We thank Rainer Banse for providing us with the stimuli used in Study 2.
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Original Article
The Big Chill: Interpersonal Coldness and Emotion-Labeling Skills
Article first published online: 26 APR 2012
DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2011.00738.x
© 2011 The Authors. Journal of Personality © 2011, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Additional Information
How to Cite
Moeller, S. K., Robinson, M. D., Wilkowski, B. M. and Hanson, D. M. (2012), The Big Chill: Interpersonal Coldness and Emotion-Labeling Skills. Journal of Personality, 80: 703–724. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6494.2011.00738.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 15 MAY 2012
- Article first published online: 26 APR 2012
- Accepted manuscript online: 29 JUL 2011 03:40PM EST
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Abstract
Interpersonally cold (relative to warm) individuals may be less skilled in inferring the emotional states of others, a factor that should contribute to their poorer social relationships. Systematic support for this hypothesis was obtained in 4 studies (total N = 434 undergraduates) involving diverse emotion- and affect-decoding tasks. Specifically, relatively cold individuals exhibited lower accuracy in decoding emotional facial expressions (Study 1), in labeling the emotions of others from audio and video clips (Study 2), in predicting the emotions of others from social scenario descriptions (Study 3), and in the normative accuracy of their word evaluations (Study 4). Altogether, the results demonstrate that cold individuals appear broadly deficient in linking emotion and affect to relevant environmental stimuli. Implications of the findings for understanding the nature and correlates of interpersonal coldness are discussed.