Abstract
What type of language makes the most positive impression within a professional setting? Is competent/agentic language or warm/communal language more effective at eliciting social approval? We examined this basic social cognitive question in a real world context using a “big data” approach—the recent record-low levels of public approval of the U.S. Congress. Using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), we text analyzed all 123+ million words spoken by members of the U.S. House of Representatives during floor debates between 1996 and 2014 and compared their usage of various classes of words to their public approval ratings over the same time period. We found that neither agentic nor communal language positively predicted public approval. However, this may be because communion combines two disparate social motives (belonging and helping). A follow-up analysis found that the helping form of communion positively predicted public approval, and did so more strongly than did agentic language. Next, we conducted an exploratory analysis, examining which of the 63 standard LIWC categories predict public approval. We found that the public approval of Congress was highest when politicians used tentative language, expressed both positive emotion and anxiety, and used human words, numbers, prepositions, numbers, and avoided conjunctions and the use of second-person pronouns. These results highlight the widespread primacy of warmth over competence as the primary dimensions of social cognition.
Highlights
What demeanor makes the best impression within a professional setting? Is playing up agentic or communal aspects of personality more effective? Past research has found that agency and communion are the primary dimensions of social cognition (Cuddy et al, 2008): they explain most of the variance in how people judge one another (Rosenberg et al, 1968; Fiske et al, 2002; Cuddy et al, 2008)
We examined the linguistic predictors of public approval of U.S Congress using the standard set of linguistic categories established in previous research (Tausczik and Pennebaker, 2010) and built into Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC; Pennebaker et al, 2007)
Given the remote relationship between the U.S Congress and the public, these findings suggest that prosocial language will better predict public approval of U.S Congress than will communal language that includes belongingness (Hypothesis 2; Congress and the public, 2015)
Summary
What demeanor makes the best impression within a professional setting? Is playing up agentic or communal aspects of personality more effective? Past research has found that agency and communion are the primary dimensions of social cognition (Cuddy et al, 2008): they explain most of the variance in how people judge one another (Rosenberg et al, 1968; Fiske et al, 2002; Cuddy et al, 2008). The goal of this research is to examine—in a real world, professional context—the roles of agentic and communal language in making a favorable impression. We define agency as a desire to get ahead and differentiate oneself from others (Bakan, 1966). It is a concern for competence, intelligence, skill, creativity, achievement, power, mastery, and Impressive Words assertiveness. We define communion as a desire to get along and be a part of a larger social or spiritual entity. It is concern for friendliness, helpfulness, sincerity, trustworthiness, togetherness, solidarity, and intimacy. To lack communion is to be hostile, manipulative, and antisocial
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