Good and bad in the hands of politicians: spontaneous gestures during positive and negative speech.
BACKGROUND:According to the body-specificity hypothesis, people with different bodily characteristics should form correspondingly different mental representations, even in highly abstract conceptual domains. In a previous test of this proposal, right- and left-handers were found to associate positiv...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2010-07-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2911380?pdf=render |
| _version_ | 1819261245444849664 |
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| author | Daniel Casasanto Kyle Jasmin |
| author_facet | Daniel Casasanto Kyle Jasmin |
| author_sort | Daniel Casasanto |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BACKGROUND:According to the body-specificity hypothesis, people with different bodily characteristics should form correspondingly different mental representations, even in highly abstract conceptual domains. In a previous test of this proposal, right- and left-handers were found to associate positive ideas like intelligence, attractiveness, and honesty with their dominant side and negative ideas with their non-dominant side. The goal of the present study was to determine whether 'body-specific' associations of space and valence can be observed beyond the laboratory in spontaneous behavior, and whether these implicit associations have visible consequences. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We analyzed speech and gesture (3012 spoken clauses, 1747 gestures) from the final debates of the 2004 and 2008 US presidential elections, which involved two right-handers (Kerry, Bush) and two left-handers (Obama, McCain). Blind, independent coding of speech and gesture allowed objective hypothesis testing. Right- and left-handed candidates showed contrasting associations between gesture and speech. In both of the left-handed candidates, left-hand gestures were associated more strongly with positive-valence clauses and right-hand gestures with negative-valence clauses; the opposite pattern was found in both right-handed candidates. CONCLUSIONS:Speakers associate positive messages more strongly with dominant hand gestures and negative messages with non-dominant hand gestures, revealing a hidden link between action and emotion. This pattern cannot be explained by conventions in language or culture, which associate 'good' with 'right' but not with 'left'; rather, results support and extend the body-specificity hypothesis. Furthermore, results suggest that the hand speakers use to gesture may have unexpected (and probably unintended) communicative value, providing the listener with a subtle index of how the speaker feels about the content of the co-occurring speech. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T19:38:44Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3bf39b7cee8c4058a17bc3a8f0e785a8 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T19:38:44Z |
| publishDate | 2010-07-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-3bf39b7cee8c4058a17bc3a8f0e785a82022-12-21T17:33:43ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032010-07-0157e1180510.1371/journal.pone.0011805Good and bad in the hands of politicians: spontaneous gestures during positive and negative speech.Daniel CasasantoKyle JasminBACKGROUND:According to the body-specificity hypothesis, people with different bodily characteristics should form correspondingly different mental representations, even in highly abstract conceptual domains. In a previous test of this proposal, right- and left-handers were found to associate positive ideas like intelligence, attractiveness, and honesty with their dominant side and negative ideas with their non-dominant side. The goal of the present study was to determine whether 'body-specific' associations of space and valence can be observed beyond the laboratory in spontaneous behavior, and whether these implicit associations have visible consequences. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We analyzed speech and gesture (3012 spoken clauses, 1747 gestures) from the final debates of the 2004 and 2008 US presidential elections, which involved two right-handers (Kerry, Bush) and two left-handers (Obama, McCain). Blind, independent coding of speech and gesture allowed objective hypothesis testing. Right- and left-handed candidates showed contrasting associations between gesture and speech. In both of the left-handed candidates, left-hand gestures were associated more strongly with positive-valence clauses and right-hand gestures with negative-valence clauses; the opposite pattern was found in both right-handed candidates. CONCLUSIONS:Speakers associate positive messages more strongly with dominant hand gestures and negative messages with non-dominant hand gestures, revealing a hidden link between action and emotion. This pattern cannot be explained by conventions in language or culture, which associate 'good' with 'right' but not with 'left'; rather, results support and extend the body-specificity hypothesis. Furthermore, results suggest that the hand speakers use to gesture may have unexpected (and probably unintended) communicative value, providing the listener with a subtle index of how the speaker feels about the content of the co-occurring speech.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2911380?pdf=render |
| spellingShingle | Daniel Casasanto Kyle Jasmin Good and bad in the hands of politicians: spontaneous gestures during positive and negative speech. PLoS ONE |
| title | Good and bad in the hands of politicians: spontaneous gestures during positive and negative speech. |
| title_full | Good and bad in the hands of politicians: spontaneous gestures during positive and negative speech. |
| title_fullStr | Good and bad in the hands of politicians: spontaneous gestures during positive and negative speech. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Good and bad in the hands of politicians: spontaneous gestures during positive and negative speech. |
| title_short | Good and bad in the hands of politicians: spontaneous gestures during positive and negative speech. |
| title_sort | good and bad in the hands of politicians spontaneous gestures during positive and negative speech |
| url | http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2911380?pdf=render |
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