We communicate emotions via various nonverbal channels, such as facial expressions, speech prosody, nonverbal vocalizations, and interpersonal touch. Previous research has compared some of these channels and suggested that each channel may have a relative advantage in emotional communication. This study examines (1) how nonverbal vocalizations and speech prosody differ in emotional expression and perception and (2) how these vocal channels differ from facial and tactile channels for Japanese participants. In the experiment, participants are paired into dyads and randomly assigned to one of two roles: encoder (the person who expresses emotion) or decoder (the person who perceives and judges emotion). They complete four sessions (facial expression, speech prosody, nonverbal vocalizations, and interpersonal touch). In each session, the encoder expresses 11 positive emotions (happiness, pride, awe, elation, interest, amusement, relief, achievement, love, gratitude, and sympathy) in any way they feel appropriate to convey the target emotion for the given channel. Emotional expressions are video recorded during the sessions with informed consent from participants. After each expression, the decoder judges the expressed emotion. Results will be discussed in terms of the role and relative advantage of each channel, as well as potential cultural and sex differences.
Oya et al. (Wed,) studied this question.