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Pitch Perfect: Vocal Pitch and the Emotional Intensity of Congressional Speech

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  • DIETRICH, BRYCE J.
  • HAYES, MATTHEW
  • O’BRIEN, DIANA Z.

Abstract

Although audio archives are available for a number of political institutions, the data they provide receive scant attention from researchers. Yet, audio data offer important insights, including information about speakers’ emotional states. Using one of the largest collections of natural audio ever compiled—74,158 Congressional floor speeches—we introduce a novel measure of legislators’ emotional intensity: small changes in vocal pitch that are difficult for speakers to control. Applying our measure to MCs’ floor speeches about women, we show that female MCs speak with greater emotional intensity when talking about women as compared with both their male colleagues and their speech on other topics. Our two supplementary analyses suggest that increased vocal pitch is consistent with legislators’ broader issue commitments, and that emotionally intense speech may affect other lawmakers’ behavior. More generally, by demonstrating the utility of audio-as-data approaches, our work highlights a new way of studying political speech.

Suggested Citation

  • Dietrich, Bryce J. & Hayes, Matthew & O’Brien, Diana Z., 2019. "Pitch Perfect: Vocal Pitch and the Emotional Intensity of Congressional Speech," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 113(4), pages 941-962, November.
  • Handle: RePEc:cup:apsrev:v:113:y:2019:i:4:p:941-962_5
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    Cited by:

    1. Alexopoulos, Michelle & Han, Xinfen & Kryvtsov, Oleksiy & Zhang, Xu, 2024. "More than words: Fed Chairs’ communication during congressional testimonies," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    2. Allison, Thomas H. & Warnick, Benjamin J. & Davis, Blakley C. & Cardon, Melissa S., 2022. "Can you hear me now? Engendering passion and preparedness perceptions with vocal expressions in crowdfunding pitches," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 37(3).
    3. Tiffany BARNES & Charles CRABTREE & MATSUO Akitaka & ONO Yoshikuni, 2022. "Women Use More Positive Language than Men: Candidates’ strategic use of emotive language in election campaigns," Discussion papers 22114, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    4. Gloria Gennaro & Elliott Ash, 2022. "Emotion and Reason in Political Language," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(643), pages 1037-1059.
    5. Antonio Dávila & Martí Guasch, 2022. "Managers’ Body Expansiveness, Investor Perceptions, and Firm Forecast Errors and Valuation," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(2), pages 517-563, May.

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