Language Use in Group Discourse and Its Relationship to Group Processes

Abstract

The study examined the relationship between language use and perception of group processes. In an experiment, participants discussed their views about climate change in a group chat. Afterward, participants ( n = 239) filled out their perception of themselves and group processes. Participants who perceived more similarity among group members used less complex language (cognitive processes language) and more assenting language. As participants felt more knowledgeable and credible about the topic, their use of “we” pronouns and word count increased and use of “I” pronouns decreased. Replicating past research, participants with more extreme opinions used more “you” pronouns, and participants who reported engaging in more perspective-taking used more complex language and “we” pronouns. Results are integrated within an input–process–output model of group processes and suggest that language is reflective of individual inputs and perception of group processes.

The need for a female perspective in designing agent-based negotiation support

“…The findings are in harmony with earlier psycholinguistic literature [27,28,42,45], as they revealed that cognitive processes, such as perspective-taking, are conveyed in language through linguistic patterns. These results also give direction to further research on Strategic Empathy evaluation metrics, and contribute to the scarce body of research on automated evaluation of empathy and Strategic Empathy [1,35].…”

“…As in related studies [28,45], the IRI perspective-taking questionnaire [7] was used to assess participants on their self-reported perspective-taking ability. Participants indicated to what extent they agree or disagree on ten different statements describing their own behavior and mindset towards others on a five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 ("Does not describe me well") to 5 ("Describes me very well").…”

“…The analysis of linguistic characteristics, such as pronouns, verbs, adverbs, and word length, can reveal a negotiator's attentional allocation, level of cognitive complexity, and perceptual processesall effective measures for the level of perspective-taking [28,42,45].…”

The Effects of a Dance and Music-Based Intervention on Parkinson’s Patients’ Well-Being: An Interview Study

“…Social and cognitive speech seemed to be used at almost the same level in our sample. The literature supports the interesting finding that when individuals are more involved in perspective-taking they also tend to use more “complex” language, reflected by language linked to cognitive processes [ 72 ].…”

“…Our participants tended to use personal pronouns often, while third-person personal pronouns were used the least. The literature suggests that this pattern is linked to closer in-group social relationships [ 72 ]. This general information is confirmed and clarified by the CA, showing how participants talked a great deal about friends.…”