Chapter published in:
Intersubjectivity in Action: Studies in language and social interaction
Edited by Jan Lindström, Ritva Laury, Anssi Peräkylä and Marja-Leena Sorjonen
[Pragmatics & Beyond New Series 326] 2021
► pp. 303–

Emotion, psychophysiology, and intersubjectivity

| University of Helsinki
| University of Helsinki
| Tampere University
| University of Helsinki
| University of Helsinki
| Outward Psychiatric Clinic of Western Helsinki
| University of Helsinki
| Aalto University
| University of Helsinki
Conversation analytical studies on emotion show how expression of emotion is part of the intersubjective experience. Emotions, however, are as much physiological as experiential events. Physiological processes pertaining to emotion involve changes in cardiovascular activity, in the activation of sweat glands, and in muscular activity. The dyadic systems theory by Beebe and Lachmann (2002) suggests that actions that regulate social interaction also serve in the regulation of internal emotional states of interacting subjects. Drawing from this theory, our overall research questions was: how is the expression of emotion in social interaction linked to physiological responses in the participants? Our main result was that thorough conversational affiliation, the participants share the emotional load in the interaction.
Keywords: psychophysiology, autonomic nervous system, affiliation
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Sharing the emotional load in storytelling
  • 3.Physiology of affiliation and dominance in Asperger’s syndrome
  • 4.Physiology, affiliation and challenge in psychotherapy
  • 5.Discussion
  • References
Published online: 17 November 2021
https://doi.org/10.1075/pbns.326.14per
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