Past research has largely focused on how emotional expressions provide information about the speaker’s emotional state, but has generally neglected vocal affect’s influence over communication effectiveness. This is surprising given that other nonverbal behaviors often influence communication between individuals. In the present theory paper, we develop a novel perspective called the Contextual Influences of Vocal Affect (CIVA) model to predict and explain the psychological processes by which vocal affect may influence communication through three broad categories of process: emotion origin/construal, changing emotions, and communication source inferences. We describe research that explores potential moderators (e.g., affective/cognitive message types, message intensity), and mechanisms (e.g., emotional assimilation, attributions, surprise) shaping the effects of vocally expressed emotions on communication. We discuss when and why emotions expressed through the voice can influence the effectiveness of communication. CIVA advances theoretical and applied psychology by providing a clear theoretical account of vocal affect’s diverse impacts on communication.

过去的研究主要集中在情绪表达如何提供有关说话者情绪状态的信息，但通常忽略了声音影响对沟通效率的影响。鉴于其他非语言行为通常会影响个人之间的交流，这令人惊讶。在本理论论文中，我们开发了一种新的视角，称为声音影响的语境影响 (CIVA) 模型，以预测和解释声音影响可能通过三大类过程影响交流的心理过程：情绪起源/解释、情绪变化，以及通信源推断。我们描述了探索潜在调节因素（例如，情感/认知信息类型、信息强度）和机制（例如，情绪同化、归因、惊喜）塑造口头表达的情绪对交流的影响。我们讨论通过声音表达的情绪何时以及为何会影响沟通的有效性。CIVA 通过对声音情感对交流的不同影响提供清晰的理论解释来推进理论和应用心理学。