917
Views
24
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
REGULAR ARTICLES

Acoustic correlates of emotional dimensions in laughter: Arousal, dominance, and valence

, , , &
Pages 599-611 | Received 24 Apr 2010, Accepted 22 Jun 2010, Published online: 05 Oct 2010
 

Abstract

Although laughter plays an essential part in emotional vocal communication, little is known about the acoustical correlates that encode different emotional dimensions. In this study we examined the acoustical structure of laughter sounds differing along four emotional dimensions: arousal, dominance, sender's valence, and receiver-directed valence. Correlation of 43 acoustic parameters with individual emotional dimensions revealed that each emotional dimension was associated with a number of vocal cues. Common patterns of cues were found with emotional expression in speech, supporting the hypothesis of a common underlying mechanism for the vocal expression of emotions.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Marie Curie Foundation and the German Research Foundation (DFG AL357/1 and WI2101/2).

Notes

1Findings in this paragraph reported by: Apple, Streeter, and Krauss (1979); Banse and Scherer (Citation1996); Breitenstein, Van Lancker, and Daum (2001); Davitz (Citation1964d); Frick (Citation1985); Huttar (Citation1968); Laukka and Juslin (Citation2005); Mehrabian and Russell (Citation1974); Pereira (Citation2000); Pittam, Gallois, and Callan (1990); Scherer (1974, 1979); Scherer and Oshinsky (Citation1977); Schroeder, Cowie, Douglas-Cowie, Westerdijk, and Gielen (2001); and Williams and Stevens (Citation1972).

2Statements in this paragraph are based on: Apple et al. (Citation1979); Harrigan, Gramata, Lucic, and Margolis (Citation1989); Kehrein (Citation2002); Laukka and Juslin (Citation2005); Pereira (Citation2000); Pollermann (Citation2002); Scherer (Citation1974); Scherer and Oshinsky (Citation1977); Schroeder et al. (Citation2001); and Tusing and Dillard (Citation2000).

3Based on: Hammerschmidt and Jürgens (Citation2007); Kehrein (Citation2002); Laukka and Juslin (Citation2005); Pereira (Citation2000); Scherer (Citation1974); Scherer and Oshinsky (Citation1977); and Schroeder et al. (Citation2001).

4It is not clear whether previous studies indeed measured the sender's valence or whether listeners referred to their own emotional state, cf. introduction.

5Most of the speech studies used emotional portrayals as well.

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.