how personality is shaped by biology. In a 180-degree turn, they argue that emotions control the nerve system's pitch in addition to just expressing feelings.
According to Randy Larsen, Ph.D., mood-regulation systems keep a person's emotional life at a "affective setpoint," much like appetite-regulation systems keep body weight at a steady setpoint.
These systems also exist in complete opposites.
A person known as an enhancer is one whose body often amplifies sensory stimuli. Their neurological system is always on high alert, therefore they find emotional slow motion to be sufficiently thrilling. Additionally, some people are reducers—their bodies attenuate receiving sensations. To stay awake, they might have to figure out how to liven up their emotional lives. They are not very aroused by nature.
An assistant professor at the University of Michigan, Larsen sees personality as a process, the unfolding of behavioral, affective, and cognitive patterns that are consistent over time. He didn't invent the so-called augmenter/reducer theory, but he is the first to extend it into the domain of emotions. Previous research by others has shown that reducers tend to have greater pain tolerance, prefer contact sports, and abuse drugs. Emotional responses appealed to Larsen because they are a powerful source of stimulation in everyday life. So he looked at how people respond to boring conditions -- like having to do 2,000 math problems. Reducers found them intolerable, and their performance was miserable. Given a choice, they opted for a mood-arousing experience, even an unpleasant one.
By Larsen's calculations, 20% of the population is similarly physiologically constituted to seek emotional intensity. Just be sure to get out of the way if two of them
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