Perhaps the model case of depression and low-self esteem has its roots in self-effacement caused by abusive language. Tragically, a similar case popped up in today's news:
"Abusive Language caused work-related suicide"
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20071017TDY04306.htm
The case revolves around a Japanese employee who was being constantly verbally belittled and abused by his superior. He would have to deal with daily comments dealing with his incompetence and general insignificance, usually formed in malevolent comments:
"Your existence is offensive to my eyes. Get out of my sight"
"You'rer a wage-snatcher parasitizing the company"
"You're a social phobic, aren't you?"
The article then made references to the victim's suicide note, in which he said that, "My defects echo around my head, and I now despise myself."
My reaction:
Though this case is not in the very least uncommon (alas), I pondered the very implications of language, tone, and effects on the human mind. I found it intriguing that the victim, an otherwise healthy 35-year old man leading a normal life, have gradually adopted his supervisor's perception of him to be his own. In other words, as the abuse continued, he let another's definition of himself define who he is as a person. Language in this case, can be a horrid perpetuator of human cruelty.
However, I also wondered about the effects of tone and language. As adolescents, we often joke around with our peers, sometimes uttering the same exact phrases, but in much lighter and playful tones. And though some of us take these jabs a little more seriously than others, more often than not, we can brush off such comments, at most with an awkward chuckle or a personal defense. What then, determinies how the impact of certain phrases affect our brains: the explicit content of the language, or the tone it was uttered in?
Further research lead me to this case study:
"Both Halves of the Brain Process Emotional Speech"
http://www.apa.org/monitor/apr03/brain.html
In this experiment, participants "listened to recordings of actors pronouncing sentences with happy, sad, angry, fearful and neutral meanings using tones of voice that were either neutral or emotional. When the actors' meaning and tone of voice signaled different emotions--for example, when the sentence, "The little girl lost both her parents," was spoken in a happy tone--participants were asked to pay attention to either the meaning or the tone."
In our previous case, if the supervisor had uttered such accusations in a "happy tone," would the result been as tragic? When the vicitim replays those abusive scenes in his mind, will he be as deeply traumatized as he was if the content and the tone didn't match?
The research done by these scientists resulted in the finding that the right side of the brain is responsible for processing the emotional content of speech, while the left is responsible for processing emotional meaning, or what emotions the context of the utterance were supposed to evoke. It continues to state that if there's a disparity between the content and the tone (as in our hypothetical case), then both sides of the brain become active, as if mentally struggling to decide which hemisphere should dominate.
Which then determines the final result of a remark? It's logical to conclude that if the tone matches with the content of the language, then a hollistic impression would be made. But what it they don't match? What it there's a huge difference between the two aspects? What then?
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3 comments:
This is truly a tragic case where language was used to inflict hurt and pain. I think you raise some interesting points, namely the role that tone plays in conveying meaning. Though language is thought of one of the most powerful modes of communication, I wonder how much of this power stems from the tone that is used to convey various messages. If people just spoke in a neutral tone all the time, would language be seen as forceful? How can tone convey or even change the meaning of a sentence?
On different note, the role that tone plays in communication makes me think of IMing. Sometimes you can't write things down because the tone and the context is not there. The result would just is an awkward reply because the other person completely misses the joke/point.
Very interesting post. Clearly both the content and the tone have an impact on our interpretation of speech. One question you might ask is what is a person really doing when they listen and try to interpret speech? We have discussed in class how words don't contain intrinsic meaning, but that we have construct meaning from it. consider also when we are speaking with someone else we typically have and INTENDED meaning we wish to convey... so the listener is really trying recover that intention in their interpretation of speech. thus when the tone and content convey different intended meanings, we get into this confused state! Great discussion of the experimental evidence!
I posted a few weeks ago about how words do hurt and how each word carries a personality and a feeling. Basically words are more than just sounds strung together. After reading your post, it made me think about the importance of tone. It's not just what a word means, or what connotations it carries, but also how it is said that gives it it's personality. Nice post :)
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