Linguistic differences in the political communication of winning mayors in Colombia’s local elections between 2019 and 2023 / Diferencias lingüísticas en la comunicación política de gobernantes ganadores en las elecciones locales 2019–23 en Colombia

Abstract

The use of language reflects different sociocognitive processes which are crucial in political psychology. In political communication in elections and governance, the manipulation of language to mobilize actions may be imperceptible by citizens, especially in the vast volumes of news posted on digital platforms like Twitter (now X). For this reason, we set out to analyse the differences in the linguistic style and content of the messages of 18 mayors of large cities in Colombia during the electoral campaign and the start of the period of governance through a two-stage design. We found that the politicians’ language during the electoral campaign had a persuasive function focused on promoting inclusive identities and generating empathy using prosocial topics. In contrast, the linguistic style during the term of office was more formal and complex, highlighting the legitimacy of the acts of governance. Differences were also found in the candidates on the left and right related to how they discuss economic issues during the electoral campaign. These findings show the need to take a multidisciplinary approach to address the effects of language and technology on the understanding and explanation of the psycho-political processes involved in elections and governance.