The Expressive Balance Effect: Perception and Physiological Responses of Prosody and Gestures
Published in Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 2022
Recommended citation: Rodero, E., Larrea, O., Rodríguez-de-Dios, I., Lucas, I. (2022). The Expressive Balance Effect: Perception and Physiological Responses of Prosody and Gestures. Journal of Language and Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0261927X221078317. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0261927X221078317
This study analyzes the direct and interaction effects of intonation, speech rate, and hand gestures on the speakers’ credibility and effectiveness and the participants’ psychophysiological response (attention and arousal). Results showed that the best combination was a moderate intonation at a medium speech rate with a moderate number of hand gestures. These results supported the so-called Expressive Balance Effect. Speakers must maintain the expressive load of the different nonverbal cues in balance to be more effective and credible and enhance the listeners’ cognitive processing.
Recommended citation: Rodero, E., Larrea, O., Rodríguez-de-Dios, I., Lucas, I. (2022). The Expressive Balance Effect: Perception and Physiological Responses of Prosody and Gestures. Journal of Language and Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0261927X221078317.