How does nonverbal communication impact social dynamics?

Non-verbal communication is the silent force behind every conversation, revealing our emotions and intentions beyond the words we speak. Working to help decode this hidden language is Queen’s researcher Michele Morningstar (Psychology), Director of the (DSEC). With a focus on vocal tones and facial expressions, Dr. Morningstar’s research explores how we learn to express and interpret emotional intent using nonverbal cues. Understanding how people learn to modulate their nonverbal cues and interpret those of others can shine a light on how we can better connect with each other and ultimately improve our social functioning and psychological wellbeing.

The Queen’s Gazette recently spoke with Dr. Morningstar about her research.

What are some of the ways humans communicate beyond words?

One example of non-verbal communication is emotional prosody. This refers to aspects of the voice – like the rhythm and pitch of our speech that convey emotional meaning beyond the words themselves. For example, the spoken words “I’m fine” can mean different things depending on the speaker’s tone of voice. Prosody is also under our voluntary control. We can adjust our prosody, modifying our tone and pitch to convey different meanings beyond just the words. This dimension of communication is understudied compared to facial expressions but is essential to understanding others’ emotional intent and attitudes in social interactions.

Why is tone of voice so important to being understood?

My research is largely focused on the development of emotional communication skills in youth. Teens’ tone of voice in peer interactions can influence how others perceive them. A recent study from my lab, led by PhD student Daniel Nault, found that the tone of voice teens used when responding to peer provocation influenced how those responses were perceived by other teens. Specifically, responses that were said with a faster speech rate were rated as more friendly sounding. My studies have also found that expressing and interpreting vocal tones is something that is really hard for teens to do. For example, teenagers are less able to identify emotions in others’ voices than adults are.

A recent study from the Development of Social & Emotional Communication Lab found that the tone of voice teens use when responding to peer provocation influences how those responses are perceived by other teens.

How do you measure emotional communication patterns?

People often think that emotions can’t be studied scientifically, but that’s not quite true. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) allows us to study the brain’s activity during emotional communication. This technique measures changes in blood flow to different brain regions, showing how neural networks are activated when individuals are trying to interpret others’ emotions. In terms of measuring emotional expressions, we can use tools like speech analysis or facial movement coding to quantify nonverbal communication.

Members of my lab and I also work to help others, particularly children, identify the impact of non-verbal communication in real time. For example, at Science Rendezvous Kingston, the Developmental Psychology group at Queen’s had a booth where kids could test these tools out, to measure and assess changes in their nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions.

What role can parents play in shaping a youth’s emotional communication skills?

We know that the prosody parents use with their children is crucial for developing joint social attention. Infant-directed speech has many of these types of prosodic cues that kids use to understand vocabulary, language, and to connect with their parents. We do think that parents’ own emotional expression patterns may play a role here. For example, happiness is often expressed with a high pitch and high pitch variability – a lot of ups and downs in one’s voice – and a fast speech rate. In a recent study led by former honours student Emma Ilyaz, we found that mothers who had a recent history of depression within the lifetime of their preschool-aged child expressed happiness with less of an up-and-down pitch and a slower speech rate, resulting in a more monotone delivery. This is what you might call an atypical expression of happiness.

If we’re noticing that moms with a recent history of depression might be expressing happy tones differently, then that’s something we need to pay more attention to. This research is not meant to blame or stigmatize individuals, but rather inform them, so they can be empowered. However, it is important to recognize that my work is one piece of a much larger puzzle, as the field of emotional communication is constantly evolving. It’s still too early to recommend interventions or anything like that, but our findings point to the need for more research on the topic.

How do you incorporate community outreach into the application of your research?

The DSEC Lab actively engages with the Kingston community through workshops and community outreach events such as Queen’s Science Rendezvous Kingston, to highlight how nonverbal cues influence the messages we send and receive in social interactions. One long-term goal of our research is to inform social skills programs or similar interventions for people struggling with emotional communication.

How do you see the future of this field shaping our understanding of nonverbal communication?

One of the most exciting developments in the field is the use of wearable biotechnology, like smart shirts that monitor heart rate or other physiological signals that can vary with emotional experience. These devices can provide real-time insights into users’ emotional and physiological responses. The goal there is to understand how people experience their emotions, moment-to-moment. Overall, the field is working to deepen our comprehension of emotional communication skills across development, to better support the growth of these abilities in people of all ages.

To learn more about Dr. Morningstar’s research, visit the .