Age, empathy, familiarity, domestication and call features enhance human perception of animal emotion expressions
Vocalizations constitute an effective way to communicate both emotional arousal (bodily activation) and valence (negative/positive). There is strong evidence suggesting that the convergence of vocal expression of emotional arousal among animal species occurs, hence enabling cross-species perception...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Royal Society
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
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| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.221138 |
| _version_ | 1797845348727652352 |
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| author | Jasmin Sowerby Greenall Lydia Cornu Anne-Laure Maigrot Monica Padilla de la Torre Elodie F. Briefer |
| author_facet | Jasmin Sowerby Greenall Lydia Cornu Anne-Laure Maigrot Monica Padilla de la Torre Elodie F. Briefer |
| author_sort | Jasmin Sowerby Greenall |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Vocalizations constitute an effective way to communicate both emotional arousal (bodily activation) and valence (negative/positive). There is strong evidence suggesting that the convergence of vocal expression of emotional arousal among animal species occurs, hence enabling cross-species perception of arousal, but it is not clear if the same is true for emotional valence. Here, we conducted a large online survey to test the ability of humans to perceive emotions in the contact calls of several wild and domestic ungulates produced in situations of known emotional arousal (previously validated using either heart rate or locomotion) and valence (validated based on the context of production and behavioural indicators of emotions). Participants (1024 respondents from 48 countries) were able to rate above chance levels the arousal level of vocalizations of three of the six ungulate species and the valence of four of them. Percentages of correct ratings did not differ a lot across species for arousal (49–59%), while they showed much more variation for valence (33–68%). Interestingly, several factors such as age, empathy, familiarity and specific features of the calls enhanced these scores. These findings suggest the existence of a shared emotional system across mammalian species, which is much more pronounced for arousal than valence. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T17:37:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a7bd98b9a7c646b49fa8847d68631b5d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T17:37:35Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-a7bd98b9a7c646b49fa8847d68631b5d2023-04-17T10:59:06ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032022-12-0191210.1098/rsos.221138Age, empathy, familiarity, domestication and call features enhance human perception of animal emotion expressionsJasmin Sowerby Greenall0Lydia Cornu1Anne-Laure Maigrot2Monica Padilla de la Torre3Elodie F. Briefer4Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zürich, Universitätsstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, SwitzerlandBehavioural Ecology Group, Section for Ecology & Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen Ø, DenmarkInstitute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zürich, Universitätsstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, SwitzerlandInstitute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zürich, Universitätsstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, SwitzerlandInstitute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zürich, Universitätsstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, SwitzerlandVocalizations constitute an effective way to communicate both emotional arousal (bodily activation) and valence (negative/positive). There is strong evidence suggesting that the convergence of vocal expression of emotional arousal among animal species occurs, hence enabling cross-species perception of arousal, but it is not clear if the same is true for emotional valence. Here, we conducted a large online survey to test the ability of humans to perceive emotions in the contact calls of several wild and domestic ungulates produced in situations of known emotional arousal (previously validated using either heart rate or locomotion) and valence (validated based on the context of production and behavioural indicators of emotions). Participants (1024 respondents from 48 countries) were able to rate above chance levels the arousal level of vocalizations of three of the six ungulate species and the valence of four of them. Percentages of correct ratings did not differ a lot across species for arousal (49–59%), while they showed much more variation for valence (33–68%). Interestingly, several factors such as age, empathy, familiarity and specific features of the calls enhanced these scores. These findings suggest the existence of a shared emotional system across mammalian species, which is much more pronounced for arousal than valence.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.221138arousalcross-speciesemotionsungulatesvalencevocalizations |
| spellingShingle | Jasmin Sowerby Greenall Lydia Cornu Anne-Laure Maigrot Monica Padilla de la Torre Elodie F. Briefer Age, empathy, familiarity, domestication and call features enhance human perception of animal emotion expressions Royal Society Open Science arousal cross-species emotions ungulates valence vocalizations |
| title | Age, empathy, familiarity, domestication and call features enhance human perception of animal emotion expressions |
| title_full | Age, empathy, familiarity, domestication and call features enhance human perception of animal emotion expressions |
| title_fullStr | Age, empathy, familiarity, domestication and call features enhance human perception of animal emotion expressions |
| title_full_unstemmed | Age, empathy, familiarity, domestication and call features enhance human perception of animal emotion expressions |
| title_short | Age, empathy, familiarity, domestication and call features enhance human perception of animal emotion expressions |
| title_sort | age empathy familiarity domestication and call features enhance human perception of animal emotion expressions |
| topic | arousal cross-species emotions ungulates valence vocalizations |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.221138 |
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