title: Speaking under pressure: low linguistic complexity is linked to high physiological and emotional stress reactivity.
abstract: What can a speech reveal about someone's state? We tested the idea that greater stress reactivity would relate to lower linguistic cognitive complexity while speaking. In Study 1, we tested whether heart rate and emotional stress reactivity to a stressful discussion would relate to lower linguistic complexity. In Studies 2 and 3, we tested whether a greater cortisol response to a standardized stressful task including a speech (Trier Social Stress Test) would be linked to speaking with less linguistic complexity during the task. We found evidence that measures of stress responsivity (emotional and physiological) and chronic stress are tied to variability in the cognitive complexity of speech. Taken together, these results provide evidence that our individual experiences of stress or "stress signatures"-how our body and mind react to stress both in the moment and over the longer term-are linked to how complex our speech under stress.
authors.affiliation: Osher Center for Integrative Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA.
authors.forename: Laura R
authors.initials: LR
authors.lastname: Saslow
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: McCoy
authors.forename: Ilmo
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: van der Löwe
authors.forename: Brandon
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cosley
authors.forename: Arbi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vartan
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Oveis
authors.forename: Dacher
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Keltner
authors.forename: Judith T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Moskowitz
authors.forename: Elissa S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Epel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001341:Autonomic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D006854:Hydrocortisone / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D012463:Saliva / Q000737:chemistry; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006854:Hydrocortisone
keywords: Cognition; Cognitive complexity; Cortisol reactivity; Language; Stress reactivity