Does Vocalization Increase the Positive Valence of Emotion?

Joshua Hyde; Lynda Feenaughty; Miriam van Mersbergen

doi:10.1016/j.jvoice.2024.07.022

Does Vocalization Increase the Positive Valence of Emotion?

J Voice. 2024 Aug 5:S0892-1997(24)00233-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2024.07.022. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Joshua Hyde¹, Lynda Feenaughty², Miriam van Mersbergen³

Affiliations

¹ School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee; Voice Center, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Ochsner Health, New Orleans, Louisiana.
² School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee.
³ School of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of Memphis, Memphis, Tennessee. Electronic address: Miriam.van.Mersbergen@memphis.edu.

PMID: 39107212
DOI: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2024.07.022

Abstract

Purpose: This study aims to determine if the act of voicing can have an effect on mood.

Design: A within-participant reversal paradigm, where each participant served as their own control.

Methods: Following a baseline condition, 40 participants (8 male, 32 female, none disclosed as other) underwent three experimental conditions: breathing, articulating, and voicing. After each condition, participants underwent a picture-viewing emotion-induction paradigm using the International Affective Picture System followed by rating their current mood and arousal.

Results: Immediately following the articulating condition, aversive pictures were rated as less unpleasant compared with the other conditions. Additionally, arousal levels were rated lower immediately following the articulating and voicing conditions in response to the positive pictures.

Conclusions: The findings showed that the act of making speech sounds, not simply voicing by itself, may influence the way we process emotions.

Keywords: Effects of voicing; Emotion; Mood and voice; Voice.