Linguistic Relativity and Emotion
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Date
2022-05
Authors
Molstrom-Warner, Marilyn
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Oregon
Abstract
"Linguistic relativity, more colloquially known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, is the idea that the native language one speaks shapes the way one perceives and experiences the world. This is not to say that language determines worldview and cognition, only that language may influence worldview and cognition. Linguistic relativity has been studied using a variety of methods. Areas of interest have historically included color, space, time, and motion. An emerging domain in linguistic relativity concerns emotion, specifically how emotion language influences the acquisition of emotion concepts, emotion perception, and emotion experience (Pons, Lawson, Harris, & de Rosnay, 2003; Widen & Russell, 2003). What role, if any, does language play in constructing our emotional lives? Subsequently, do speakers of languages with different emotion lexicons have different emotional experiences.
This paper aims to explore these central questions through a literature review of peer-reviewed articles on the subject. The structure of this paper is as follows. First, an overview of the history of emotion is provided, starting from the early 17th century when the term was first introduced into the English language and leading into the modern theory of the basic emotion approach. Evidence that both supports and challenges the basic emotion approach is considered. The discussion then moves into the history of linguistic relativity and in broad strokes reconstructs its rise, fall, and resurrection in the scientific community. Modern hypotheses of linguistic relativity are then tied to the constructionist approach to emotion, which concludes the introduction. The main body of the literature review is broken up into four parts: (1) emotion and language covary, (2) impairing access to emotion words reduces emotion perception, (3) increasing access to emotion words enhances emotion perception, and (4) semantic dementia reduces emotion perception. A discussion then ensues, considering the limitations and potential benefits of the research."
Description
54 pages
Keywords
Psychology, Linguistics, Linguistic Relativity and Emotion, Emotion, Constructionist Approach, Basic Emotion Approach