DEVELOPING EMOTIONS: PERCEPTIONS OF EMOTIONAL RESPONSES IN MUSEUM VISITORS

Abstract

The role of museums and heritage venues is a multifaceted one; they have (or are expected to have) a cer- tain amount of social responsibility, in the context of communicating information to the visiting public. The manner of presentation and interpretation of their objects, spaces or history can have a significant impact on the visitor. This extends to how the visitor engages, both physically, mentally, and emotionally with the items on display, or the venue / location itself, and the interpretative tools and systems. This paper seeks to explore the role that emotions can play within museum and heritage interpretative and interactive tools and systems, considering the expectations of both visitors and professionals in relation to emotional engagement. The study drew on surveys to create a picture of the expectations and perceptions of both the visitors and the professionals. By assessing this data, with reference to the extant literature, it was possible to determine the similarities in the expectations from visitors, and museum and heritage professionals. At the same time, the study provided insight into some of the potential issues regarding interpretation and interpretative tools within these contexts.