Association between referential activity and emotions recognition

Aim: According to Bucci's multiple code theory, the Referential Activity (RA) is the human capability of referential connection between verbal and non-verbal representations, as reflected in language style. RA can be operationalized as the degree to which a speaker is able to translate his/her own emotional, motoric, perceptual and somatic experiences into words in a way that will evoke corresponding experiences for the listener. We expect that the greater the ability to translate into words one's emotional experience, the greater the ability to recognize the emotions in the others' face would be. The aim of this study is to test this hypothesis that would confirm the inherently interpersonal quality of RA. Method: We administered the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) and the Relationship Anecdotes Paradigm (RAP) interview to 30 participants. Through the computerized linguistic measures of the referential activity we also measured the RA level of each interview. Results: As hypothesized, the results show a significant correlation between the RMET scores and the Referential Activity index. Discussion: Despite the correlation highlighted by the analysis does not allow to infer a causal relation between RA and the understanding of the others' emotional states, we suggest that the former is a precondition for the latter. Other future studies could test this hypothesis that we consider very useful for therapeutic and preventive interventions on any kind of relationship.