Linguistic Markers and Emotional Intensity

Abstract

The purpose of this experiment is to explore possible relationships between the intensity of emotions and the lexical modalities for expressing those emotions. In this experiment, 60 Hebrew-speaking subjects were asked to watch four short films that aroused emotion. Two of the films gave rise to different degrees of happiness, and two produced sadness. At the end of each film, subjects were asked to report on their emotions. This experiment was based on the supposition that there is a relationship between the various lexical modalities used by the subjects when writing about their emotions and the intensity of those emotions. The lexical modalities examined included intensifiers, the use of emotion words, repetitions, the use of first person singular, the use of metaphors, and the use of exclamations, among others. This experiment supported the research hypothesis, as it confirmed that significant differences existed between the lexical modalities found in texts written with lower emotional intensity (for both happiness and sadness) and those written with greater emotional intensity.