Figurative Language in Emotional Communication Fussell & Moss, In Social & Cognitive Approaches to Interpersonal Communication Chapter 6

Figurative Language Is: b Ubiquitous b No more difficult to understand in context than literal language b Fundamental to the way people conceptualize the world

This chapter: Explores the production of figurative language as it occurs in the communication of emotional states.

REVIEW OF THE RESEARCH LITERATURE b Two basic research strategies have been used to examine figurative language in descriptions of emotional experiences. 1. In laboratory settings Ss describe emotions specified by the researcher 2. In clinical settings actual dialogues between patients & therapists

Ortony proposed (1975): b metaphor is used to fill gaps in the lexicon b to provide succinct ways of stating ideas that are difficult to capture in literal terms b to add vividness or intensity to a message

Autobiographical oral Emotional Descriptions (Fainsilber & Ortony, 1987) b Found metaphor was used more often to describe subjective feeling states than to describe overt actions stemming from these states. b Found figurative language was used more to describe intense emotional states than milder ones.

SOME ADDITIONAL FINDINGS ON METAPHOR b In writing about emotional experiences ( i.e., pride & shame) Experienced writers used more metaphor than did inexperienced writersExperienced writers used more metaphor than did inexperienced writers both groups used more metaphors for feelings than actionsboth groups used more metaphors for feelings than actions

Metaphor Use: Some Findings b Metaphor use varies as a function of the type and intensity of the emotion being expressed b Ss used more metaphor for describing intense emotional experiences especially for sadness and happinessespecially for sadness and happiness b These finding go along with Ortony’s idea that metaphor is to convey intensity

Metaphor Use b Most prevalent in descriptions of feelings (as opposed to cognitions and behaviors)

Examples of figurative language for describing emotions (p. 118) b I felt like a coiled spring b Don’t want to blow my top b I want to put somebody through the wall b I feel like I am going to burst b Trapped by emotion b I was red hot with anger b I’d like to crush him b My stomach was twisted in knots

Figurative Language in Conversations about Emotions b Most of this research is based on conversations in clinical settings b Substantial uniformity has been found in the figurative language used to describe experiences of depression b the most common expressions involved suffocating, falling down a pit, drowning, or being in a dark tunnel

Researchers’ use of the concept metaphor Note that researchers have tended to use the concept of metaphor broadly, to include idioms, similes, cliches, and so forth (p. 121)

Other clinical themes falling apart at loose ends anger as heat anger as insanity

Figurative Language Use in Standardized Emotional Experiences % Do people produce similar expressions for similar underlying affective experiences? % How accurately can listeners identify the intended meaning of an emotional expression? % How does figurative language use vary with social factors such as speaker and listener gender?

The Experimental Paradigm In order to discover whether or not there are patterns, e.g., to how people express similar emotions, standardized situations were studied. Movie clips portraying people undergoing emotional experiences were used

The Movie Clip Procedure b Ss were shown video clips b Ss were to describe to another person -- who had not seen the video clip -- a video character’s emotional state

First Study Using Video Clips Procedure: Ss were asked to describe the emotional experiences of characters in 3 movie clips to listeners who had not seen the clips Roughly, the episodes to describe were: 1.Panic 2. Anger 3. Elation

1st study Messages were transcribed and coded for the number of literal and figurative adjectives and phrases describing emotional states Results: Ss used figurative language less than expected

2nd & 3rd Studies To examine whether the low rate of metaphor use in study 1 was due to ( an artifact of) instructions, 2 more studies were conducted. Studies 2 & 3: Speakers were to describe different instances of the same emotional state. Ss viewed film clips with varying intensity of sadness

Studies 2 and 3 In study 2, 26 female students described the depressed emotional states to a female partner (p. 125) In study 3, male and female speakers described the clips to either a male or female partner who had not seen them.

Analysis of studies 2 & 3 The conversations were transcribed and coded for emotion- related content and figurative language use (p. 126) Results: Speakers used an abundance of figurative expressions when their task was to characterize distinct instances of sadness. These results were consistent with the hypothesis that figurative language is used to differentiate among variations of a single emotional state rather than to differentiate one emotional state from another.

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN LITERAL & FIGURATIVE SPEECH (p. 127) b Speakers did not use figurative expressions in lieu of literal ones but rather in addition to them b Every description contained at least a few literal terms for sadness b Often, figurative expressions followed literal descriptions, suggesting that figurative expressions are intended as clarification

LITERAL THEN FIGURATIVE DESCRIPTION (p. 128) b “She would go from crying to screaming to crying to screaming. So, she was kinda-- she wasn’t all there.” b “He has something annoying him. I mean, it’s just like eating away at him.”

RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN PROPERTIES OF EMOTIONAL STATES AND FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE USE b Independent ratings of video clips on Osgood’s Semantic Differential are related to the figurative language used to describe each emotional episode b Not yet analyzed

THE ROLE OF CONVERSATIONAL INTERACTIVITY Procedure: In half the pairs (interactive condition), listeners interacted freely with the speaker. In half the pairs (interactive condition), listeners interacted freely with the speaker. In the other half (non-interactive condition), the listener listened silently to the descriptions.

RESULTS: b As predicted, more words of description were generated to interactive listeners b Speakers in the interactive condition, produced more figurative language b However, the rate of figurative language per total words did not differ between the conditions

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE IN THE INTERACTIVE CONSTRUCTION OF MESSAGES (p ) b Conversational interaction allows for collaboration in the construction of messages b E.g., Describer: And then finally she just broke down and Listener: just started crying Listener: just started crying Describer: just started crying Describer: just started crying

Effects of speaker and listener characteristics on Figurative Language Use b PROCEDURE: Examined perspective-taking in affective communication by asking male and female speakers to describe the film clips to male and female hearers. b MEASURES: The total number of words, sentences, and speaking turns by both speaker and listener were computed.

Effects of speaker and listener characteristics on Figurative Language Use (p. 133) b RESULTS: The amount of descriptive information provided for each clip varied substantially as a function of listener but not speaker gender. b For all clips, both male and female speakers used significantly more words to describe a character’s emotional state to a male as opposed to a female addressee.

SOME LIMITATIONS TO THE PARADIGM b Limited examples of sadness or depression or... b Conversations were not videotaped and so the data do not take into account nonverbals b Ss were not feeling the emotions--only describing them b Dyads were unacquainted--the closeness of interactants might matter