Abstract
According to the body-specificity hypothesis, people with different bodily characteristics should form correspondingly different mental representations, even in highly abstract conceptual domains. In a previous test of this proposal, right- and left-handers were found to associate positive ideas like intelligence, attractiveness, and honesty with their dominant side and negative ideas with their non-dominant side. The goal of the present study was to determine whether 'body-specific' associations of space and valence can be observed beyond the laboratory in spontaneous behavior, and whether these implicit associations have visible consequences. We analyzed speech and gesture (3012 spoken clauses, 1747 gestures) from the final debates of the 2004 and 2008 US presidential elections, which involved two right-handers (Kerry, Bush) and two left-handers (Obama, McCain). Blind, independent coding of speech and gesture allowed objective hypothesis testing. Right- and left-handed candidates showed contrasting associations between gesture and speech. In both of the left-handed candidates, left-hand gestures were associated more strongly with positive-valence clauses and right-hand gestures with negative-valence clauses; the opposite pattern was found in both right-handed candidates. Speakers associate positive messages more strongly with dominant hand gestures and negative messages with non-dominant hand gestures, revealing a hidden link between action and emotion. This pattern cannot be explained by conventions in language or culture, which associate 'good' with 'right' but not with 'left'; rather, results support and extend the body-specificity hypothesis. Furthermore, results suggest that the hand speakers use to gesture may have unexpected (and probably unintended) communicative value, providing the listener with a subtle index of how the speaker feels about the content of the co-occurring speech.
Highlights
Action and emotion are intimately linked in our everyday experiences
We investigated whether the way people conceptualize and communicate ideas with positive and negative emotional valence is linked to the way they perform actions with their particular bodies
Good things are conventionally associated with the right, and bad things with the left
Summary
People physically approach things they evaluate as positive and withdraw from things they evaluate as negative, a behavior that humans share with the simplest of organisms [1,2]. We investigated whether the way people conceptualize and communicate ideas with positive and negative emotional valence is linked to the way they perform actions with their particular bodies. Good things are conventionally associated with the right, and bad things with the left. This link is evident in English idioms with positive emotional valence like the right answer and my right hand man, and idioms with negative valence like out in left field and two left feet. The goal of the present study was to determine whether ‘body-specific’ associations of space and valence can be observed beyond the laboratory in spontaneous behavior, and whether these implicit associations have visible consequences
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