title: Perception of emotional nonsense sentences in China, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Russia, Sweden, and the USA.
abstract: The present study focused on the identification of emotions in cross-cultural conditions on different continents and among subjects with divergent language backgrounds. The aim was to investigate whether the perception of the basic emotions from nonsense vocal samples was universal, dependent on voice quality, musicality, and/or gender. Listening tests for 350 participants were conducted on location in a variety of cultures: China, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, Russia, Sweden, and the USA. The results suggested that the voice quality parameters played a role in the identification of emotions without the linguistic content. Cultural background may affect the interpretation of the emotions more than the presumed universality. Musical interest tended to facilitate emotion identification. No gender differences were found.
authors.affiliation: a School of Communication Media and Theatre, University of Tampere , Tampere , Finland.
authors.forename: Teija
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Waaramaa
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000162:Acoustics; D000328:Adult; D001302:Audiometry, Speech; D001307:Auditory Perception; D002681:China; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003463:Cues; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D004534:Egypt; D004644:Emotions; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009146:Music; D010898:Pitch Perception; D021641:Recognition, Psychology; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States; D014833:Voice Quality; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cross-cultural; emotion identification; gender; musical interests; nonsense text; voice quality