Language-dependent Emotional Responses To Praise And Criticism

With the development of globalization,interactions between different nations and different languages are increasingly frequent.Language is a key means of expression and perception of affective information.However,different emotional responses may be produced by native and foreign languages.Empirical evidence for cross-language differences in emotionality is heterogeneous.The present research aims to investigate language-dependent emotional responses in contexts of positive(praise)and negative(criticism)comments and discuss the reasons for the differences that may occur,and thus,to reveal the interaction between language and emotion.This research consisted of two experiments.In order to investigate the differences in emotional intensity and emotional valence of comments of different types(praise and criticism)on different targets(appearance and personality),Experiment One recruited 30 participants(15 males)and asked them to rate on emotional intensity(How much emotion has been aroused in you by the comments?)and emotional valence(How pleased you are when you read the present comment?)by using 7-point scales.The ratings for emotional intensity and valence were analyzed by repeated-measures analyses of variance(ANOVAs)using comment-type(praise/criticism)and comment-target(appearance/personality)as within-subjects variables and gender as a between-subjects variable.The results showed that:(1)In terms of emotional intensity,there were no significant differences in praise and criticism targeting both appearance and personality.While females showed no significant differences in responses to comment-targets,personality–targeted comments aroused stronger emotions than appearance-targeted ones.(2)In terms of valence,praise was significantly more pleasant than criticism.No significant differences were found between praise targeting appearance and personality,whereas criticizing personality reduced pleasantness as compared to criticizing appearance.(3)Gender differences were observed in emotional valence such that males were more pleased when their personality was praised and more unpleasant when they were criticized on personality.To further investigate language-dependent emotional responses to praise and criticism,Experiment Two recruited 50(25 males)Chinese-English bilinguals who had passed College English Test Band 6 as participants.All the participants were presented with praise and criticism targeting appearance and personality in both their native language(Chinese)and foreign language(English),participants were instructed to rate on pleasantness(How pleased you are when you read the present sentence?)and acceptability(How much the comments consist with your real appearance/personality?)using 7-point scales.In order to control for the influences of language experience on language-dependent emotional responses,all the participants were asked to finish the Language History Questionnaire before experiment and The Positive and Negative Affect Schedule(PANAS),The NEO Five-Factor Inventory(NEO-FFI),The Youth Self-Confidence Inventory(YSCI),The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory(STAI)and The Cheek and Buss Shyness Scale(CBSS)after experiment.Four-way repeated-measures ANOVAs were conducted,using the difference between Chinese and English proficiency as a covariate,to analyze pleasantness and acceptability ratings.The results showed that:(1)Criticism in Chinese produced lower pleasantness than those in English whereas in both languages praise was rated more pleasant than criticism.(2)There were significant differences between praise and criticism in acceptability,that is,participants rated praise more acceptable than criticism.(3)Significant acceptability differences were found between comment-targets.Criticism on personality as compared to appearance reduced acceptability,whereas praise on personality was rated more acceptable than those on appearance.(4)Cross-language differences in proficiency did not interact with above-mentioned effects.(5)Pleasantness was positively correlated with acceptability under all the conditions.(6)Ratings on pleasantness and acceptability were positively correlated with emotional states and personality traits.Overall,praise is pleasant but criticism unpleasant.More importantly,negative emotional responses are reduced in a foreign language context.On the other hand,both positive and negative emotional responses modulate the acceptability of self-referential comments.The more pleasant,the more acceptable;in contrast,the more unpleasant,the harder to accept.Moreover,pleasantness and acceptability were correlated with emotional states and personality traits.Taken together,the present research sheds light on a new perspective of assessing the interactions between language and emotion and provides implications for social communication in the increasingly internationalized world.