Author Information
Junko Yakushiji, Hosei University, JapanYayoi Watanabe, Hosei University, Japan
Abstract
Previous studies on emotional understanding from vocal cues have mainly relied on explicit methods such as using emotion-related words or facial illustrations to identify emotions. However, these approaches may not adequately capture the developmental characteristics of early childhood emotional understanding. Several implicit methods have been proposed to address these limitations. For example, Hiraoka et al. (2019) analyzed center-of-pressure (COP) shifts and found that mothers quickly approached unpleasant and urgent sounds in infants. However, it remains unclear whether similar approach-avoidance responses occur in adults, and whether COP shifts can be used to assess reactions to emotional vocal stimuli. This study aimed to examine whether patterns of approach and avoidance responses vary depending on the type of emotion expressed in vocal stimuli. Twenty-four university students listened to eight types of emotional voices. These vocal stimuli were produced by one male and one female actor uttering “waa” with different emotions (joy, sadness, anger and neutral). The interaction between each vocal stimulus and time was significant. Sadness (female) exhibits a movement that gradually approaches, whereas anger (female) and neutrality (female) exhibit a movement that gradually moves in the avoidance direction. However, the multiple comparison results were not significant and no significant differences were observed for the other voices. Two possible explanations are considered: (1) individual differences, such as sensitivity to emotions or voices and (2) a possible mismatch between the intended emotions in the stimuli and the participants’ perceptions of those emotions.
Paper Information
Conference: ACP2026Stream: Linguistics, Language & Psychology/Behavioral Science
This paper is part of the ACP2026 Conference Proceedings (View)
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To cite this article:
Yakushiji J., & Watanabe Y. (2026) Do Emotional Voices Move Us? Investigating Bodily Approach-Avoidance Responses ISSN: 2187-4743 – The Asian Conference on Psychology & the Behavioral Sciences 2026 Official Conference Proceedings (pp. 81-86) https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2187-4743.2026.8
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.22492/issn.2187-4743.2026.8
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