In interpersonal communication, speakers often provide more information than is minimally necessary for referent identification, thereby producing redundant reference. Although such expressions have often been treated as cooperative, less is known about whether, and how, they are systematically shaped by social-interactional considerations. The present research addressed this question through three language-production experiments examining the joint effects of visual scene characteristics (color and number of distractors) and social-interactional factors (social situation and recipient familiarity) on redundant reference. Across the three experiments, redundant reference emerged not as mere informational excess, but as an adaptive referential strategy jointly shaped by referential information demands, social situations, and recipient familiarity. Together, these findings provide empirical evidence for understanding redundant reference as a flexible referential choice from a social-cognitive perspective.
Although many studies have shown accent bias in hiring contexts, the mechanisms underlying different types of accent bias remain underexplored. This study investigated how accent type (operationalized through selected foreign and regional accents) and accent strength (slight vs. strong) jointly influence social evaluations of speakers. In a verbal guise experiment, Dutch participants ( N = 458) rated job applicants speaking Dutch with slight or strong foreign (French or German) or regional (Limburgish or Twents) accents, or Standard Dutch (control), on processing fluency, inferred motive, social categorization, attitudinal evaluations (competence, status, likeability, dynamism) and hirability. Results revealed less favourable evaluations of the selected strongly regionally accented speakers than the selected strongly foreign-accented speakers across inferred motive, social categorization, dynamism, status and hirability. The selected foreign-accented speakers received similar ratings to standard-accented speakers. These findings underscore the importance of examining accent type and strength and adopting a multivariate approach to capture their complex interplay.
Gender-fair language policies promoting inclusivity are increasingly adopted in organizations, yet their effects on employees remain underexplored. We conducted two studies in an Italian public administration to examine the relationship between inclusive language and resignation intentions. Study 1 ( n = 369) investigated the associations among formal communications (e.g., official documents), perceived gender discrimination, inclusion, and turnover intentions. Results showed that formal inclusive language was associated with lower resignation intentions through perceived inclusion, but not through perceived discrimination. Study 2 ( n = 587) extended Study 1's findings by incorporating informal gender-inclusive language (e.g., casual conversations) into the language measure. Results showed that gender-inclusive language is indirectly and negatively associated with resignation intentions via the mediating effect of perceived workplace inclusion and, in turn, job satisfaction. These findings indicate that gender-inclusive language is most effective when organizational policies align with employees’ everyday communication. Both formal and informal channels play critical roles in shaping employees’ sense of inclusion and retention, highlighting the importance of integrating inclusive practices across organizational communication.
Polarizing language is a key mechanism through which intergroup boundaries are constructed and experienced, yet research has rarely specified how distinct linguistic strategies contribute to perceived polarization. This article develops and validates a coding instrument that conceptualizes polarizing language as a communicative process. Drawing on social identity, facework, and persuasion theories, we identify eight functionally distinct language strategies that intensify intergroup contrast or dampen counter-arguing. Across four studies, we link language use to audience perception and examine the generalizability of the framework. Study 1 applies the coding scheme to U.S. governors' speeches. Study 2 examines audience perceptions of each strategy. Study 3 constructs a perception-weighted index integrating prevalence and perceived impact. Study 4 extends validation to congressional tweets, demonstrating that the categories are empirically distinguishable and applicable across communicative contexts using both manual and computational approaches. The approach advances the psychological measurement of polarizing discourse.
Tests comparing inoculation theory's preemptive refutation and image repair theory's reactive mortification in political scandals have indicated that the two monotherapies for crisis management are as effective as each other and perform equally well in adjunctive combination. Conspicuously absent from prior testing, however, is broader inoculation ("blanket protection"). I conduct preregistered multiple-message-design experiments testing a theoretical multiple-mediation model to assess messages affecting perceived scandal cover-up, followed by perceived trustworthiness, ultimately resulting in behavioral intentions. In the first study, N = 490 U.S. voters are exposed to political debate excerpts featuring a strongly favored politician under attack for sexist and higher-ed scandals. Isolated inoculation and mortification remain superior and do not vary. In the second study, N = 209 U.S. voters' supported politician is attacked for public safety scandals. Isolated inoculation demonstrates superiority.
We present three studies examining evaluative associations as manifestations of implicit attitudes towards languages in three sociolinguistically distinct bilingual communities: Lombard-Italian, Moselle Franconian-German, and Welsh-English. Using a Go/No-Go Association Task (GNAT) that controls for spurious priming effects and subsequently allows split analyses, study 1 evidenced strongly negative attitudes towards Lombard across measures. Study 2 uncovered a similar trend towards Moselle Franconian, but only in response to pictures following words that required a Go response, not for pictures that followed non-target words. In study 3, although the GNAT failed to detect any significant associations, split analysis revealed that participants responded faster to positive pictures following non-target English words. Therefore, by splitting data according to the Go/NoGo status of the attitude object, we can achieve finer characterizations of implicit attitudes, while highlighting the prominent role of sociolinguistic context in modulating activation of each language in regional/minority language communities.
Although attitudes toward non-U.S. accented speakers have been widely studied, less is known about how accent and race intersect in the United States. This study examined the reported thoughts and feelings U.S. nationals expressed when they encounter Black, non-U.S.-accented speakers. Using a qualitative open-ended questionnaire, a purposive sample of monolingual English-speaking U.S. nationals (N = 500) was assembled. Thematic analysis revealed that U.S. nationals' thoughts about Black, non-U.S. accented speakers included (a) admiration, (b) curiosity, (c) profiling, (d) accommodation, and (e) processing fluency, with primary attention directed toward accent. Findings also indicated positive, negative, and neutral affect, centering on the intersection of accent, race, and immigrant identity. Overall, findings highlight the complexity and ambiguity of U.S. nationals' cognitive and affective attitudes, demonstrating how multiple markers of social identity simultaneously implicated participants' evaluations.
Self-identified General American English (GAE) and Southern American English (SAE) speakers reported their stereotypes toward their ingroup (endostereotypes) and the outgroup (exostereotypes); their beliefs about how the outgroup stereotypes their ingroup (metastereotypes); and their intergroup anxiety. Both groups stereotyped GAE speakers as more competent than warm and SAE speakers as more warm than competent. Examination of respondents' metastereotypes showed that both groups correctly recognized the direction of the outgroup's stereotypes, but negatively exaggerated their degree. Multiple regression analyses showed that intergroup anxiety was a function of exostereotypes and metastereotypes (but not endostereotypes), with more positive beliefs associated with lower anxiety.
The "n-word" remains one of the most offensive racial slurs, yet it is used by both Black and non-Black individuals. Across three studies (total N = 1,063), we examined how Black people perceive its use based on the speaker's racial identity and racial self-identification, while also varying valence and context. In Study 1, we varied the target race who used the n-word (Black, Black-White biracial, White); in Study 2, we manipulated the valence in which the n-word was used (positive or negative); and in Study 3, we explored how a biracial person racially self-identified (Black-identified, biracial-identified, or Black-disidentified) shaped reactions. Black participants reported more negative perceptions and affective responses when a White (Studies 1 and 2) or Black-disidentified biracial (Study 3) target used the word, compared to Black, Black-White biracial (Studies 1 and 2), or Black-identified biracial (Study 3) targets, highlighting how racial identity shapes perceptions of those who use racial slurs.
Previous research has shown that gender-inclusive pronouns can facilitate mental representation of nonbinary individuals. However, considering that gender and pronoun use are politicized in many countries, such that individuals with a right-wing political orientation show more skepticism toward nonbinarity, these effects may be compromised. Across four studies (N-total = 2,847), we tested whether the gender-inclusive pronouns hen (Swedish) and they (English) evoke mental representations of individuals with stereotypical gender-nonconforming versus gender-conforming appearances, depending on the participants' political orientation. Studies 1a and 1b showed that a right-wing political orientation was related to a lower likelihood of associating gender-inclusive pronouns with stereotypical gender-nonconforming appearances. Studies 2a and 2b showed that these results were robust both when the function of the pronoun was to anonymize the referent and when the function was to refer to a nonbinary individual. Study 2b further showed that binary gender beliefs contributed to this relationship. These results suggest that the capacity for gender-inclusive pronouns to contribute to mental representation of nonbinary individuals varies in part with the recipient's political orientation and preexisting beliefs about gender. More broadly, the results contribute to the understanding of how political orientation influences the processes of social categorization related to gender.
People generally prefer fluent, or easy, information processing experiences. Consequently, processing fluency often impacts individuals' judgments and evaluations of information. Previous research found that processing fluency influenced headline selection and recognition. The present experiment replicated and extended this work by testing whether type of fluency, comparing conceptual (language difficulty) and perceptual (figure-to-background contrast) fluency manipulations, impacts selection and recognition of news headlines. Results demonstrated that individuals showed strong preferences for fluent news headlines, across both types of fluency manipulations. However, only the conceptual fluency manipulation impacted recognition, such that easy language was associated with higher recognition.
This paper presents results from the first formal empirical test of Information Manipulation Theory 2 (IMT2). Specifically, two hypotheses were posited based upon three of the information manipulation (IM) propositions of IMT2. First, we predicted that a systematic rank ordering should be observable regarding the frequency of various types of information manipulation within deceptive messages; such that Gricean Quality violations are more frequent than Manner violations, which in turn occur more often than Relation violations. Second, we predicted that as the contextual problematicity of specific information units increases, so too should the likelihood of Quality violations related to the message production of these units. Two different data collections from two different institutions were conducted. Results from analyses of these data confirmed both hypotheses. Additionally, using the UCM method of unitizing and coding message data, we were able to identify the specific units of information within messages that were most likely to be falsified, thereby confirming the general premise of IMT2: the single strongest determinant of whether someone will deceive is the nature of the information they possess in working and long-term memory.
This study investigates how linguistic cues influence implicit gender-profession associations and whether gender-fair language can reduce such biases. Using a two-alternative forced-choice task, participants selected between two faces differing in masculinity-femininity traits to match an Italian cue word. In Study 1, participants were presented with gender-marked pronouns as cue words, and they consistently chose faces matching the pronoun's gender. Study 2 replaced pronouns with common gender nouns denoting professional roles, revealing a gender-career bias: female-dominated jobs were matched with more feminine faces, and male-dominated jobs with more masculine ones. Study 3 introduced gender-marked articles, which eliminated the bias of Study 2, suggesting that explicit linguistic markers can override implicit associations. Across all studies, effects were stronger when facial traits were clearly distinct. The findings highlight how language shapes cognitive biases and introduce a novel paradigm for assessing implicit associations. This research offers practical insights for promoting gender equality through language-based interventions.
Conversations about politically contentious issues often break down due to a lack of shared understanding, with language playing a central role in this failure-particularly in discussions of abortion, one of the most polarizing topics in U.S. public life. Mutual understanding requires that speakers achieve high latent semantic similarity (LSS) by using words in similar ways. While extraversion has been linked to higher LSS, likely due to its association with social engagement and attentional focus, semantic alignment also depends on speakers' capacity for empathic attunement, suggesting that empathy may serve as a key mechanism linking extraversion to LSS. This study examined whether empathy mediates the relationship between extraversion and LSS in computer-mediated conversations between unacquainted dyads (N = 170) discussing the politically contentious topic of abortion. Results showed that empathy fully mediated this relationship, indicating that empathic attunement-not sociability alone-drives LSS. Findings inform communication theories by underscoring empathy's central role in fostering common ground understanding and highlight LSS as an observable linguistic marker of empathic engagement.
Verbs, as the conventional linguistic category for expressing action and motion, possess meta-semantic associations specifically with action-orientation-associations not typically found in other grammatical classes (e.g., nouns). The central aim of this research was to examine whether the proposed association between verbs and action manifests in shorter response times for verbs compared to other grammatical forms. In Studies 1a and 1b (N1a = 136, N1b = 323), we examined the impact of exposure to verbs versus nouns on overall completion time for a complex questionnaire survey. In Studies 2a and 2b (N2a = 92, N2b = 96), we employed a syntactic classification task to investigate behavioral responses to verbs and nouns, using a pseudoword paradigm in which carefully constructed lexical stimuli were devoid of semantic meaning but clearly conveyed grammatical class through suffixes. Across all four experiments, we consistently observed shorter response times for verbs and pseudoverbs compared to nouns and pseudonouns, suggesting that grammatical class exerts meta-semantic effects on behavior.
Individuals are quickly categorized as members of a group (e.g., national, migrants) based on their standard or nonstandard accent. However, this has usually been studied in the context of the native language, and less is known about accent-based categorization when individuals speak a second language. In this research, we tested whether speaking in Portuguese or English would influence Portuguese participants' evaluations and recall of Portuguese-accented and Brazilian-accented speakers. In Study 1, we investigated the perceived warmth and competence, the potentiality of forming relationships, and the assumed economic status of Portuguese-accented and Brazilian-accented men speaking in their native (Portuguese) or non-native language (English). Results indicated that Brazilians speaking English received the worst judgments compared to all other categories by Portuguese listeners. Study 2 used a Who Said What paradigm to test language and accent categorization in a different experimental setting, and predicted that Portuguese participants would be more likely to make errors when recalling Brazilian-accented men speaking in English. However, Portuguese-accented men speaking in English received the most errors (although, Brazilian-accented men speaking English were second). Overall results from this project provide insight into the nuanced effects of social categorization and evaluations of standard and nonstandard accented individuals speaking in their native and non-native languages in Portugal.
This contribution examines the role of linguistic abstraction and valence of terms in the portrayal of immigrants and Italians in national and local newspapers with different political leanings. Specifically, it investigates how linguistic abstraction and valence of terms vary between the two most popular Italian national outlets and between these and a highly read local newspaper. The sample consisted of 218 newspaper articles on immigration. Results showed that across newspapers, immigrants are generally described using negative terms at a higher level of abstraction than Italians, as well as with negative terms at a higher level of abstraction than positive terms. Furthermore, national newspaper articles used terms at a higher level of abstraction than those in the local newspaper when describing immigrants and Italians. This contribution offers novel insights into how linguistic intergroup discrimination is conveyed in newspapers of a country where immigration is increasingly becoming a debated topic.
Social-media-based protests often unfold across multiple, semi-autonomous communities that cooperate, compete, and overlap, yet most research still treats "the movement" as a single unit. I introduce the 3R framework-Rhetoric, Reach, Reinforcement-to trace how collective-identity messages are produced, circulated, and amplified among these communities. The study analyzed a multilingual corpus of 800,000 Facebook posts (200,000 textual posts) spanning three months, using unsupervised topic modeling, multiple linear regression, and social-network analysis. Results show systematic heterogeneity: communal organizations react most intensely to posts criticizing the government, signaling identity-affirming outrage. Journalistic pages function as "bridge nodes," injecting new topics into the network and diffusing them widely, thereby disrupting potential echo chambers. High-reach, high-rhetoric messages are disproportionately reinforced through repeated sharing and cross-posting, magnifying their visibility well beyond the originating community. This study maps how rhetoric, reach, and reinforcement interact across organizational boundaries, offering a unified theoretical and empirical approach to understanding how online protest movements construct, contest, and sustain collective identities.
Grounded in the communicative ecology model of successful aging, this study examined how memorable messages about death, dying, and the afterlife (DDA) are associated with aging experiences. In a self-report survey, older adults ( N = 300, M age = 59.74 years) wrote a memorable message about DDA and reported on the message's motivational impact. They also reported on their affect about aging, aging efficacy, and successful aging. The memorable messages were coded into themes, and path modeling revealed that the themes of people (a) engaging in some activity after they die, (b) cherishing life, (c) leaving a legacy, and (d) experiencing eternal damnation were associated with memorable message motivational impact (MMMI). MMMI was indirectly associated with successful aging, via the serial mediators of positive affect about aging and aging efficacy. Positive affect about aging may be a crucial mediating mechanism that helps translate experiences with memorable messages into successful aging.
We investigate the impact of political correctness (PC) on perception and behavioral intentions, evaluating its effectiveness in being inoffensive, inclusive, and nonstigmatizing. Despite its widespread institutional adoption, its real-world effects remain understudied. We explored three questions: Does PC succeed in its aims? How does it influence perceptions? How does it affect behavioral intentions? We conducted six survey-based experiments with 2,179 participants balanced across political affiliation, age, sex, and education. Tasks assessed reactions to PC, its effects on mood and perceptions, and how it shaped judgments and behavioral intentions in varied contexts. Results indicate PC often fails its objectives. Participants, especially Conservatives and older individuals, found it exclusive, stigmatizing, and offensive. It reduced positive mood, undermined a doctor's credibility, and decreased care-seeking intent. PC also lessened concern for serious issues and shifted behavioral motivations. Despite its inclusive intent, PC can trigger negative responses, warranting scrutiny of its pervasive use.
