Comparative Analysis of Speech Reinvestment in Voice Professionals and Non-Professionals
Objective: To compare speech reinvestment among multiple categories of voice professionals and non-professionals. Methods: Cross-sectional study (Ethics Committee approval #4.356.465). Participants were recruited through social media. All subjects answered a Characterization Questionnaire and the Speech-Specific Reinvestment Scale (SSRS) to quantify a person's predisposition to exercise conscious control and monitoring over speech. SSRS contains 39 items and four factors: speech movement, public awareness of the way of speaking, public awareness of movement during the speaking content, and public awareness of movement during speech. The sample was composed of 680 respondents, 433 female, 247 male, and 3 non-binary, with a mean age of 39 years, classified as: Voice professionals - VP (n=578), subdivided into artistic voice (n=294) and non-artistic voice (n=284), and Non-voice professionals - NVP (n=105). The voice professionals were speech-language pathologists - SLPs (n=105), journalists (n=75), announcers (n=96), singers (n=100), actors (n=98), and teachers (n=104). The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test were applied, with multiple comparisons adjusted by the Bonferroni correction. Results: VPs had higher scores than NVPs in speech movement (p<0.001), public awareness of movement during the speaking content (p=0.004), and total score (p<0.001). Non-artistic VPs had higher scores than artistic VPs in the factors of speech movement (p<0.001), public awareness of the way of speaking (p=0.001), public awareness of movement during the speaking content (p<0.001), public awareness of movement during speech (p<0.001) and total score (p<0.001). NVP had lower scores in all factors analyzed, compared to journalists and SLPs. Conclusion: The findings indicate greater speech reinvestment in VP compared to NVP, with non-artistic VP presenting higher reinvestment values in conscious control and speech monitoring. These data contradict the hypothesis of the Theory of Motor Reinvestment that states that conscious focus on movement control can impair performance in learned or automated motor activities. It should be hypothesized that there may be a positive reinvestment in people who use communication professionally or that the context of professional communication may otherwise influence the monitoring of speech products.