Abstract
Researchers examining nonverbal communication of emotions are becoming increasingly interested in differentiations between different positive emotional states like interest, relief, and pride. But despite the importance of the voice in communicating emotion in general and positive emotion in particular, there is to date no systematic review of what characterizes vocal expressions of different positive emotions. Furthermore, integration and synthesis of current findings are lacking. In this review, we comprehensively review studies (N = 108) investigating acoustic features relating to specific positive emotions in speech prosody and nonverbal vocalizations. We find that happy voices are generally loud with considerable variability in loudness, have high and variable pitch, and are high in the first two formant frequencies. When specific positive emotions are directly compared with each other, pitch mean, loudness mean, and speech rate differ across positive emotions, with patterns mapping onto clusters of emotions, so-called emotion families. For instance, pitch is higher for epistemological emotions (amusement, interest, relief), moderate for savouring emotions (contentment and pleasure), and lower for a prosocial emotion (admiration). Some, but not all, of the differences in acoustic patterns also map on to differences in arousal levels. We end by pointing to limitations in extant work and making concrete proposals for future research on positive emotions in the voice.
Highlights
Researchers examining nonverbal communication of emotions are becoming increasingly interested in differentiations between different positive emotional states like interest, relief, and pride
Even though research on vocalizations of positive emotions is scarce compared to negative emotions, different positive emotions have been suggested to be characterized by distinct patterns of cognition, physiological responding, and behaviour, including nonverbal expressions (Shiota et al, 2014; Shiota et al, 2017)
We focus on the acoustic features of vocalizations associated with positive emotions, as expressed via both speech prosody and nonverbal vocalizations
Summary
Researchers examining nonverbal communication of emotions are becoming increasingly interested in differentiations between different positive emotional states like interest, relief, and pride. Most research has included a very limited number of positive compared to negative emotions (Sauter & Scott, 2007) or has used a single positive emotion, happiness, as an umbrella term. This makes it challenging to establish whether there is differentiation between vocal expressions of positive emotions. Even though research on vocalizations of positive emotions is scarce compared to negative emotions, different positive emotions have been suggested to be characterized by distinct patterns of cognition, physiological responding, and behaviour, including nonverbal expressions (Shiota et al, 2014; Shiota et al, 2017). Finishing first in an important competition might elicit different fitness-enhancing responses than would watching a beautiful vista from a mountaintop
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
