1
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Kamiloğlu RG, Sauter DA. Sounds like a fight: listeners can infer behavioural contexts from spontaneous nonverbal vocalisations. Cogn Emot 2024; 38:277-295. [PMID: 37997898 PMCID: PMC11057848 DOI: 10.1080/02699931.2023.2285854] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2022] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 11/25/2023]
Abstract
When we hear another person laugh or scream, can we tell the kind of situation they are in - for example, whether they are playing or fighting? Nonverbal expressions are theorised to vary systematically across behavioural contexts. Perceivers might be sensitive to these putative systematic mappings and thereby correctly infer contexts from others' vocalisations. Here, in two pre-registered experiments, we test the prediction that listeners can accurately deduce production contexts (e.g. being tickled, discovering threat) from spontaneous nonverbal vocalisations, like sighs and grunts. In Experiment 1, listeners (total n = 3120) matched 200 nonverbal vocalisations to one of 10 contexts using yes/no response options. Using signal detection analysis, we show that listeners were accurate at matching vocalisations to nine of the contexts. In Experiment 2, listeners (n = 337) categorised the production contexts by selecting from 10 response options in a forced-choice task. By analysing unbiased hit rates, we show that participants categorised all 10 contexts at better-than-chance levels. Together, these results demonstrate that perceivers can infer contexts from nonverbal vocalisations at rates that exceed that of random selection, suggesting that listeners are sensitive to systematic mappings between acoustic structures in vocalisations and behavioural contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roza G. Kamiloğlu
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
- Department of Experimental and Applied Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Disa A. Sauter
- Department of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
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2
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Pouw W, Fuchs S. Origins Of Vocal-Entangled Gesture. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022; 141:104836. [PMID: 36031008 DOI: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2022.104836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2022] [Revised: 08/12/2022] [Accepted: 08/21/2022] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Gestures during speaking are typically understood in a representational framework: they represent absent or distal states of affairs by means of pointing, resemblance, or symbolic replacement. However, humans also gesture along with the rhythm of speaking, which is amenable to a non-representational perspective. Such a perspective centers on the phenomenon of vocal-entangled gestures and builds on evidence showing that when an upper limb with a certain mass decelerates/accelerates sufficiently, it yields impulses on the body that cascade in various ways into the respiratory-vocal system. It entails a physical entanglement between body motions, respiration, and vocal activities. It is shown that vocal-entangled gestures are realized in infant vocal-motor babbling before any representational use of gesture develops. Similarly, an overview is given of vocal-entangled processes in non-human animals. They can frequently be found in rats, bats, birds, and a range of other species that developed even earlier in the phylogenetic tree. Thus, the origins of human gesture lie in biomechanics, emerging early in ontogeny and running deep in phylogeny.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wim Pouw
- Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
| | - Susanne Fuchs
- Leibniz Center General Linguistics, Berlin, Germany.
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3
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Hughes SM, Puts DA. Vocal modulation in human mating and competition. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2021; 376:20200388. [PMID: 34719246 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The human voice is dynamic, and people modulate their voices across different social interactions. This article presents a review of the literature examining natural vocal modulation in social contexts relevant to human mating and intrasexual competition. Altering acoustic parameters during speech, particularly pitch, in response to mating and competitive contexts can influence social perception and indicate certain qualities of the speaker. For instance, a lowered voice pitch is often used to exert dominance, display status and compete with rivals. Changes in voice can also serve as a salient medium for signalling a person's attraction to another, and there is evidence to support the notion that attraction and/or romantic interest can be distinguished through vocal tones alone. Individuals can purposely change their vocal behaviour in attempt to sound more attractive and to facilitate courtship success. Several findings also point to the effectiveness of vocal change as a mechanism for communicating relationship status. As future studies continue to explore vocal modulation in the arena of human mating, we will gain a better understanding of how and why vocal modulation varies across social contexts and its impact on receiver psychology. This article is part of the theme issue 'Voice modulation: from origin and mechanism to social impact (Part I)'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan M Hughes
- Psychology Department, Albright College, Reading, PA 19612, USA
| | - David A Puts
- Department of Anthropology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA
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4
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Pisanski K, Groyecka-Bernard A, Sorokowski P. Human voice pitch measures are robust across a variety of speech recordings: methodological and theoretical implications. Biol Lett 2021; 17:20210356. [PMID: 34582736 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0356] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Fundamental frequency (fo), perceived as voice pitch, is the most sexually dimorphic, perceptually salient and intensively studied voice parameter in human nonverbal communication. Thousands of studies have linked human fo to biological and social speaker traits and life outcomes, from reproductive to economic. Critically, researchers have used myriad speech stimuli to measure fo and infer its functional relevance, from individual vowels to longer bouts of spontaneous speech. Here, we acoustically analysed fo in nearly 1000 affectively neutral speech utterances (vowels, words, counting, greetings, read paragraphs and free spontaneous speech) produced by the same 154 men and women, aged 18-67, with two aims: first, to test the methodological validity of comparing fo measures from diverse speech stimuli, and second, to test the prediction that the vast inter-individual differences in habitual fo found between same-sex adults are preserved across speech types. Indeed, despite differences in linguistic content, duration, scripted or spontan--eous production and within-individual variability, we show that 42-81% of inter-individual differences in fo can be explained between any two speech types. Beyond methodological implications, together with recent evidence that inter-individual differences in fo are remarkably stable across the lifespan and generalize to emotional speech and nonverbal vocalizations, our results further substantiate voice pitch as a robust and reliable biomarker in human communication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarzyna Pisanski
- University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland.,CNRS/Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Laboratoire Dynamique du Langage, Université Lyon 2, Lyon, France.,Equipe de Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle, Centre de Recherche en Neurosciences de Lyon, Jean Monnet University of Saint-Etienne, France
| | - Agata Groyecka-Bernard
- University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw, Poland.,Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz, Mainz, Germany
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5
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Zhang J, Hodges-Simeon C, Gaulin SJ, Reid SA. Pitch lowering enhances men's perceived aggressive intent, not fighting ability. EVOL HUM BEHAV 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2020.07.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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6
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Keenan S, Mathevon N, Stevens JM, Nicolè F, Zuberbühler K, Guéry JP, Levréro F. The reliability of individual vocal signature varies across the bonobo's graded repertoire. Anim Behav 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.08.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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7
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Pisanski K, Raine J, Reby D. Individual differences in human voice pitch are preserved from speech to screams, roars and pain cries. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2020; 7:191642. [PMID: 32257325 PMCID: PMC7062086 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.191642] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2019] [Accepted: 01/21/2020] [Indexed: 05/19/2023]
Abstract
Fundamental frequency (F0, perceived as voice pitch) predicts sex and age, hormonal status, mating success and a range of social traits, and thus functions as an important biosocial marker in modal speech. Yet, the role of F0 in human nonverbal vocalizations remains unclear, and given considerable variability in F0 across call types, it is not known whether F0 cues to vocalizer attributes are shared across speech and nonverbal vocalizations. Here, using a corpus of vocal sounds from 51 men and women, we examined whether individual differences in F0 are retained across neutral speech, valenced speech and nonverbal vocalizations (screams, roars and pain cries). Acoustic analyses revealed substantial variability in F0 across vocal types, with mean F0 increasing as much as 10-fold in screams compared to speech in the same individual. Despite these extreme pitch differences, sexual dimorphism was preserved within call types and, critically, inter-individual differences in F0 correlated across vocal types (r = 0.36-0.80) with stronger relationships between vocal types of the same valence (e.g. 38% of the variance in roar F0 was predicted by aggressive speech F0). Our results indicate that biologically and socially relevant indexical cues in the human voice are preserved in simulated valenced speech and vocalizations, including vocalizations characterized by extreme F0 modulation, suggesting that voice pitch may function as a reliable individual and biosocial marker across disparate communication contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarzyna Pisanski
- Equipe de Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle ENES/CRNL, University of Lyon/Saint-Etienne, CNRS UMR5292, INSERM UMR_S 1028, Saint-Etienne, France
- Author for correspondence: Katarzyna Pisanski e-mail:
| | - Jordan Raine
- Mammal Vocal Communication and Cognition Research Group, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
| | - David Reby
- Equipe de Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle ENES/CRNL, University of Lyon/Saint-Etienne, CNRS UMR5292, INSERM UMR_S 1028, Saint-Etienne, France
- Mammal Vocal Communication and Cognition Research Group, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK
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8
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The Jena Speaker Set (JESS)-A database of voice stimuli from unfamiliar young and old adult speakers. Behav Res Methods 2019; 52:990-1007. [PMID: 31637667 DOI: 10.3758/s13428-019-01296-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Here we describe the Jena Speaker Set (JESS), a free database for unfamiliar adult voice stimuli, comprising voices from 61 young (18-25 years) and 59 old (60-81 years) female and male speakers uttering various sentences, syllables, read text, semi-spontaneous speech, and vowels. Listeners rated two voice samples (short sentences) per speaker for attractiveness, likeability, two measures of distinctiveness ("deviation"-based [DEV] and "voice in the crowd"-based [VITC]), regional accent, and age. Interrater reliability was high, with Cronbach's α between .82 and .99. Young voices were generally rated as more attractive than old voices, but particularly so when male listeners judged female voices. Moreover, young female voices were rated as more likeable than both young male and old female voices. Young voices were judged to be less distinctive than old voices according to the DEV measure, with no differences in the VITC measure. In age ratings, listeners almost perfectly discriminated young from old voices; additionally, young female voices were perceived as being younger than young male voices. Correlations between the rating dimensions above demonstrated (among other things) that DEV-based distinctiveness was strongly negatively correlated with rated attractiveness and likeability. By contrast, VITC-based distinctiveness was uncorrelated with rated attractiveness and likeability in young voices, although a moderate negative correlation was observed for old voices. Overall, the present results demonstrate systematic effects of vocal age and gender on impressions based on the voice and inform as to the selection of suitable voice stimuli for further research into voice perception, learning, and memory.
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9
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Levrero F, Mathevon N, Pisanski K, Gustafsson E, Reby D. The pitch of babies' cries predicts their voice pitch at age 5. Biol Lett 2019; 14:rsbl.2018.0065. [PMID: 29997184 DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/29/2018] [Accepted: 06/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Voice pitch (fundamental frequency, F0) is a key dimension of our voice that varies between sexes after puberty, and also among individuals of the same sex both before and after puberty. While a recent longitudinal study indicates that inter-individual differences in voice pitch remain stable in men during adulthood and may even be determined before puberty (Fouquet et al. 2016 R. Soc. open sci.3, 160395. (doi:10.1098/rsos.160395)), whether these differences emerge in infancy remains unknown. Here, using a longitudinal study design, we investigate the hypothesis that inter-individual differences in F0 are already present in the cries of pre-verbal babies. While based on a small sample (n = 15), our results indicate that the F0 of babies' cries at 4 months of age may predict the F0 of their speech utterances at 5 years of age, explaining 41% of the inter-individual variance in voice pitch at that age in our sample. We also found that the right-hand ratio of the length of their index to ring finger (2D : 4D digit ratio), which has been proposed to constitute an index of prenatal testosterone exposure, was positively correlated with F0 at both 4 months and 5 years of age. These findings suggest that a substantial proportion of between-individual differences in voice pitch, which convey important biosocial information about speakers, may partly originate in utero and thus already be present soon after birth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florence Levrero
- Equipe Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle, ENES/Neuro-PSI CNRS UMR 9197, University of Lyon/Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, 42100, France
| | - Nicolas Mathevon
- Equipe Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle, ENES/Neuro-PSI CNRS UMR 9197, University of Lyon/Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, 42100, France
| | - Katarzyna Pisanski
- Mammal Vocal Communication & Cognition Research Group, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK.,Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, 50-527 Wrocław, Poland
| | - Erik Gustafsson
- Equipe Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle, ENES/Neuro-PSI CNRS UMR 9197, University of Lyon/Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, 42100, France
| | - David Reby
- Mammal Vocal Communication & Cognition Research Group, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, UK
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10
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Šebesta P, Třebický V, Fialová J, Havlíček J. Roar of a Champion: Loudness and Voice Pitch Predict Perceived Fighting Ability but Not Success in MMA Fighters. Front Psychol 2019; 10:859. [PMID: 31114519 PMCID: PMC6502904 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2018] [Accepted: 04/01/2019] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Historically, antagonistic interactions have been a crucial determinant of access to various fitness-affecting resources. In many vertebrate species, information about relative fighting ability is conveyed, among other things, by vocalization. Previous research found that men's upper-body strength can be assessed from voice. In the present study, we tested formidability perception of intimidating vocalization (roars) and a short utterance produced by amateur male MMA fighters attending the amateur European Championships in relation to their physical fitness indicators and fighting success. We also tested acoustic predictors of the perceived formidability. We found that body height, weight, and physical fitness failed to predict perceived formidability either from speech or from the roars. Similarly, there was no significant association between formidability of the roars and utterances and actual fighting success. Perceived formidability was predicted mainly by roars' and utterances' intensity and roars' harmonics-to-noise ratio and duration. Interestingly, fundamental frequency (F0) predicted formidability ratings in both roars and utterances but in an opposite manner, so that low F0 utterances but high F0 roars were rated as more formidable. Our results suggest that formidability perception is primarily driven by intensity and duration of the vocalizations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pavel Šebesta
- National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czechia.,Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Vít Třebický
- National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czechia.,Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Jitka Fialová
- National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czechia.,Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
| | - Jan Havlíček
- National Institute of Mental Health, Klecany, Czechia.,Faculty of Science, Charles University, Prague, Czechia
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11
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Raine J, Pisanski K, Bond R, Simner J, Reby D. Human roars communicate upper-body strength more effectively than do screams or aggressive and distressed speech. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0213034. [PMID: 30830931 PMCID: PMC6398857 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0213034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2018] [Accepted: 02/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite widespread evidence that nonverbal components of human speech (e.g., voice pitch) communicate information about physical attributes of vocalizers and that listeners can judge traits such as strength and body size from speech, few studies have examined the communicative functions of human nonverbal vocalizations (such as roars, screams, grunts and laughs). Critically, no previous study has yet to examine the acoustic correlates of strength in nonverbal vocalisations, including roars, nor identified reliable vocal cues to strength in human speech. In addition to being less acoustically constrained than articulated speech, agonistic nonverbal vocalizations function primarily to express motivation and emotion, such as threat, and may therefore communicate strength and body size more effectively than speech. Here, we investigated acoustic cues to strength and size in roars compared to screams and speech sentences produced in both aggressive and distress contexts. Using playback experiments, we then tested whether listeners can reliably infer a vocalizer's actual strength and height from roars, screams, and valenced speech equivalents, and which acoustic features predicted listeners' judgments. While there were no consistent acoustic cues to strength in any vocal stimuli, listeners accurately judged inter-individual differences in strength, and did so most effectively from aggressive voice stimuli (roars and aggressive speech). In addition, listeners more accurately judged strength from roars than from aggressive speech. In contrast, listeners' judgments of height were most accurate for speech stimuli. These results support the prediction that vocalizers maximize impressions of physical strength in aggressive compared to distress contexts, and that inter-individual variation in strength may only be honestly communicated in vocalizations that function to communicate threat, particularly roars. Thus, in continuity with nonhuman mammals, the acoustic structure of human aggressive roars may have been selected to communicate, and to some extent exaggerate, functional cues to physical formidability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan Raine
- Mammal Vocal Communication and Cognition Research Group, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Katarzyna Pisanski
- Mammal Vocal Communication and Cognition Research Group, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
- Equipe Neuro-Ethologie Sensorielle, ENES/Neuro-PSI CNRS UMR 9197, Bioacoustics Team, University of Lyon/Saint-Etienne, Saint-Etienne, France
| | - Rod Bond
- Mammal Vocal Communication and Cognition Research Group, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - Julia Simner
- MULTISENSE Research Lab, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
| | - David Reby
- Mammal Vocal Communication and Cognition Research Group, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom
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12
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Furley P. What Modern Sports Competitions Can Tell Us About Human Nature. PERSPECTIVES ON PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE 2018; 14:138-155. [PMID: 30426884 DOI: 10.1177/1745691618794912] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
To fully understand human behavior, it seems inevitable to approach it from an evolutionary perspective. However, much of human behavior has been overwritten by culture and society, thus allowing little insight into how it might have evolved amid natural and sexual selection. Here, I argue that sports competitions, although a cultural phenomenon in themselves, strip away many of the cultural layers and reveal more primary, rudimentary aspects of human behavior. Fortunately, because they are ubiquitous, meticulously recorded, and often quantified in great detail, sports competitions provide a plethora of usable data. In this article I provide an evolutionary account of the cross-cultural existence and popularity of sports by reviewing evidence of four functional hypotheses that regard the omnipresence of sports as a by-product of fitness-related adaptations (skill acquisition and development, status seeking, courtship display, and coalition formation). Then I outline how the growing body of sports data and documentation can be exploited for increasing our understanding of human nature (e.g., on conflict and cooperation, lateral preferences, territoriality, and nonverbal communication). The article concludes by giving guidelines for future cross-disciplinary research to advance the understanding of how evolution has shaped human behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philip Furley
- Institute of Training and Computer Science in Sport, German Sport University Cologne
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13
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Pisanski K, Kobylarek A, Jakubowska L, Nowak J, Walter A, Błaszczyński K, Kasprzyk M, Łysenko K, Sukiennik I, Piątek K, Frackowiak T, Sorokowski P. Multimodal stress detection: Testing for covariation in vocal, hormonal and physiological responses to Trier Social Stress Test. Horm Behav 2018; 106:52-61. [PMID: 30189213 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2018.08.014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2018] [Revised: 07/30/2018] [Accepted: 08/31/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Examining the effects of acute stress across multiple modalities (behavioral, physiological, and endocrinological) can increase our understanding of the interplay among stress systems, and may improve the efficacy of stress detection. A multimodal approach also allows for verification of the biological stress response, which can vary between individuals due to myriad internal and external factors, thus allowing for reliable interpretation of behavioral markers of stress. Here, controlling for variables known to affect the magnitude of the stress response, we utilized the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) to elicit an acute stress response in 80 healthy adult men and women. The TSST involves an interview-style oral presentation and critical social evaluation, and is highly effective in inducing psychosocial stress. Participants completed the study in individual 2 h sessions, during which we collected voice, polygraph and salivary hormone measures in baseline, stress, and relaxation phases. Our results show sizeable systematic increases in voice pitch (mean, minimum and variation in fundamental frequency, F0), hormone levels (cortisol) and decreases in skin temperature and hand movement during psychosocial stress, with striking similarities between men and women. However, cortisol and skin temperature only weakly predicted changes in voice pitch during stress, in either women or men, respectively. Thus, while our results provide compelling evidence that psychosocial stress manifests itself behaviorally by increasing voice pitch and its variability alongside simultaneous activation of physiological and endocrinological stress systems, our results also highlight a relatively weak degree of intra-individual 'response coherence' across these stress systems, with dissociations among different stress measures related most strongly to sex.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarzyna Pisanski
- Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, Poland; Mammal Vocal Communication and Cognition Research Group, School of Psychology, University of Sussex, Brighton, UK.
| | | | - Luba Jakubowska
- Department of Health Promotion, Faculty of Health Sciences, Wroclaw Medical University
| | - Judyta Nowak
- Department of Human Biology, University of Wrocław, Poland
| | - Amelia Walter
- Department of Human Biology, University of Wrocław, Poland
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14
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Abstract
Among the extra-physical aspects of team sports, the ways in which players talk to each other are among the more colorful but understudied dimensions of competition. To contribute an empirical basis for examining the nature of "trash talk," we present the results of a study of 291 varsity athletes who compete in the top division among US universities. Based on a preliminary review of trash-talk topics among student-athletes, we asked participants to indicate the frequency with which they have communicated or heard others talk about opposing players' athleticism, playing ability, physical appearance, boyfriends, girlfriends, sexual behavior, parents, and home institution during competitions. Our three main findings are: (1) Trash-talking is most commonly about the proximately important topic of playing ability while ultimately relevant topics such as physical appearance also appear to be common; (2) Men appear to trash-talk significantly more than women, and consistently across topics; and (3) contact sports such as football, hockey, lacrosse, and wrestling are associated with trash talk significantly more than other sports. We also examined whether the anonymity provided by face-masked helmets in "combat sports" was associated with more trash talk than contact sports played without a helmet (e.g., wrestling) and found no consistent association with face masks. Our findings highlight the ways in which competitors in physical sporting contests attempt to use language-often in ways that focus on players' kin or reproductive interests-in pursuit of victory while establishing a baseline for future research into trash-talking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kevin M Kniffin
- S. C. Johnson College of Business, Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, Warren Hall 111, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA.
| | - Dylan Palacio
- S. C. Johnson College of Business, Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University, Warren Hall 111, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA
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15
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16
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Animal choreography of song and dance: a case study in the Montezuma oropendola, Psarocolius montezuma. Anim Behav 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2018.04.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
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