Mikko Kahri | University of Helsinki (original) (raw)

Papers by Mikko Kahri

Research paper thumbnail of Affiliation and Dominance in Female and Male Dyads: When Discoordination Makes Happy

Gender Issues

Drawing on sixteen 45-min-long dyadic same-sex conversations between unacquainted females or male... more Drawing on sixteen 45-min-long dyadic same-sex conversations between unacquainted females or males, we used the joystick method by Sadler et al.

Research paper thumbnail of Intersubjektiivisuus, vuorojen väliset yhteydet ja rytmi varhaisessa vuorovaikutuksessa : tapaustutkimus

Tutkielmassa tarkasteltiin erilaisia tapoja, joilla peräkkäiset eleet ja äänet voivat olla yhteyd... more Tutkielmassa tarkasteltiin erilaisia tapoja, joilla peräkkäiset eleet ja äänet voivat olla yhteydessä toisiinsa varhaisessa vuorovaikutuksessa, sekä rytmiä varhaisessa vuorovaikutuksessa. Aineistona toimivat lyhyet videonauhoitteet yhden äiti-vauva parin ...

Research paper thumbnail of Puheen musiikilliset piirteet ja sosiaalinen toiminta : kohti prosodian sosiologiaa

Research paper thumbnail of Empathy, Challenge, and Psychophysiological Activation in Therapist–Client Interaction

Frontiers in Psychology, 2018

Two central dimensions in psychotherapeutic work are a therapist's empathy with clients and chall... more Two central dimensions in psychotherapeutic work are a therapist's empathy with clients and challenging their judgments. We investigated how they influence psychophysiological responses in the participants. Data were from psychodynamic therapy sessions, 24 sessions from 5 dyads, from which 694 therapist's interventions were coded. Heart rate and electrodermal activity (EDA) of the participants were used to index emotional arousal. Facial muscle activity (electromyography) was used to index positive and negative emotional facial expressions. Electrophysiological data were analyzed in two time frames: (a) during the therapists' interventions and (b) across the whole psychotherapy session. Both empathy and challenge had an effect on psychophysiological responses in the participants. Therapists' empathy decreased clients' and increased their own EDA across the session. Therapists' challenge increased their own EDA in response to the interventions, but not across the sessions. Clients, on the other hand, did not respond to challenges during interventions, but challenges tended to increase EDA across a session. Furthermore, there was an interaction effect between empathy and challenge. Heart rate decreased and positive facial expressions increased in sessions where empathy and challenge were coupled, i.e., the amount of both empathy and challenge was either high or low. This suggests that these two variables work together. The results highlight the therapeutic functions and interrelation of empathy and challenge, and in line with the dyadic system theory by Beebe and Lachmann (2002), the systemic linkage between interactional expression and individual regulation of emotion.

Research paper thumbnail of Empathy, Challenge, and Psychophysiological Activation in Therapist–Client Interaction

Frontiers in Psychology, 2018

Two central dimensions in psychotherapeutic work are a therapist's empathy with clients and chall... more Two central dimensions in psychotherapeutic work are a therapist's empathy with clients and challenging their judgments. We investigated how they influence psychophysiological responses in the participants. Data were from psychodynamic therapy sessions, 24 sessions from 5 dyads, from which 694 therapist's interventions were coded. Heart rate and electrodermal activity (EDA) of the participants were used to index emotional arousal. Facial muscle activity (electromyography) was used to index positive and negative emotional facial expressions. Electrophysiological data were analyzed in two time frames: (a) during the therapists' interventions and (b) across the whole psychotherapy session. Both empathy and challenge had an effect on psychophysiological responses in the participants. Therapists' empathy decreased clients' and increased their own EDA across the session. Therapists' challenge increased their own EDA in response to the interventions, but not across the sessions. Clients, on the other hand, did not respond to challenges during interventions, but challenges tended to increase EDA across a session. Furthermore, there was an interaction effect between empathy and challenge. Heart rate decreased and positive facial expressions increased in sessions where empathy and challenge were coupled, i.e., the amount of both empathy and challenge was either high or low. This suggests that these two variables work together. The results highlight the therapeutic functions and interrelation of empathy and challenge, and in line with the dyadic system theory by Beebe and Lachmann (2002), the systemic linkage between interactional expression and individual regulation of emotion.

Research paper thumbnail of Nods, vocal continuers, and the perception of empathy in storytelling

Discourse Processes, 2018

In her influential paper on stance, alignment, and affiliation in conversational storytelling, Ta... more In her influential paper on stance, alignment, and affiliation in conversational storytelling, Tanya Stivers argued that two basic conversational means of receiving a story, nods and vocal continuers, differ in their function: whereas vocal continuers display alignment with the telling activity, nods, during the mid-telling, convey affiliation with the storytellers’ affective stance. In this paper, we elaborate these insights on the basis of a quantitative study informed by conversation analysis. Using a database of 317 stories told in Finnish, we analyzed how story recipients’ nods and continuers in different phases of storytelling (before and after the story climax) predict naïve raters’ judgments of the story recipients’ empathy toward the storyteller. We found that vocal continuers accounted for the perception of empathy during mid- telling, whereas the effect of nods remained weak. The study offers further support to the notion of structural organization of storytelling, and suggests that the significance of vocal continuers as a vehicle of empathy may be greater than has been generally thought of.

Research paper thumbnail of On the Asperger experience of interaction: Interpersonal dynamics in dyadic conversations

We compared the patterns of affiliative and dominant behavior displayed in male dyads where one p... more We compared the patterns of affiliative and dominant behavior displayed in male dyads where one participant has Asperger's syndrome (AS) with those displayed in male dyads with two neurotypical (NT) participants. Drawing on interpersonal theory, according to which affiliation and dominance constitute two orthogonal axes of the " interpersonal circle, " we used a computer-joystick apparatus to assess the participants' moment-to-moment affiliative and dominant behaviors throughout conversation. The patterns of affiliation and dominance were subsequently studied in relation to post-conversation questionnaires that targeted the interactional experiences of the participants in the two different types of dyads (AS dyads, NT dyads). We found the overall interpersonal notion of complementarity to hold for AS and NT dyads alike: greater affiliation in one participant invoked greater affiliation in the co-participant, and greater dominance invoked greater submissiveness in the co-participant. The AS and NT dyads, however, differed with regard to how affiliative and dominant behaviors related to each other during the time course of a single conversation. Furthermore, we found important differences between the AS and NT dyads in how the different patterns of affiliation and dominance were experienced by the participants. For example, a high level of affiliation synchrony was experienced in more negative terms by the participants in the AS dyads than by those in the NT dyads, while a high level of dominance coordination was experienced in more positive terms by the participants in the AS dyads than by those in the NT dyads. The paper increases understanding of the details of the interactional deficits associated with AS and of the conditions in which AS participants may get maximally positive interactional experiences. More generally, our study highlights the necessity to take the study of individual differences in the experiences of patterns of affiliation and dominance into the official agenda of empirical interaction research.

Research paper thumbnail of On the Asperger experience of interaction: Interpersonal dynamics in dyadic conversations

We compared the patterns of affiliative and dominant behavior displayed in male dyads where one p... more We compared the patterns of affiliative and dominant behavior displayed in male dyads where one participant has Asperger's syndrome (AS) with those displayed in male dyads with two neurotypical (NT) participants. Drawing on interpersonal theory, according to which affiliation and dominance constitute two orthogonal axes of the " interpersonal circle, " we used a computer-joystick apparatus to assess the participants' moment-to-moment affiliative and dominant behaviors throughout conversation. The patterns of affiliation and dominance were subsequently studied in relation to post-conversation questionnaires that targeted the interactional experiences of the participants in the two different types of dyads (AS dyads, NT dyads). We found the overall interpersonal notion of complementarity to hold for AS and NT dyads alike: greater affiliation in one participant invoked greater affiliation in the co-participant, and greater dominance invoked greater submissiveness in the co-participant. The AS and NT dyads, however, differed with regard to how affiliative and dominant behaviors related to each other during the time course of a single conversation. Furthermore, we found important differences between the AS and NT dyads in how the different patterns of affiliation and dominance were experienced by the participants. For example, a high level of affiliation synchrony was experienced in more negative terms by the participants in the AS dyads than by those in the NT dyads, while a high level of dominance coordination was experienced in more positive terms by the participants in the AS dyads than by those in the NT dyads. The paper increases understanding of the details of the interactional deficits associated with AS and of the conditions in which AS participants may get maximally positive interactional experiences. More generally, our study highlights the necessity to take the study of individual differences in the experiences of patterns of affiliation and dominance into the official agenda of empirical interaction research.

Research paper thumbnail of Sequentiality, Mutual Visibility, and Behavioral Matching: Body Sway and Pitch Register During Joint Decision Making

We studied behavioral matching during joint decision making. Drawing on motion-capture and voice ... more We studied behavioral matching during joint decision making. Drawing
on motion-capture and voice data from 12 dyads, we analyzed body-sway and pitch-register matching during sequential transitions and continuations, with and without mutual visibility. Body sway was matched most strongly during sequential transitions in the conditions of mutual visibility. Pitch-register matching was higher during sequential transitions than continuations only when the participants could not see each other. These results suggest that both body sway and pitch register are used to manage sequential transitions, while mutual visibility influences the relative weights of these two resources. The conversational data are in Finnish with English translation.

Research paper thumbnail of Affective stance, ambivalence, and psychophysiological responses during conversational storytelling

Earlier research has shown that conversational storytelling is a regular locus for displays of af... more Earlier research has shown that conversational storytelling is a regular locus for displays of affective stance. A stance display by the teller invites a mirroring response from the recipient, and these reciprocal displays are finely organized and timed. The article adds a new aspect to the research on affective stance and affiliation by examining the linkages between interactional stance displays and physiological responses in the participants. We show that the valence, and especially ambivalence, of the stance displayed by the storyteller is associated with an increase in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity in the recipient. The participants were 40 students who were discussing their life events in dyads. Heart rate, electrodermal activity (skin conductance), and facial muscle activity (EMG) of the participants were measured. The conversations were videotaped, and the storytelling instances were coded by means of a quantitative application of conversation analysis. The stories were coded into three classes: happy, sad, and ambivalent (twofold) stories on the basis of the affective stance that was displayed by the teller. In comparison to a happy and sad stance, ambivalence increased significantly the recipient’s heart rate and electrodermal activity. Our interpretation is that the increased ANS activity reflects the more complex cognitive and interactional task faced by the recipients in affiliating with an ambivalent stance.

Research paper thumbnail of Affective stance, ambivalence, and psychophysiological responses during conversational storytelling

Journal of Pragmatics, 2014

Earlier research has shown that conversational storytelling is a regular locus for displays of af... more Earlier research has shown that conversational storytelling is a regular locus for displays of affective stance. A stance display by the teller invites a mirroring response from the recipient, and these reciprocal displays are finely organized and timed. The article adds a new aspect to the research on affective stance and affiliation by examining the linkages between interactional stance displays and physiological responses in the participants. We show that the valence, and especially ambivalence, of the stance displayed by the storyteller is associated with an increase in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity in the recipient. The participants were 40 students who were discussing their life events in dyads. Heart rate, electrodermal activity (skin conductance), and facial muscle activity (EMG) of the participants were measured. The conversations were videotaped, and the storytelling instances were coded by means of a quantitative application of conversation analysis. The stories were coded into three classes: happy, sad, and ambivalent (twofold) stories on the basis of the affective stance that was displayed by the teller. In comparison to a happy and sad stance, ambivalence increased significantly the recipient's heart rate and electrodermal activity. Our interpretation is that the increased ANS activity reflects the more complex cognitive and interactional task faced by the recipients in affiliating with an ambivalent stance.

Research paper thumbnail of Sharing the Emotional Load: Recipient Affiliation Calms Down the Storyteller

In conversational storytelling, the recipients are expected to show affiliation with the emo- tio... more In conversational storytelling, the recipients are expected to show affiliation with the emo- tional stance displayed by the storytellers. We investigated emotional arousal-related auto- nomic nervous system responses in tellers and recipients of conversational stories. The data consist of 20 recordings of 45- to 60-minute dyadic conversations between female university and polytechnic students. Conversations were videotaped and analyzed by means of conversa- tion analysis (CA), with a special emphasis on the verbal and nonverbal displays of affiliation in storytelling. Electrodermal activity in both participants was measured to estimate their arousal level. The results show that the verbal and nonverbal displays of affiliation decrease the storyteller’s but increase the recipient’s level of arousal. This means that the monitoring of the recipient actions in storytelling, shown by earlier CA studies, has a physiological correlate. We suggest that storytelling involves an emotional load, which the participants share physi- ologically in affiliative responses.

Research paper thumbnail of Affiliation and Dominance in Female and Male Dyads: When Discoordination Makes Happy

Gender Issues

Drawing on sixteen 45-min-long dyadic same-sex conversations between unacquainted females or male... more Drawing on sixteen 45-min-long dyadic same-sex conversations between unacquainted females or males, we used the joystick method by Sadler et al.

Research paper thumbnail of Intersubjektiivisuus, vuorojen väliset yhteydet ja rytmi varhaisessa vuorovaikutuksessa : tapaustutkimus

Tutkielmassa tarkasteltiin erilaisia tapoja, joilla peräkkäiset eleet ja äänet voivat olla yhteyd... more Tutkielmassa tarkasteltiin erilaisia tapoja, joilla peräkkäiset eleet ja äänet voivat olla yhteydessä toisiinsa varhaisessa vuorovaikutuksessa, sekä rytmiä varhaisessa vuorovaikutuksessa. Aineistona toimivat lyhyet videonauhoitteet yhden äiti-vauva parin ...

Research paper thumbnail of Puheen musiikilliset piirteet ja sosiaalinen toiminta : kohti prosodian sosiologiaa

Research paper thumbnail of Empathy, Challenge, and Psychophysiological Activation in Therapist–Client Interaction

Frontiers in Psychology, 2018

Two central dimensions in psychotherapeutic work are a therapist's empathy with clients and chall... more Two central dimensions in psychotherapeutic work are a therapist's empathy with clients and challenging their judgments. We investigated how they influence psychophysiological responses in the participants. Data were from psychodynamic therapy sessions, 24 sessions from 5 dyads, from which 694 therapist's interventions were coded. Heart rate and electrodermal activity (EDA) of the participants were used to index emotional arousal. Facial muscle activity (electromyography) was used to index positive and negative emotional facial expressions. Electrophysiological data were analyzed in two time frames: (a) during the therapists' interventions and (b) across the whole psychotherapy session. Both empathy and challenge had an effect on psychophysiological responses in the participants. Therapists' empathy decreased clients' and increased their own EDA across the session. Therapists' challenge increased their own EDA in response to the interventions, but not across the sessions. Clients, on the other hand, did not respond to challenges during interventions, but challenges tended to increase EDA across a session. Furthermore, there was an interaction effect between empathy and challenge. Heart rate decreased and positive facial expressions increased in sessions where empathy and challenge were coupled, i.e., the amount of both empathy and challenge was either high or low. This suggests that these two variables work together. The results highlight the therapeutic functions and interrelation of empathy and challenge, and in line with the dyadic system theory by Beebe and Lachmann (2002), the systemic linkage between interactional expression and individual regulation of emotion.

Research paper thumbnail of Empathy, Challenge, and Psychophysiological Activation in Therapist–Client Interaction

Frontiers in Psychology, 2018

Two central dimensions in psychotherapeutic work are a therapist's empathy with clients and chall... more Two central dimensions in psychotherapeutic work are a therapist's empathy with clients and challenging their judgments. We investigated how they influence psychophysiological responses in the participants. Data were from psychodynamic therapy sessions, 24 sessions from 5 dyads, from which 694 therapist's interventions were coded. Heart rate and electrodermal activity (EDA) of the participants were used to index emotional arousal. Facial muscle activity (electromyography) was used to index positive and negative emotional facial expressions. Electrophysiological data were analyzed in two time frames: (a) during the therapists' interventions and (b) across the whole psychotherapy session. Both empathy and challenge had an effect on psychophysiological responses in the participants. Therapists' empathy decreased clients' and increased their own EDA across the session. Therapists' challenge increased their own EDA in response to the interventions, but not across the sessions. Clients, on the other hand, did not respond to challenges during interventions, but challenges tended to increase EDA across a session. Furthermore, there was an interaction effect between empathy and challenge. Heart rate decreased and positive facial expressions increased in sessions where empathy and challenge were coupled, i.e., the amount of both empathy and challenge was either high or low. This suggests that these two variables work together. The results highlight the therapeutic functions and interrelation of empathy and challenge, and in line with the dyadic system theory by Beebe and Lachmann (2002), the systemic linkage between interactional expression and individual regulation of emotion.

Research paper thumbnail of Nods, vocal continuers, and the perception of empathy in storytelling

Discourse Processes, 2018

In her influential paper on stance, alignment, and affiliation in conversational storytelling, Ta... more In her influential paper on stance, alignment, and affiliation in conversational storytelling, Tanya Stivers argued that two basic conversational means of receiving a story, nods and vocal continuers, differ in their function: whereas vocal continuers display alignment with the telling activity, nods, during the mid-telling, convey affiliation with the storytellers’ affective stance. In this paper, we elaborate these insights on the basis of a quantitative study informed by conversation analysis. Using a database of 317 stories told in Finnish, we analyzed how story recipients’ nods and continuers in different phases of storytelling (before and after the story climax) predict naïve raters’ judgments of the story recipients’ empathy toward the storyteller. We found that vocal continuers accounted for the perception of empathy during mid- telling, whereas the effect of nods remained weak. The study offers further support to the notion of structural organization of storytelling, and suggests that the significance of vocal continuers as a vehicle of empathy may be greater than has been generally thought of.

Research paper thumbnail of On the Asperger experience of interaction: Interpersonal dynamics in dyadic conversations

We compared the patterns of affiliative and dominant behavior displayed in male dyads where one p... more We compared the patterns of affiliative and dominant behavior displayed in male dyads where one participant has Asperger's syndrome (AS) with those displayed in male dyads with two neurotypical (NT) participants. Drawing on interpersonal theory, according to which affiliation and dominance constitute two orthogonal axes of the " interpersonal circle, " we used a computer-joystick apparatus to assess the participants' moment-to-moment affiliative and dominant behaviors throughout conversation. The patterns of affiliation and dominance were subsequently studied in relation to post-conversation questionnaires that targeted the interactional experiences of the participants in the two different types of dyads (AS dyads, NT dyads). We found the overall interpersonal notion of complementarity to hold for AS and NT dyads alike: greater affiliation in one participant invoked greater affiliation in the co-participant, and greater dominance invoked greater submissiveness in the co-participant. The AS and NT dyads, however, differed with regard to how affiliative and dominant behaviors related to each other during the time course of a single conversation. Furthermore, we found important differences between the AS and NT dyads in how the different patterns of affiliation and dominance were experienced by the participants. For example, a high level of affiliation synchrony was experienced in more negative terms by the participants in the AS dyads than by those in the NT dyads, while a high level of dominance coordination was experienced in more positive terms by the participants in the AS dyads than by those in the NT dyads. The paper increases understanding of the details of the interactional deficits associated with AS and of the conditions in which AS participants may get maximally positive interactional experiences. More generally, our study highlights the necessity to take the study of individual differences in the experiences of patterns of affiliation and dominance into the official agenda of empirical interaction research.

Research paper thumbnail of On the Asperger experience of interaction: Interpersonal dynamics in dyadic conversations

We compared the patterns of affiliative and dominant behavior displayed in male dyads where one p... more We compared the patterns of affiliative and dominant behavior displayed in male dyads where one participant has Asperger's syndrome (AS) with those displayed in male dyads with two neurotypical (NT) participants. Drawing on interpersonal theory, according to which affiliation and dominance constitute two orthogonal axes of the " interpersonal circle, " we used a computer-joystick apparatus to assess the participants' moment-to-moment affiliative and dominant behaviors throughout conversation. The patterns of affiliation and dominance were subsequently studied in relation to post-conversation questionnaires that targeted the interactional experiences of the participants in the two different types of dyads (AS dyads, NT dyads). We found the overall interpersonal notion of complementarity to hold for AS and NT dyads alike: greater affiliation in one participant invoked greater affiliation in the co-participant, and greater dominance invoked greater submissiveness in the co-participant. The AS and NT dyads, however, differed with regard to how affiliative and dominant behaviors related to each other during the time course of a single conversation. Furthermore, we found important differences between the AS and NT dyads in how the different patterns of affiliation and dominance were experienced by the participants. For example, a high level of affiliation synchrony was experienced in more negative terms by the participants in the AS dyads than by those in the NT dyads, while a high level of dominance coordination was experienced in more positive terms by the participants in the AS dyads than by those in the NT dyads. The paper increases understanding of the details of the interactional deficits associated with AS and of the conditions in which AS participants may get maximally positive interactional experiences. More generally, our study highlights the necessity to take the study of individual differences in the experiences of patterns of affiliation and dominance into the official agenda of empirical interaction research.

Research paper thumbnail of Sequentiality, Mutual Visibility, and Behavioral Matching: Body Sway and Pitch Register During Joint Decision Making

We studied behavioral matching during joint decision making. Drawing on motion-capture and voice ... more We studied behavioral matching during joint decision making. Drawing
on motion-capture and voice data from 12 dyads, we analyzed body-sway and pitch-register matching during sequential transitions and continuations, with and without mutual visibility. Body sway was matched most strongly during sequential transitions in the conditions of mutual visibility. Pitch-register matching was higher during sequential transitions than continuations only when the participants could not see each other. These results suggest that both body sway and pitch register are used to manage sequential transitions, while mutual visibility influences the relative weights of these two resources. The conversational data are in Finnish with English translation.

Research paper thumbnail of Affective stance, ambivalence, and psychophysiological responses during conversational storytelling

Earlier research has shown that conversational storytelling is a regular locus for displays of af... more Earlier research has shown that conversational storytelling is a regular locus for displays of affective stance. A stance display by the teller invites a mirroring response from the recipient, and these reciprocal displays are finely organized and timed. The article adds a new aspect to the research on affective stance and affiliation by examining the linkages between interactional stance displays and physiological responses in the participants. We show that the valence, and especially ambivalence, of the stance displayed by the storyteller is associated with an increase in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity in the recipient. The participants were 40 students who were discussing their life events in dyads. Heart rate, electrodermal activity (skin conductance), and facial muscle activity (EMG) of the participants were measured. The conversations were videotaped, and the storytelling instances were coded by means of a quantitative application of conversation analysis. The stories were coded into three classes: happy, sad, and ambivalent (twofold) stories on the basis of the affective stance that was displayed by the teller. In comparison to a happy and sad stance, ambivalence increased significantly the recipient’s heart rate and electrodermal activity. Our interpretation is that the increased ANS activity reflects the more complex cognitive and interactional task faced by the recipients in affiliating with an ambivalent stance.

Research paper thumbnail of Affective stance, ambivalence, and psychophysiological responses during conversational storytelling

Journal of Pragmatics, 2014

Earlier research has shown that conversational storytelling is a regular locus for displays of af... more Earlier research has shown that conversational storytelling is a regular locus for displays of affective stance. A stance display by the teller invites a mirroring response from the recipient, and these reciprocal displays are finely organized and timed. The article adds a new aspect to the research on affective stance and affiliation by examining the linkages between interactional stance displays and physiological responses in the participants. We show that the valence, and especially ambivalence, of the stance displayed by the storyteller is associated with an increase in the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity in the recipient. The participants were 40 students who were discussing their life events in dyads. Heart rate, electrodermal activity (skin conductance), and facial muscle activity (EMG) of the participants were measured. The conversations were videotaped, and the storytelling instances were coded by means of a quantitative application of conversation analysis. The stories were coded into three classes: happy, sad, and ambivalent (twofold) stories on the basis of the affective stance that was displayed by the teller. In comparison to a happy and sad stance, ambivalence increased significantly the recipient's heart rate and electrodermal activity. Our interpretation is that the increased ANS activity reflects the more complex cognitive and interactional task faced by the recipients in affiliating with an ambivalent stance.

Research paper thumbnail of Sharing the Emotional Load: Recipient Affiliation Calms Down the Storyteller

In conversational storytelling, the recipients are expected to show affiliation with the emo- tio... more In conversational storytelling, the recipients are expected to show affiliation with the emo- tional stance displayed by the storytellers. We investigated emotional arousal-related auto- nomic nervous system responses in tellers and recipients of conversational stories. The data consist of 20 recordings of 45- to 60-minute dyadic conversations between female university and polytechnic students. Conversations were videotaped and analyzed by means of conversa- tion analysis (CA), with a special emphasis on the verbal and nonverbal displays of affiliation in storytelling. Electrodermal activity in both participants was measured to estimate their arousal level. The results show that the verbal and nonverbal displays of affiliation decrease the storyteller’s but increase the recipient’s level of arousal. This means that the monitoring of the recipient actions in storytelling, shown by earlier CA studies, has a physiological correlate. We suggest that storytelling involves an emotional load, which the participants share physi- ologically in affiliative responses.