Social Cognition and Communication

by Joseph P. Forgas (Editor), Orsolya Vincze (Editor), János László (Editor)

Overview

Language is the essence of interpersonal behavior and social relationships, and it is social cognitive processes that determine how we produce and understand language. However, there has been surprisingly little interest in the past linking social cognition and communication. This book presents the latest cutting-edge research from a select group of leading international scholars investigating the how language shapes our thinking, and how social cognitive processes in turn influence language production and communication. The chapters represent diverse perspectives of investigating the links between language and communication, including evolutionary, linguistic, cognitive and affective approaches as well as the empirical analysis of written and spoken narratives. New methodologies are presented including the latest techniques of text analysis to illuminate the psychology of individual language users, and entire cultures and societies.

The chapters address such questions as how are cognitive and identity processes reflected in language? How do affective states influence language production? Are political correctness norms in language use effective? How do partners manage to accommodate to each other’s communicative expectations? What is the role of language as a medium of interpersonal and intergroup influence? How are individual and cultural identities reflected in, and shaped by narratives in literature, school texts and the media?

The book is aimed at all students, researchers and laypersons interested in the interplay between thinking and communication, and should be required reading for all professionals who use language in their everyday work to interact with people.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781848726635
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/31/2013
Series:	Sydney Symposium of Social Psychology
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Joseph Paul Forgas, Scientia Professor at the Univeristy of New South Wales, Sydney, received his doctorate from the University of Oxford. His research investigates the role of affective processes in interpersonal behavior. He has published 24 books and over 200 articles and chapters. He received the Order of Australia, as well as the APS’s Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, the Humboldt Research Prize and is Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, the American Psychological Society, the Society of Personality and Social Psychology and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Orsolya Vincze was educated at the University of Pécs and received her doctorate there. Since 2004 she has been an associate professor at the Institute of Psychology at the University of Pécs. She received the award for Best Young Researcher Work in 2007 from the Committee of the Hungarian Computational Linguistic Conference for developing the narrative content analytical algorithm of narrative psychological perspective.

János László is scientific advisor and head of the Social Psychology Department at the Institute of Psychology of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and a grauduate of Eötvös University, Budapest.He is also professor and chair of the Social Psychology Department at the University of Pécs. He was president of the National Doctoral Council in 2008-2010, where he is now honorary president. He is founding editor of the Journal of Cultural and Evolutionary Psychology. In 2011 he received the Award of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.

Table of Contents

I. Introduction Pennebaker, James W. & Chung, Cindy K, Counting little words in big data: the psychology of communities, culture and history. Giles, Howard & Gasiorek, J., Parameters of non-accommodation: refining and elaborating communication accommodation theory. Laszlo, J. & Ehmann, B., Narrative social psychology. Fiedler, K. & Mata, A., The art of exerting verbal influence through powerful lexical stimuli. II. Cognitive and affective influences on communication: Beukeboom, Camiel J., Mechanisms of linguistic bias: How words reflect and maintain stereotypic expectancies. Forgas, Joseph P., Feeling and speaking: affective influences on communication strategies and language use. Kissine, Mikhail & Klein, Olivier, Models of communication, epistemic trust and epistemi vigilance. Abele, Andrea A. & Bruckmuller, Suzanne, Are there systematic differences in describing self vs. others in terms of agentic and communal traits? Koch, Alex, Forgas, Joseph P. & Goldenberg, Liz, In the mood to break the rules: affective influences on linguistic abstraction and adherence to Grice's conversational maxims. III. Communication, identity and group processes Pearson, Adam R. & Dovidio, John F., Intergroup fluency: How processing experiences shape intergroup cognition and communication. Crano, William D & Alvaro, Eusebio M., Social factors that affect the processing of minority-sourced persuasive communications. Peters, Kim and Yoshihisha Kashima., Gossiping as moral social action: A functionalist account of gossiper perceptions. Vincze, Orsolya, Ilg, Barbara & Polya, Tibor., The role of narrative perspective in the elaboration of individual and historical traumas. Cooper, Joel & Trujillo,Matthew., Multiple meanings of communicative acts in the reduction of vicarious cognitive dissonance. IV. Social and cultural influences on communication: Maass, Anne, Suitner, Caterina & Merkel, Elisa., Does political correctness make (social) sense? Fulop, Eva, Cserto, Istvan Ilg, Barbara, Szabo, Zsolt, slugoski, Ben and Laszlo, Janos., Emotional elaboration of collective traumas in histporical narratives; Nencini, Alessio ,Narrative constructions in Italian identity: an investigation into literary texts over time; Catellani, Patrizia & Bertolotti, Mauro, Political communication, social cognitiuve processes and voters' judgments.

Editorial Reviews

"Social cognition and communication are intricately intertwined. Our thoughts are shaped by manifold of communications we receive from others with whom we shape the shared realities that lend meaning to our lives. This rare and truly important volume weaves together the strands of these fundamental processes as they manifest themselves in cutting edge research by leading investigators across the many domains where social cognition and communication interface. A fascinating read and a useful reference book for students and academics across the entire landscape of the social sciences" — Arie W. Kruglanski, Ph.D., University of Maryland, College Park

"This topical volume features 18 cutting-edge chapters on the interplay between thought and language, or cognition and communication. The chapters cover topics ranging from cognition and communication in dyads to the socio-political implications of cognition and communication. Masterfully edited, this promises to be a landmark volume in both social psychology and communication. It is suitable for researchers, PhD students, and advanced undergraduates alike." — Constantine Sedikides, Ph.D., University of Southampton, United Kingdom

From the Publisher