The influence of individual difference variables on vocal emotion processing

Extensive research has been done on vocal emotion processing and it has been repeatedly argued that individual difference variables can influence emotion processing. Few studies have, however, examined these differences systematically and comprehensively in the vocal emotion domain. Thus, three studies using different research paradigms were performed to explore how individual differences might impact on vocal emotion perception; Study 1 examined influences of individual differences on vocal emotion recognition accuracy of emotionally intoned, semantically neutral sentences, as well perceived speaker intensity; Study 2 examined the time-course of vocal emotion processing using pseudo-utterance stimuli. Finally, Study 3 studied event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to examine brain responses to vocal emotions. In all three studies, self-reports were collected on individual differences (stable personality traits, short-term fluctuations in mood, differences in affect intensity, and general life satisfaction). Results from all three studies showed that there was no systematic relationship between vocal emotion processing and the various self-reported measures. The current project is the first attempt to explore the relationship between vocal emotion processing and individual differences in a systematic and comprehensive manner; combined results suggest that the continuously proposed influence of individual differences might have been overemphasised in the previous literature at least for the vocal domain.