The words on a page can say one thing. The voice says who is behind them.
Researchers Had People Read, or Hear, the Same Opinion From Someone They Disagreed With. Hearing It Made the Speaker Seem More Thoughtful.
In 2017, three researchers asked people to read or hear the very same opinion, and found that the voice changed how the speaker was seen.
Think of someone in your family you do not always agree with. **If you only read what they wrote, what would you picture?** Now picture hearing them say it.
A study in *Psychological Science* gave people **the same opinion in different forms:** some heard it spoken, some read a transcript. When the listener **disagreed with the speaker,** the people who heard the voice rated the speaker as **more thoughtful and more humanlike** than the people who read the words.
It was not a study about families or recordings. Still, it points at something simple: **a voice carries a person in a way a page does not.**
1. What the researchers did
Juliana Schroeder, Michael Kardas and Nicholas Epley had people give their real opinions on **hotly contested topics.** Other people then **watched a video, heard audio only, or read a transcript** of those opinions and rated the person who gave them.
The words were the same in every version. **Only the way it reached the listener changed.**
Same words. Different medium. Different impression of the person.
2. What they found
When the listener and the speaker **disagreed,** opinions that were **spoken** made the speaker seem **more sophisticated and emotionally warm** than the same opinions in text. Video and audio worked about equally well, so **the voice was doing the work.**
A fourth experiment pointed to **intonation and pauses** as part of the reason. When the two people agreed, the results were **less consistent.**
The little rises, dips and pauses in a voice are part of how we recognize a person.
3. What it can and cannot tell us
This study used **strangers and a limited set of speakers and topics.** It **did not test families, recordings, or life stories,** and we read the journal citation and the press release from the Association for Psychological Science, not the full paper, so this page states **no sample sizes.**
What it gently suggests is that **a voice helps people see the human being behind the words.** For a family, that may be the difference between a name in a file and **someone you can still hear.**
A story in their own voice says more than the story alone.
it may be best for the person's voice to be heard.Schroeder, Kardas and Epley, Psychological Science, 2017 (as quoted in the Association for Psychological Science release)
What you get with LifeScribe
- A 2017 study in Psychological Science by Juliana Schroeder, Michael Kardas and Nicholas Epley compared hearing an opinion with reading it.
- The opinions were identical, delivered as video, audio or a transcript.
- When listeners disagreed with the speaker, spoken opinions were rated as more sophisticated and emotionally warm than the same words in text.
- Intonation and pauses helped explain the effect, and results were less consistent when listeners agreed.
- It used strangers and did not test families or recordings.
- Built on documented research: Psychological Science, 28(12), 1745 to 1762, 2017.
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Questions grandparents ask us
What did the study find?
People who disagreed with a speaker rated the speaker as more sophisticated and emotionally warm after hearing the opinion than after reading the same words. Video and audio worked about equally well.
Who wrote it?
Juliana Schroeder, Michael Kardas and Nicholas Epley, published in Psychological Science, volume 28, issue 12, pages 1745 to 1762, in 2017.
Did it study families or recordings?
No. It used strangers speaking on contested topics. This page makes no claim that it applies to family recordings or life stories.
What explained the effect?
A fourth experiment pointed to vocal cues such as intonation and pauses. The effect was less consistent when the listener agreed with the speaker.
Why does it matter for a life story?
It suggests a voice helps people see the person behind the words. A story kept in your own voice lets your family hear how you said it, not only what you said.
https://getlifescribeapp.com/blog/the-same-words-in-their-voice