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It is a matter of how you say it : Verbal content and prosody matching as an index of emotion regulation strategies during the Adult Attachment Interview
Author(s) -
Spinelli Maria,
Fasolo Mirco,
Coppola Gabrielle,
Aureli Tiziana
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
international journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.75
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1464-066X
pISSN - 0020-7594
DOI - 10.1002/ijop.12415
Subject(s) - prosody , psychology , arousal , valence (chemistry) , emotional prosody , emotional valence , content (measure theory) , narrative , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , social psychology , cognition , linguistics , mathematical analysis , philosophy , physics , mathematics , quantum mechanics , neuroscience
Emotional activation can be detected by the prosodic properties of the voice. This study aimed to explore the match between the valence of the words used by secure and dismissing women in describing the relationship with their parents during the Adult Attachment Interview and their emotional activation as expressed through the prosody of the voice. Contrary to what observed for secure women, a discrepancy emerged in dismissing individuals between the content of their verbal reports during the interview and the emotional activation of their voice while speaking. Negative experiences, usually cognitively minimised and normalised, were expressed with high emotional arousal, while positive descriptors, often exaggerated semantically, were expressed with neutral arousal. Therefore, the defensive inhibition strategy seems to control the content but not the prosody of narratives and prosody has the potential to allow a better understanding of the emotion regulation strategies used by individuals while discussing their caregiving histories.