Study uncovers cultural clues in voices

It has long been established that emotions are reflected in our voice – it helps us to communicate more deliberately and gives listeners of clues on how they should interpret what we say. But what emotions predominate in complaints – and how do they differ between groups? Researchers in Switzerland and Canada have investigated and published their results in Communication borders.

“Complaints differ from neutral speech by changes in vocal expression. The complainants tend to change their intonation, their height, their rhythm and their emphasis, which makes them more emotional and expressive,” said the first author, Dr. Maël Mauchand, neuroscientist at the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences of the University of Geneva.

“We show that complaint strategies show specific variations through two French -speaking cultures, with Quebecers who seem to be more angry or surprised and French who seem more sad.”

Conventions for complaints

Knowing in detail what complaints could help researchers understand how they are perceived and how they arouse empathy in others.

For experience, the researchers recruited eight speakers (four French people and four Quebecers) who recorded 84 short sentences in a neutral and complaining – from the linguistic content. Then, 40 people living in Quebec, half of whom had grown in France, evaluated the emotions (happy, sad, angry, surprised, frightening, disgusted) in a selection of statements.

“The complaint strategies seem consistent to define a” tone of voice “, with some specific cultural variations,” said Mauchand. For example, complaints have been delivered with a higher and more variable step as well as stronger and slower in general.

These parameters differ slightly between cultures, for example, the French spoke to a higher height. On the other hand, Quebecer has shown greater variability in height, which indicates more pronounced changes in intonation through their complaint.

Sad or angry?

Complaints reconstruct emotional states and speakers complain about transmitting or reliving a negative experience. As a result, they transmit strong emotions that emphasize this negativity. On the emotional level, listening participants evaluated Quebecois as a more angry sound, more surprised and more disgusted than the French, while the French were considered more sad.

“There may be cultural standards on what a complaint in France or Quebec looks like, influenced by their use,” said Mauchand.

“The French complain quite often – if the complaint is frequent and ritualized, it is logical that the complainants try to make their voice less aggressive, for example using a higher intonation and a more sad than angry sound.”

On the other hand, Quebecers are generally more expressive in their discourse, which could explain why high emotions like surprise or anger are more important in their complaints.

“There can be social conventions on what a complaint looks like in a particular culture, which can be learned as we grow up,” said Mauchand. “The way we complain is a subtle interaction between emotion, social context and cultural display rules.”

Beyond words

The researchers stressed that their sample size, limited both in the number of speakers and cultures represented, could mean that their results are not generalizable. In addition, complaints can make other forms in longer declarations or interactions. Additional research could examine whether such cultural differences can be found in speakers of the same language that have grown up in different cultures.

Although the trend can be universal, such variations could depend on the cultural importance of complaints: how often a culture complains, why people complain and how complaints are received by others, the team said.

The work highlights the essential role of the tone of the voice in social interactions and information can be used in studies on communication disorders and in the training in therapy.

“As an immediate request, it could encourage people to be more attentive,” concluded Mauchand. “Not only for what people say, but how they say – and what it involves.”