To study emotions and language requires an interdisciplinary perspective encompassing linguistic, social, and cognitive views. From the linguistic part, I follow the Interactional Spine Hypothesis (Wiltschko 2021), according to which human language is structured by hierarchically organized layers that rule and allow the generation of the linguistic expression of thought (categorization, point of view, anchoring, linking) and communication management (grounding and turn-taking).
From a social view, I follow the Commitment Framework (notably Geurts 2019a, and also Geurts 2019b; Krifka 2019; Villalba 2024) that defines communication, first and foremost, as an activity to negotiate commitments: when people talk to each other, they commit themselves to the truthfulness of what they say (propositions), what they aim to do (promises), what they express (mental states), and what they want from others (commands). This entails that the emotional expressions we observe in conversation are constrained more by social factors than by psychological needs.
From a cognitive perspective, I follow the Theory of Constructed Emotions (Feldman-Barrett 2017), according to which emotions are a social construction with a psychophysiological origin. This means that emotions are phenomena defined through social experience that affect how we feel and think about the world that surrounds us. Emotions are therefore different depending on cultural settings and personal experience.
From a social view, I follow the Commitment Framework (notably Geurts 2019a, and also Geurts 2019b; Krifka 2019; Villalba 2024) that defines communication, first and foremost, as an activity to negotiate commitments: when people talk to each other, they commit themselves to the truthfulness of what they say (propositions), what they aim to do (promises), what they express (mental states), and what they want from others (commands). This entails that the emotional expressions we observe in conversation are constrained more by social factors than by psychological needs.
From a cognitive perspective, I follow the Theory of Constructed Emotions (Feldman-Barrett 2017), according to which emotions are a social construction with a psychophysiological origin. This means that emotions are phenomena defined through social experience that affect how we feel and think about the world that surrounds us. Emotions are therefore different depending on cultural settings and personal experience.
