The interplay between language and emotion: a narrative review

Identifier:  imarina:9464914

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/imarina9464914

Authors:  Ferré, P; Fraga, I; Hinojosa, JA

Abstract:
This review addresses the interface between language and emotion, focusing on three key aspects related to the emotion process. The first section is devoted to research on language as an emotional stimulus. In addition to a characterisation of emotional content, relevant studies on the acquisition of emotional words by children and adult speakers are reviewed. The second section reviews the literature on the influence of both the emotional content of verbal stimuli and the emotional state of the individual on language processing. The third section focuses on characterising the lexicon of emotion terms and also addresses the modulatory role of language in the understanding, experience, and regulation of emotions. The most influential theoretical frameworks are presented in each section. The findings reviewed illustrate the bidirectional nature of the language-emotion interface, with emotion affecting language and language affecting emotion. The concluding discussion highlights the benefits of a comprehensive approach that considers findings from different disciplines to adequately characterise the relationship between language and emotion.