Physiological correlates and emotional specificity of human piloerection

► Film audio tracks are more powerful than music in eliciting piloerection. ► Objective measurement of piloerection avoids typical biases of self-report measures. ► Piloerection is primarily accompanied by an increase of phasic EDA and respiration depth. ► The separation call hypothesis is favored over the peak arousal hypothesis. ► Emotional piloerection indicates the state of being moved or touched.