In their target article, Lee and Schwartz (L&S) propose a novel interpretation of cleansing behaviors, arguing that the act of self-cleansing can be used as a physical representation of the psychological separation of the self from something perceived as negative. The authors provide a comprehensive and parsimonious take on the matter that can help interpret the implications of cleansing behaviors beyond the areas of morality and disgust. However, we note that the authors examine “procedures of separation” and “connection,” but somewhat neglect potentially important grounded mechanisms for separating or connecting. Here we focus on one of the pillars of corporeal awareness, namely, body ownership: one's perception of the body, or parts of it, as belonging to the self (Giummarra, Gibson, Georgiou-Karistianis, & Bradshaw, Reference Giummarra, Gibson, Georgiou-Karistianis and Bradshaw2008). We will consider the possible use of body ownership as a means of distancing oneself from undesirable aspects of a given situation or associating with desirable ones.

An individual's sense of body ownership may be wrongly thought a stable trait. However, it is actually a highly moldable representation. At any given moment, one's identification with the body is determined by the continuous integration of signals from multiple sensory modalities (Blanke, Reference Blanke2012) with a top-down representation of the body (Monti, Porciello, Tieri, & Aglioti, Reference Monti, Porciello, Tieri and Aglioti2020). These processes are not only fundamental to building and maintaining corporeal awareness, but are also responsible for the malleability of bodily self and how objects (Berlucchi & Aglioti, Reference Berlucchi and Aglioti1997), faces (Porciello, Bufalari, Minio-Paluello, di Pace, & Aglioti, Reference Porciello, Bufalari, Minio-Paluello, di Pace and Aglioti2018), limbs (Botvinick & Cohen, Reference Botvinick and Cohen1998), and virtual agents (Slater, Perez-Marcos, Ehrsson, & Sanchez-Vives, Reference Slater, Perez-Marcos, Ehrsson and Sanchez-Vives2009) are incorporated into it. Crucially, transient changes in our representation of the body can alter how we perceive (Banakou, Groten, & Slater, Reference Banakou, Groten and Slater2013) and emotionally react (Guterstam, Abdulkarim, & Ehrsson, Reference Guterstam, Abdulkarim and Ehrsson2015) to the world. Changes of body representations can even shape our attitudes toward (Gonzalez-Liencres et al., Reference Gonzalez-Liencres, Zapata, Iruretagoyena, Seinfeld, Perez-Mendez, Arroyo-Palacios and Sanchez-Vives2020; Maister, Slater, Sanchez-Vives, & Tsakiris, Reference Maister, Slater, Sanchez-Vives and Tsakiris2015; Peck, Seinfeld, Aglioti, & Slater, Reference Peck, Seinfeld, Aglioti and Slater2013) and interactions with, those around us (Yee, Bailenson, & Ducheneaut, Reference Yee, Bailenson and Ducheneaut2009). Given the intrinsically plastic nature of body ownership and its effect on subjective experiences, we argue that variations in the strength of body ownership may induce feelings of connectedness and disconnectedness. More specifically, we suggest that a lower sense of body ownership may produce a sense of disconnection and therefore serve as a means of distancing the self from negative events and reducing their impact on the individual. Conversely, enhanced embodiment, as in the case of incorporation of external entities, may favor association with desirable characteristics.

The valence- and domain-related rules developed by L&S to examine self-cleansing as a psychological strategy can be applied to variations in the sense of body ownership. Events occurring before and after alterations in the strength of body ownership, that is, their antecedents and consequences, seem to follow the same pattern as that observed for self-cleansing behaviors. The consequences of low embodiment seem to be valence-general, as there are dampened physiological responses to both negative and positive stimuli (Fusaro, Tieri, & Aglioti, Reference Fusaro, Tieri and Aglioti2016). Additionally, the same domain-general principle observed for the consequences of cleansing, which can pertain to different psychological domains (e.g., morality, post-decisional dissonance, and previous good/bad luck), seems to apply also to body ownership. Indeed, the consequences of low embodiment have been observed in a variety of situations and include lower self-reports of negative emotions (Bourdin, Barberia, Oliva, & Slater, Reference Bourdin, Barberia, Oliva and Slater2017; Hofer, Hüsser, & Prabhu, Reference Hofer, Hüsser and Prabhu2017), diminished pain sensitivity (Martini, Kilteni, Maselli, & Sanchez-Vives, Reference Martini, Kilteni, Maselli and Sanchez-Vives2015), and lower physiological responses to threats (Tieri, Tidoni, Pavone, & Aglioti, Reference Tieri, Tidoni, Pavone and Aglioti2015). Interestingly, the opposite pattern is seen when people experience strong ownership feelings toward entities or bodies that they perceive as negative. In such instances, greater embodiment is associated with more self-reported negative emotions and a tendency to engage in subsequent reparation behaviors, such as apologizing (as a means of separating oneself from the offensive behavior) (Aymerich-Franch, Kishore, & Slater, Reference Aymerich-Franch, Kishore and Slater2020; Provenzano et al., Reference Provenzano, Porciello, Ciccarone, Lenggenhager, Tieri, Marucci, Dazzi, Loriedo and Bufalari2020).

When considering antecedents of body ownership, the evidence seems to support the valence-asymmetry principle (i.e., negative or positive events trigger the motivation to separate or connect, respectively). Lower embodiment is seen following negative outcomes, as in the case of observed motor errors (Pezzetta, Nicolardi, Tidoni, & Aglioti, Reference Pezzetta, Nicolardi, Tidoni and Aglioti2018), whereas positive features of external objects (Berlucchi & Aglioti, Reference Berlucchi and Aglioti1997; Porciello et al., Reference Porciello, Bufalari, Minio-Paluello, di Pace and Aglioti2018) are often incorporated into an extended body schema (Aglioti, Smania, Manfredi, & Berlucchi, Reference Aglioti, Smania, Manfredi and Berlucchi1996). The perception of positive features in others can lead to illusory incorporation of their face into the mental representation of one's own face (Porciello et al., Reference Porciello, Bufalari, Minio-Paluello, di Pace and Aglioti2018). Tellingly, such enfacement illusions are stronger when the other person is considered nice (Bufalari, Lenggenhager, Porciello, Holmes, & Aglioti, Reference Bufalari, Lenggenhager, Porciello, Holmes and Aglioti2014) or physically attractive (Paladino, Mazzurega, Pavani, & Schubert, Reference Paladino, Mazzurega, Pavani and Schubert2010; Sforza, Bufalari, Haggard, & Aglioti, Reference Sforza, Bufalari, Haggard and Aglioti2010), or expresses positive emotions (e.g., happiness) (Ma, Sellaro, Lippelt, & Hommel, Reference Ma, Sellaro, Lippelt and Hommel2016).

In this regard, body integrity identity disorder is an interesting clinical condition characterized by the non-acceptance of one's own limb(s) and the consequent desire for amputation (Brugger, Lenggenhager, & Giummarra, Reference Brugger, Lenggenhager and Giummarra2013). Whether the negative feelings are the antecedents of low body ownership in this condition or the negative feelings are the consequence of low body ownership is not clear. We believe that future studies on the treatment of this condition could determine the causal relationship between valence and body ownership, verifying whether enhancing positive feelings toward the body (or parts thereof) enhances embodiment or vice versa.

We propose that sense of body ownership can be included as a procedure of separation and connection, as defined by L&S. Body ownership demonstrably influences one's subjective experience of the world by shrinking or enlarging the perception of one's corporeal self. Further research on whether short and long-term changes in the sense of body ownership modulate its separation and connection power will be pivotal to understanding the potentially plastic nature of grounded procedures.

Highlighting the role of body ownership as a proxy for separation or connection is particularly relevant in contemporary society, where technological advances enable projection of the self into artificial bodies (e.g., robots and avatars). It is possible that, in the not-so-distant future, physical and social interactions will become more disembodied than ever, yet the psychological link between humans and their surrogates will still be deeply influenced by the ever-changing dynamics of corporeal awareness.