Tomkinson, J, Mileva, Mila orcid.org/0000-0003-0537-9702, Watt, Dominic orcid.org/0000-0003-0978-9282 et al. (1 more author) (2024) Perception of threat and intent to harm from vocal and facial cues. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. pp. 326-342. ISSN 1747-0226
Abstract
What constitutes a “threatening tone of voice”? There is currently little research exploring how listeners infer threat, or the intention to cause harm, from speakers’ voices. Here, we investigated the influence of key linguistic variables on these evaluations (Study 1). Results showed a trend for voices perceived to be lower in pitch, particularly those of male speakers, to be evaluated as sounding more threatening and conveying greater intent to harm. We next investigated the evaluation of multimodal stimuli comprising voices and faces varying in perceived dominance (Study 2). Visual information about the speaker’s face had a significant effect on threat and intent ratings. In both experiments, we observed a relatively low level of agreement among individual listeners’ evaluations, emphasising idiosyncrasy in the ways in which threat and intent-to-harm are perceived. This research provides a basis for the perceptual experience of a “threatening tone of voice,” along with an exploration of vocal and facial cue integration in social evaluation.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © Experimental Psychology Society 2023 |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Psychology (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 12 Jun 2023 15:30 |
Last Modified: | 05 Jan 2025 00:37 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218231169952 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/17470218231169952 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:200405 |
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