Mechanisms of Emotional Contagion by Interpersonal Prosody Modulation

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K03386
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 10040:Experimental psychology-related
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: Miho Kitamura 早稲田大学, 高等研究所, その他(招聘研究員) (80748799)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: impression formation / communication / voice / emotion

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This study examined the effects of voice modulation on interpersonal impressions and emotional states in two-person dialogue situations. The results showed that voice modulation changes impressions of the interlocutor and of the conversation, and that these impressions are particularly affected by gender congruence between the interlocutors and by the synchronization/non-synchronization of the modulation. These changes in impressions were also found to occur in conjunction with physiological variability. These results indicate the functional significance of phonological features of speech on bilateral communication and suggest how prosodic information plays an important role in communication.

Free Research Field

impression formation

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本課題では、リアルタイムの音声変調システムを使って、音声の感情特性や二者間での音声同調が印象形成や感情に及ぼす影響を示した。これまでの対人印象研究の多くは、写真や録音された音声などを用いた研究が主であり、リアルタイムで二者が対峙している場面で検討されたもの少ない。本研究手法を用いれば、より現実場面に即した集団間での印象形成や感情生起システムの相互作用のメカニズムを明らかにすることができるはずである。