Affective construal in deictic gestures as evidence for awareness in choice making
(2025) In Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences- Abstract
What is the role of deictic gestures in expressing affective valence, and can such gestures serve as an indicator of awareness in choice making? To examine this, we analyzed participants’ deictic gestures toward preferred and non-preferred picture alternatives in an experimental choice justification task. The task involved manipulation: in some trials, participants were presented with the rejected alternative as if that had been their choice and were asked to justify it. Based on whether participants detected the manipulation or not (i.e., reacting to the presented picture card or accepting it as their choice), three types of choice trials were distinguished: (a) non-manipulated, (b) manipulated-undetected, and (c) manipulated-detected.... (More)
What is the role of deictic gestures in expressing affective valence, and can such gestures serve as an indicator of awareness in choice making? To examine this, we analyzed participants’ deictic gestures toward preferred and non-preferred picture alternatives in an experimental choice justification task. The task involved manipulation: in some trials, participants were presented with the rejected alternative as if that had been their choice and were asked to justify it. Based on whether participants detected the manipulation or not (i.e., reacting to the presented picture card or accepting it as their choice), three types of choice trials were distinguished: (a) non-manipulated, (b) manipulated-undetected, and (c) manipulated-detected. We categorized the verbal and deictic responses of 29 Greek participants according to seven dimensions: Deixis, indicated Object, hand Shape, use of Hand, Tactility, Utterance, and Valence. We found differences in participants’ deictic gestures between preferred and non-preferred choice alternatives across nearly all dimensions. Moreover, when manipulation was involved, participants gesturally indicated their preferred option, which was presented as their rejected alternative, in a manner similar to how they indicated the preferred picture card when there was no manipulation. Based on these observations, we argue that deictic gestures are not merely referential but also carry affective and evaluative construals, serving as indicators of implicit awareness of preference-based choices. The study’s findings offer insights into the embodied nature of preference, the way agency arises within a landscape of possibilities, and how pre-reflective consciousness and the operative nature of the body provides a window into participants’ awareness in choice making.
(Less)
- author
- Mouratidou, Alexandra LU and Andrén, Mats LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- epub
- subject
- keywords
- Blindness, Choice awareness, Cognitive semiotics, Consciousness, Deixis, Operative intentionality, Pointing, Pre-reflective, Preference, Tactility
- in
- Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences
- publisher
- Springer Science and Business Media B.V.
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:105020279876
- ISSN
- 1568-7759
- DOI
- 10.1007/s11097-025-10110-6
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- additional info
- Publisher Copyright: © The Author(s) 2025.
- id
- 6bfe7269-4af9-4e51-bcf1-560345ced2f7
- date added to LUP
- 2026-01-15 10:48:34
- date last changed
- 2026-01-15 10:49:20
@article{6bfe7269-4af9-4e51-bcf1-560345ced2f7,
abstract = {{<p>What is the role of deictic gestures in expressing affective valence, and can such gestures serve as an indicator of awareness in choice making? To examine this, we analyzed participants’ deictic gestures toward preferred and non-preferred picture alternatives in an experimental choice justification task. The task involved manipulation: in some trials, participants were presented with the rejected alternative as if that had been their choice and were asked to justify it. Based on whether participants detected the manipulation or not (i.e., reacting to the presented picture card or accepting it as their choice), three types of choice trials were distinguished: (a) non-manipulated, (b) manipulated-undetected, and (c) manipulated-detected. We categorized the verbal and deictic responses of 29 Greek participants according to seven dimensions: Deixis, indicated Object, hand Shape, use of Hand, Tactility, Utterance, and Valence. We found differences in participants’ deictic gestures between preferred and non-preferred choice alternatives across nearly all dimensions. Moreover, when manipulation was involved, participants gesturally indicated their preferred option, which was presented as their rejected alternative, in a manner similar to how they indicated the preferred picture card when there was no manipulation. Based on these observations, we argue that deictic gestures are not merely referential but also carry affective and evaluative construals, serving as indicators of implicit awareness of preference-based choices. The study’s findings offer insights into the embodied nature of preference, the way agency arises within a landscape of possibilities, and how pre-reflective consciousness and the operative nature of the body provides a window into participants’ awareness in choice making.</p>}},
author = {{Mouratidou, Alexandra and Andrén, Mats}},
issn = {{1568-7759}},
keywords = {{Blindness; Choice awareness; Cognitive semiotics; Consciousness; Deixis; Operative intentionality; Pointing; Pre-reflective; Preference; Tactility}},
language = {{eng}},
publisher = {{Springer Science and Business Media B.V.}},
series = {{Phenomenology and the Cognitive Sciences}},
title = {{Affective construal in deictic gestures as evidence for awareness in choice making}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11097-025-10110-6}},
doi = {{10.1007/s11097-025-10110-6}},
year = {{2025}},
}