Abstract: Willingness to communicate (WTC) is the probability that one will choose to initiate communication given the opportunity to do so. We investigated the second language (L2) WTC (L2WTC) in Polish teenagers aged 16-19 (N = 177) attending bilingual Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) and general English classes in the same Polish school. Using a tailor-made WTC questionnaire, we gathered data twice, before and after the summer holidays, assuming that WTC would depend on the time of testing. The results did not reveal high WTC in English in both groups, and the time of testing did not influence the results. Students’ age, but not gender, influenced the L2WTC, with older students being more willing to communicate than the younger ones. Contrary to expectations, L2WTC in the bilingual CLIL and non-CLIL groups did not differ. The findings suggest that the bilingual programmes in Polish secondary schools may not increase students’ WTC in English. PubDate: Wed, 13 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: Although generic masculine forms supposedly include everyone, they seem to evoke masculine representations to the exclusion of other genders (Stahlberg & Sczesny, 2001). Gender-inclusive alternatives may yield more inclusive representations, but this has not been investigated extensively. The current study focused on German and contrasts generic masculine forms (Politiker, politicians) with the gender star (Politiker*innen, politicians [m/f/d]) in order to assess whether they differ in the mental availability of nonmasculine exemplars. The findings suggest that linguistic form matters, as more female exemplars were listed when participants were exposed to the gender star, although very few other nonmasculine exemplars were mentioned. Furthermore, female participants listed more nonmasculine exemplars than male participants, but, as the sample was skewed (more female than male participants), this result is tentative. Thus, the gender star leads to more inclusive mental representations, but other factors likely also play a role in determining the prominence of nonmasculine exemplars. PubDate: Thu, 31 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: During the Covid-19 pandemic, the global public has relied on their political leaders to guide them through the crisis. The current study investigated if and how political leader’s rhetoric would be associated with collective emotional responses. We used text analytical methods to investigate association between political leader speech and daily aggregates of expressed emotions on Twitter. We collected posts concerning Covid-19 and all speeches by the highest executive power from the USA, UK, Germany, and Switzerland. We applied cross-lagged time series analyses. Political leaders whose communication was more analytic and communal corresponded to increased positivity on Twitter. Collective communal focus, in turn, increased after speeches which were more analytic and negative. Processes of socio-affective dynamics between political leaders and the general public are apparent. Our findings demonstrate that political leaders who present public crises competently and with a sense of community are associated with more positive responses on Twitter. PubDate: Wed, 02 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: Most countries imposed lockdown restrictions on high-risk cities due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease. Although individuals adopted social media use during the lockdown, it is unclear how online information-seeking experiences affected their health and quality of life. We conducted an online survey among people living in cities in Ghana, India, Indonesia, and Pakistan that were affected by lockdown restrictions. Using Colaizzi’s method, we thematically analyzed 166 participants’ (males = 93, females = 73) online text responses. We observed that uncertainties about COVID-19 and the feeling of boredom predisposed participants to become victims of misinformation. Once they were misinformed, they felt anxious about COVID-19. Consequently, some overused social media to obtain additional information while others decreased or avoided its usage entirely. Our study provides insight into a recent global phenomenon. There is a need for adequate psychological support services through social media to lessen the use of unhealthy coping mechanisms. PubDate: Sat, 15 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: Metaphors can be used to influence people´s decision-making processes. In the judicial context, the use of metaphors is widespread, but its influence on the decision-making process in court has rarely been studied. This study aims to empirically determine the influence of metaphorical frames on judicial decision-making processes in the case of a surrogate against the intended parents. Two hundred and four participants were assigned to one of three groups with different metaphorical frames for surrogacy and were instructed to imagine being jurors in a mock trial. To investigate if the participants´ decisions were influenced by the frame used for surrogacy, χ2 calculations were carried out. Results revealed that the decision-making process of several issues concerning the surrogate, including a penalty fee, was influenced by metaphorical framing. The metaphorical term “mother to rent” might have framed surrogacy as an unemotional business act, leading to resentment in the participants. PubDate: Wed, 05 Jul 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: In the current study, participants made a verbal naming response to a prime target word flanked by a distractor word, followed by a lexical decision response to a probe target word or nonword, flanked by a distractor word. By tracking potential priming effects from having either the prime target become the probe target (attended repetition condition) or the prime distractor become the probe target (ignored repetition condition), consistent positive and negative priming effects were obtained. These results broaden our understanding that stimulus-response binding does not need to be gradually learned (Henson et al., 2014). Rather, it can be formed from a single S-R pairing. PubDate: Wed, 31 May 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: We investigated whether the use of hate speech by politicians impacts the social evaluation of their image, as measured by the semantic differential method developed by Cwalina et al. (2000). The participants (N = 105, Polish nationals) evaluated the profiles of three well-known Polish politicians from different parties – Krzysztof Bosak, Radosław Sikorski, and Włodzimierz Czarzasty – and a fictional politician named Jacek Wiśniewski. Participants made evaluations before and after reading hateful posts from each politician. The participants’ political views and their alignment with the electoral programs of the politicians being evaluated, as well as demographic variables such as gender and age were also measured. The results showed that hate speech adversely affected the politician’s image, as evaluated by the participants. As a consequence of the experimental manipulation, all of the politicians whose profiles were presented for evaluation were judged more negatively. In particular, the negative evaluations concerned the politicians’ competences (unqualified and provincial), their emotionality (excitable and aggressive), and their attitude towards other people (insincere and unfriendly). Detailed analyses also showed that: (a) respondents who sympathized with the views of specific politicians tended to evaluate them more positively, (b) hate speech was more harmful to the image of politicians judged by women than by men, and (c) there was a relationship between age and evaluations on several dimensions of the semantic differential. PubDate: Wed, 10 May 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: Best practice eyewitness interviewing mnemonics have not been tested with linguistically diverse samples. Cognitively complex mnemonics may overload non-native speakers’ cognitive resources, which are already engaged in speaking a non-native language. Social facilitation mnemonics may help non-native speakers, who might be hesitant to report details. The current study tested the reverse order mnemonic (cognitively complex) and a set of introductory instructions (social facilitation) compared to control interviews among native and non-native English speakers. Native speakers provided more details than nonnative speakers, particularly in the control interview condition. Both the reverse order and control conditions elicited newly generated details because of repeated questioning. Accuracy rates were comparable across language and interview conditions. Future research should develop an interviewing protocol that is sensitive to the challenges faced by nonnative speakers. PubDate: Sat, 29 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: Intimidation is often defined, received, and perceived pejoratively. The current study sets out to find a “sweet spot” in situations where intimidation cannot be avoided and compliance is the goal, where one can maximize compliance but keep fear as low as possible. This experimental study predicted that by lessening mean-spirited speech, a moderate amount of intimidation, as opposed to greater or lesser degrees of it, would produce more compliance with a request, positive interpersonal attributions, and communicative accommodations. The results supported the idea of such a “sweet spot” and implications for authority figures are considered and discussed. PubDate: Thu, 06 Apr 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: The current study examined social networking sites, specifically Twitter and Facebook, as spaces for intergroup communication and contact between members of two national groups, Germans and Greeks, during the turbulent times of the Greek economic crisis. A cross-sectional study on Twitter and a longitudinal study on Facebook were conducted. We examined how social psychological variables (such as prior and extended contact, friendship, intergroup anxiety, national identification) and variables specific to the communication context (such as perceived quality of contact, vicarious contact quality, perceived anonymity, self-disclosure) relate to intergroup attitudes. Both social psychological and communication-relevant variables statistically significantly and independently predicted intergroup attitudes. Moreover, the longitudinal study showed that online contact improved intergroup attitudes and reduced intergroup anxiety. Findings suggest that intergroup contact via social networking sites can have positive effects on intergroup attitudes and that both social psychological and communication-related variables are important in understanding these effects. PubDate: Tue, 21 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: Intergroup communication is at the core of intergroup relations. Studies demonstrate that intergroup threat and having an opportunity to derogate the outgroup result in heightened cortisol levels. However, biomarkers associated with different stress systems may show distinct patterns under the same conditions. We investigated whether perceptions of threat and the opportunity to derogate would result in an increase in alpha-amylase levels. White Canadian university students (N = 77) read discriminatory or favorable comments that Chinese individuals made towards Canadians. Subsequently, they were given the opportunity to derogate the outgroup. Salivary alpha-amylase was collected at baseline, following the threat, and after the opportunity to derogate. Participants showed an alpha-amylase response to threat, albeit delayed, but no further increase in concentration values due to derogation. The findings illustrate the impact of intergroup communication on physiological stress as well as the importance of using multiple biomarkers to elucidate that relationship. PubDate: Tue, 21 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: In intergroup contexts, praise is important to encourage the members of a group to keep the desired behaviors and seems to be generally well-accepted. However, there is some evidence that, under specific conditions, recipients are more suspicious of praise delivered from outgroup rather than ingroup members. The current study (N = 126, university students) examined how people responded to ingroup and outgroup praise that concerned different dimensions (morality vs. competence). Although morality is considered the most important dimension in group evaluation, recipients of morality praise judged it as less pleasant and less sincere and attributed less benevolent motives to the speaker when the speaker was an outgroup (vs. ingroup) member. These findings contribute to the knowledge on responses to group-directed praise, suggesting that outgroup representatives should be careful about the dimension of praise if they wish the praise to be accepted. PubDate: Tue, 21 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: The current study examined how the composition of intergroup contexts affects intergroup communication. We propose that when multiple outgroups exist, an extreme faction can make more moderate factions appear reasonable, creating pathways for influence. We also considered the role that an influence target’s fit with their ingroup (self-prototypicality) plays in responses to outgroup influence attempts. Specifically, we propose, and the current study showed, that both the composition of intergroup context and one’s relationship with their own group can create a pathway toward convergence of opinions and willingness to accept an outgroup’s opinion position. Two experiments (American partisans, N = 249), suggest that self-prototypicality in one’s political party positively predicts agreement with an opposing party’s message when the message appears in the presence of a more extreme outgroup than the moderate outgroup alone. This study stresses the importance of considering intragroup and intergroup comparative processes for intergroup communication research. PubDate: Tue, 21 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: This article presents an integrative model mapping the field of intergroup communication. Building from Lasswell’s (1948) model of communication, our map discusses how communication about and between groups can be understood by separating Lasswell’s concepts (sender/receiver, message, channel, and effect). We present the articles in the current special issue as examples fitting within the map and illustrate how the map suggests some interesting extensions of this work. PubDate: Tue, 21 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: Two studies set against the complex sociopolitical backdrop of the Greek Financial Crisis (2009-2018) examined the role played by media narratives as intragroup communication within Greek society in framing social identity uncertainty and the desired position of the country in the wider intergroup (European) context. The extent of identity-uncertainty produced by the media regarding Greek national identity, future, and relations with the EU was measured in Study 1 (N = 298) and manipulated in Study 2 (N = 293). Study 1 found that exposure to ideologically discordant media messages heightened uncertainty about national identity among right- and left-leaning Greeks. Study 2 found that the type of media chosen (systemic vs. anti-systemic) mediated Greek nationalists’ positions on Grexit, especially under heightened identity-uncertainty. Implications of the role of the media as influential ingroup sources in providing valuable social identity information, especially during a crisis, are discussed. PubDate: Tue, 21 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: Research has shown that individuals speaking low-prestige language varieties are often negatively evaluated and stigmatized by others. However, less is known about how speakers of such language varieties perceive their own speech. Here, we examined self-perceptions and perceived stigma of speakers who belong to multiple social categories signaled by auditory cues. Specifically, we examined beliefs of sexual minority and heterosexual male speakers who were either British nationals (native English speakers) or foreigners living in the UK (non-native English speakers). British speakers believed their voices cue their nationality more than foreigners. Heterosexuals believed their voices reveal their sexual orientation, but only when they self-perceived as sounding masculine. Sexual minority and foreign speakers felt more stigmatized because of the way they sound than did heterosexual and British speakers, respectively. These findings have implications for intergroup communication and voice-based stigmatization literature. PubDate: Tue, 21 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: This prologue to a special issue on social psychological processes and intergroup communication begins by outlining the constituents of the field of intergroup communication. This includes many of the major publications, disciplines and orientations involved, the methods, social groups, and communicative features studied together with selected research paradigms, applied and social domains, and theories featured. The empirical articles that follow are discussed with respect to two fundamental issues. The first refers to a seminal distinction manifest in social identity theory, namely, how social interactions can be distinguished, conceptually and operationally, as either interindividual or intergroup. Consequently, the articles are discussed in terms how they are variably manifest as intergroup encounters. The second issue relates to past principles of intergroup communication that are articulated, refined, and elaborated further by recourse, in the main, to the emergent concepts in this special issue. PubDate: Tue, 21 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: Trauma is an increasingly prominent concept in psychology and society at large. According to the theory of concept creep, it is one of several harm-related concepts that have undergone semantic inflation in recent decades, expanding to encompass new kinds of phenomena (horizontal expansion) and less severe phenomena (vertical expansion). Previous research has demonstrated that “trauma” has come to be used in a widening range of semantic contexts, implying horizontal expansion, but has not investigated vertical expansion. The present study developed a methodology for evaluating vertical expansion and implemented it using an English-language corpus of 825,628 scientific psychology article abstracts from 1970 to 2017. Findings indicate that “trauma” has come to be used in less severe contexts, and this trend may be linked to its rising frequency of use. These findings support the predictions of the concept creep theory and provide a new method for investigating the language dynamics of harm-related concepts. PubDate: Mon, 20 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: Much language attitude research has demonstrated that people make biased judgements based on speakers’ language choice and accent. However, the influence of occupational context on listeners’ perceptions of accented English is largely unknown. This verbal guise study examined the extent to which academic contexts and workforce-related professional contexts affect listeners’ judgements of accented speech. Results revealed that simulated contexts made a significant difference in listeners’ perceptual judgements, with speakers perceived as significantly more comprehensible and acceptable in service-occupational roles than in academic contexts. These findings suggest that listeners’ speech judgements can be heavily influenced by speakers’ situational contexts. The study also provides evidence in support of the fluency principle, showing that listeners may evaluate accented speech more negatively if it requires more processing effort. The findings inform the domains of linguistic stereotyping and listeners’ attitudes towards accented speech. PubDate: Wed, 08 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMT
Abstract: This study investigated the influence of loci of content and function words on stuttering frequency in the speech of Arabic children who stutter. Participants were 85 children who stutter (24 preschool, 61 school age). The preschool children who stutter were 17 males and 7 females with a mean age of 4.58 ± 0.50 (range: 4-5 years old). The school age children who stutter were 56 males and 5 females with a mean age of 10.64 ± 2.76 (range: 6-16 years old). No significant difference was found between the preschool and school age children who stutter in the mean percentage of stuttering on both content and function words. For school age children who stutter, results showed a significantly higher percentage of stuttering on function words compared to content words in the mild level of stuttering (p = .010). Taking severity as a continuous variable, results indicated a significant positive correlation between scores on the Stuttering Severity Instrument-4 (SSI-4) and loci of stuttering on both content and function words. The results also revealed a significant negative correlation between age (as a continuous variable) and loci of stuttering in the category of function words. The findings of the current study provide new information about the impact of word type (function vs. content words) on stuttering in Arabic-speaking children. PubDate: Mon, 31 Jan 2022 00:00:00 GMT
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