Oral approach–avoidance: Affective consequences of muscular articulation dynamics.

Abstract

Can mouth movements shape attitudes? When people articulate different consonants (e.g., B or K) they press the tongue and the lips against various spots in the mouth. This allows for construction of words that feature systematic wanderings of consonantal stricture spots either from the front to the rear (inward; e.g., BENOKA) or from the rear to the front (outward; e.g., KENOBA) of the mouth. These wanderings of muscular strictures resemble the oral kinematics during either deglution (swallowing-like, inward movement) or expectoration (spitting-like, outward movement). Thus, we predicted that the articulation of inward and outward words induces motivational states associated with deglutition and expectoration--namely, approach and avoidance--which was tested in 9 experiments (total N = 822). Inward words were preferred over outward words, being labeled as nonsense words (Experiments 1, 4, 5, 6, and 9), company names (Experiment 2), or person names (Experiments 3, 7, and 8), with control words falling in between (Experiment 5). As a social-behavioral consequence, ostensible chat partners were more often chosen to interact with when having inward compared to outward names (Experiment 7). The effect was found in German-speaking (Experiments 1-5) and English-speaking (Experiment 6) samples, and it occurred even under silent reading (all experiments) and for negatively labeled targets (names of villains; Experiment 8). Showing articulation simulations as being the causal undercurrent, this effect was absent in aphasia patients who lacked covert subvocalizations (Experiment 9).

Matching between oral inward–outward movements of object names and oral movements associated with denoted objects

“…Moreover, Topolinski, Zürn, and Schneider (2015) examined the in-out effect on consumer attitudes when labelling these words as brand names for various products. They used the same stimuli and design as Topolinski et al (2014). Among these products was also pest control, which is a rather negatively associated product.…”

“…In Experiment 1c, a large stimulus pool designed for English articulation from Topolinski et al (2014, Experiment 6) was used featuring 125 inward and 125 outward words. The stimuli can be found in the supplemental material of Topolinski et al (2014).…”

“…Materials. We used the stimuli already provided in Topolinski et al (2014). These stimuli had been constructed in the following way.…”

“…For instance, executing arm flexion (ecologically linked to approach) compared to arm extension (ecologically linked to avoidance) while watching affectively neutral stimuli induces positive attitudes towards these stimuli (Cacioppo, Priester, & Berntson, 1993;Centerbar & Clore, 2006; for a bi-directional link, see also Chen & Bargh, 1999;Krieglmeyer, Deutsch, De Houwer, & De Raedt, 2010;Rotteveel & Phaf, 2004; but see, for strategic and verbal mechanisms, Eder & Klauer, 2009;Eder & Rothermund, 2008;Markman & Brendl, 2005;Lavender & Hommel, 2007;Seibt, Neumann, Nussinson, & Strack, 2008;van Dantzig, Zeelenberg, & Pecher, 2009). Most recently, a novel way of inducing such approach-avoidance states bodily was introduced, namely by means of oral motor kinematics (Topolinski, Maschmann, Pecher, & Winkielman, 2014). This approach exploited the simple biomechanical fact that the mouth serves two completely independent functions, namely ingestion and articulation (Rozin, 1999), and certain motor patterns are quite similar across these two functions.…”

“…Since the latter are highly motivationally charged, it is plausible to assume that inward/ outward wanderings of consonantal stricture spots activate ingestion/expectoration-like muscle movements that can activate approach/avoidance states. This was tested by Topolinski et al (2014) using nonsense words that featured either an inward wandering of consonantal stricture spots (e.g., MENIKA) or an outward wandering (e.g., KENIMA). Participants were asked to read the words and indicate their preference for them.…”