Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
J Res Adolesc. 2024 Sep;34(3):1054-1068. doi: 10.1111/jora.12992. Epub 2024 Jun 18.
Adolescents self-report using different strategies to respond to peer provocation. However, we have a limited understanding of how these responses are behaviorally enacted and perceived by peers. This study examined the extent to which adolescents' self-reported responses to peer provocation (i.e., aggressive, assertive, and withdrawn) predicted how their vocal enactments of standardized responses to peer provocation were perceived by other adolescents. Three vocal cues relevant to the communication of emotional intent-average pitch, average intensity, and speech rate-were explored as moderators of these associations. Adolescent speakers (n = 39; M = 12.67; 66.7% girls) completed a self-report measure of how they would choose to respond to scenarios involving peer provocation; they also enacted standardized vocal responses to hypothetical peer provocation scenarios. Recordings of speakers' vocal responses were presented to a separate sample of adolescent listeners (n = 129; M = 12.12; 52.7% girls) in an online listening task. Speakers who self-reported greater use of assertive response strategies enacted standardized vocal responses that were rated as significantly friendlier by listeners. Vocal responses enacted with faster speech rates were also rated as significantly friendlier by listeners. Speakers' self-reported use of aggression and withdrawal was not significantly related to listeners' ratings of their standardized vocal responses. These findings suggest that adolescents may be perceived differently by their peers depending on the way in which their response is enacted; specifically, faster speech rate may be perceived as friendlier and thus de-escalate peer conflict. Future studies should consider not only what youth say and/or do when responding to peer provocation but also how they say it.
青少年会自我报告使用不同的策略来应对同伴挑衅。然而，我们对这些反应如何在行为上被同伴实施和感知知之甚少。本研究考察了青少年自我报告的对同伴挑衅的反应（即攻击性、果断性和回避性）在多大程度上预测了他们对同伴挑衅的标准反应的声音表现如何被其他青少年感知。研究探索了与情感意图交流相关的三个声音线索——平均音高、平均强度和语速——作为这些关联的调节因素。青少年说话者（n=39；M=12.67；66.7%为女性）完成了一份自我报告，内容是他们如何选择对涉及同伴挑衅的情景做出反应；他们还对假设的同伴挑衅情景进行了标准的声音反应。说话者声音反应的录音以在线听力任务的形式呈现给另一组青少年听众（n=129；M=12.12；52.7%为女性）。自我报告更多使用果断反应策略的说话者实施的标准声音反应被听众评为明显更友好。语速更快的声音反应也被听众评为明显更友好。说话者自我报告的攻击性和回避性使用与听众对其标准声音反应的评价没有显著关系。这些发现表明，青少年的反应方式可能会使他们在同伴眼中显得不同；具体来说，更快的语速可能被视为更友好，从而缓解同伴冲突。未来的研究应该不仅考虑年轻人在回应同伴挑衅时说什么和/或做什么，还应该考虑他们如何说。
