ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the reflections of personality and emotion in vocal characteristics. It aims to demonstrate how social-psychological studies of voice variations can uncover verifiable information about personality dynamics and social processes. The widespread public interest in radio during the 1930s and 1940s was reflected in part by the vast amount of research at that time which looked at the voice as a mirror of the personality. The correlative nature of the accuracy and the externalization studies has prevented researchers from obtaining the kind of clean results needed for the formulation of testable hypotheses and cogent theory. K. R. Scherer has also conducted a superb review of the current state of knowledge in the area of the vocal and speech reflections of emotion. In connection with the studies of emotion, there is also a need for work on the conceptual clarification of emotion theory as it can be applied to vocal reflections.
