Williams Jason A, Burns Erin L, Harmon Elizabeth A
Department of Psychology and Child Development, California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, 1 Grand Avenue, San Luis Obispo, CA 93407, USA.
Percept Mot Skills. 2009 Apr;108(2):565-72. doi: 10.2466/PMS.108.2.565-572.
Anecdotal evidence suggests that speakers often gaze away from their listeners during sarcastic utterances; however, this question has not been directly addressed empirically. This study systematically compared gaze-direction of speakers in dyadic conversation when uttering sincere and sarcastic statements. 18 naïve participants were required to recite a series of contradictory statements on a single topic to a naive listener, while at the same time conveying their actual opinion about this topic. This latter task could only be accomplished through prosodic or nonverbal communication by indicating sincerity or insincerity (sarcasm) for the various statements and allowed examination of gaze across the two conditions for each participant. Subsequent analysis of the videotaped interaction indicated that, during the time for the actual utterance, sarcastic utterances were accompanied by greater gaze aversion than were sincere utterances. This effect occurred for 15 of 18 participants (3 men, 15 women; M age = 19.8, SD = 1.0) who had volunteered for a small credit in an Introductory Psychology course. Results are discussed in terms of nonverbal communication and possible miscommunication which may apply given cultural differences in use of nonverbal cues.
轶事证据表明，说话者在进行讽刺性言论时常常会将目光从听众身上移开；然而，这一问题尚未得到实证研究的直接探讨。本研究系统地比较了说话者在二元对话中说出真诚和讽刺性语句时的目光方向。18名普通参与者被要求向一名普通听众就单一主题背诵一系列相互矛盾的语句，同时传达他们对该主题的实际看法。后一项任务只能通过韵律或非语言交流来完成，即表明各种语句的真诚或不真诚（讽刺），从而能够考察每位参与者在两种情况下的目光情况。对录像互动的后续分析表明，在实际发声期间，讽刺性语句比真诚性语句伴随着更多的目光回避。这种效应在18名参与者中的15名（3名男性，15名女性；平均年龄=19.8，标准差=1.0）身上出现，这些参与者是在一门心理学入门课程中自愿参与以获取小额学分的。研究结果从非语言交流以及考虑到非语言线索使用中的文化差异可能出现的误传方面进行了讨论。
