"I" Am More Concrete Than "We": Linguistic Abstraction and First-Person Pronoun Usage

被引:9
作者
Yin, Yidan [1 ]
Wakslak, Cheryl J. [2 ]
Joshi, Priyanka D. [3 ]
机构
[1] Univ Calif San Diego, Rady Sch Management, San Diego, CA 92103 USA
[2] Univ Southern Calif, Marshall Sch Business, 3670 Trousdale Pkwy, Los Angeles, CA 90089 USA
[3] San Francisco State Univ, Lam Family Coll Business, San Francisco, CA 94132 USA
关键词
abstract; communication; concrete; pronoun; text analysis; LANGUAGE USE; GENDER-DIFFERENCES; SELF; POWER; PERSUASION; MEDIATION; DISTANCE; LIFE; INTERDEPENDENCE; LEADERSHIP;
D O I
10.1037/pspa0000285
中图分类号
B84 [心理学];
学科分类号
04 ; 0402 ;
摘要
There has been much discussion around when people use "I" versus "we" pronouns, and abstract versus concrete communications, as well as how each of these can shape communication effectiveness. In the current research we bring together these separate research streams. Drawing on research arguing that abstract and concrete language are linked with communicative scope, we argue for an association between linguistic abstractness and personal pronoun usage. Across three archival data sets and two experiments, we find support for this association: Speakers who use more concrete language also use more first person singular (vs. plural) pronouns. In two follow-up studies we further find that this association can impact message effectiveness, such that using more first person singular than plural pronouns is increasingly ineffective when using abstract rather than concrete language, and using more concrete language is increasingly effective when using first-person singular rather than plural pronouns. By illustrating the link between linguistic abstraction and pronoun use, we offer insights into previously documented phenomena and suggest a key way of enhancing communication effectiveness.
引用
收藏
页码:1004 / 1021
页数:18
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