The paradoxical role of emotional intensity in the perception of vocal affect

Abstract Vocalizations including laughter, cries, moans, or screams constitute a potent source of information about the affective states of others. It is typically conjectured that the higher the intensity of the expressed emotion, the better the classification of affective information. However, att...

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Autores principales:	N. Holz, P. Larrouy-Maestri, D. Poeppel
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2021
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/f4cc21ee9b4d4235bb1556cd706ab540
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:f4cc21ee9b4d4235bb1556cd706ab5402021-12-02T16:51:31ZThe paradoxical role of emotional intensity in the perception of vocal affect10.1038/s41598-021-88431-02045-2322https://doaj.org/article/f4cc21ee9b4d4235bb1556cd706ab5402021-05-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88431-0https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Vocalizations including laughter, cries, moans, or screams constitute a potent source of information about the affective states of others. It is typically conjectured that the higher the intensity of the expressed emotion, the better the classification of affective information. However, attempts to map the relation between affective intensity and inferred meaning are controversial. Based on a newly developed stimulus database of carefully validated non-speech expressions ranging across the entire intensity spectrum from low to peak, we show that the intuition is false. Based on three experiments (N = 90), we demonstrate that intensity in fact has a paradoxical role. Participants were asked to rate and classify the authenticity, intensity and emotion, as well as valence and arousal of the wide range of vocalizations. Listeners are clearly able to infer expressed intensity and arousal; in contrast, and surprisingly, emotion category and valence have a perceptual sweet spot: moderate and strong emotions are clearly categorized, but peak emotions are maximally ambiguous. This finding, which converges with related observations from visual experiments, raises interesting theoretical challenges for the emotion communication literature.N. HolzP. Larrouy-MaestriD. PoeppelNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 11, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q N. Holz P. Larrouy-Maestri D. Poeppel The paradoxical role of emotional intensity in the perception of vocal affect
description	Abstract Vocalizations including laughter, cries, moans, or screams constitute a potent source of information about the affective states of others. It is typically conjectured that the higher the intensity of the expressed emotion, the better the classification of affective information. However, attempts to map the relation between affective intensity and inferred meaning are controversial. Based on a newly developed stimulus database of carefully validated non-speech expressions ranging across the entire intensity spectrum from low to peak, we show that the intuition is false. Based on three experiments (N = 90), we demonstrate that intensity in fact has a paradoxical role. Participants were asked to rate and classify the authenticity, intensity and emotion, as well as valence and arousal of the wide range of vocalizations. Listeners are clearly able to infer expressed intensity and arousal; in contrast, and surprisingly, emotion category and valence have a perceptual sweet spot: moderate and strong emotions are clearly categorized, but peak emotions are maximally ambiguous. This finding, which converges with related observations from visual experiments, raises interesting theoretical challenges for the emotion communication literature.
format	article
author	N. Holz P. Larrouy-Maestri D. Poeppel
author_facet	N. Holz P. Larrouy-Maestri D. Poeppel
author_sort	N. Holz
title	The paradoxical role of emotional intensity in the perception of vocal affect
title_short	The paradoxical role of emotional intensity in the perception of vocal affect
title_full	The paradoxical role of emotional intensity in the perception of vocal affect
title_fullStr	The paradoxical role of emotional intensity in the perception of vocal affect
title_full_unstemmed	The paradoxical role of emotional intensity in the perception of vocal affect
title_sort	paradoxical role of emotional intensity in the perception of vocal affect
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/f4cc21ee9b4d4235bb1556cd706ab540
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The paradoxical role of emotional intensity in the perception of vocal affect

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