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:	9781848726642
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	07/22/2013
Series:	Sydney Symposium of Social Psychology
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.80(h) x 0.80(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

Contributors xiii

1 Social Cognition and Communication: Background, Theories, and Research Joseph P. Forgas Orsohja Vincze János László 1

Part 1 The Interdependence of Social Cognition and Communication 23

2 Counting Little Words in Big Data: The Psychology of Individuals, Communities, Culture, and History James W. Pennebaker Cindy K. Chung 25

3 The Art of Exerting Verbal Influence through Powerful Lexical Stimuli Klaus Fiedler André Mata 3 43

4 Feeling and Speaking: Affective Influences on Communication Strategies and Language Use Joseph P. Forgas 63

5 In the Mood to Break the Rules: Happiness Promotes Language Abstraction and Transgression of Conversation Norms Alex S. Koch Joseph P. Forgas Liz Goldenberg 83

6 Intergroup Fluency: How Processing Experiences Shape Intergroup Cognition and Communication Adam R. Pearson John F. Dovidio 101

7 Multiple Meanings of Communicative Acts in the Reduction of Vicarious Cognitive Dissonance Joel Cooper Matthew D. Trujillo 121

Part 2 Cognition and Communication in Dyadic Encounters 137

8 Models of Communication, Epistemic Trust, and Epistemic Vigilance Mikhail Kissine Olivier Klein 139

9 Parameters of Nonaccommodation: Refining and Elaborating Communication Accommodation Theory Howard Giles Jessica Gasiorek 155

10 The Big Two of Agency and Communion in Language and Communication Andrea E. Abele Susanne Bruckmüller 173

11 Gossiping as Moral Social Action: A Functionalist Account of Gossiper Perceptions Kim Peters Yoshihisa Kashima 185

Part 3 The Psychology of Narratives 203

12 Narrative Social Psychology János László Bea Ehmann 205

13 The Role of Narrative Perspective in the Elaboration of Individual and Historical Traumas Orsolya Vincze Barbara Ilg Tibor Pólya 229

14 Emotional Elaboration of Collective Traumas in Historical Narratives Éva Fülöp István Csertö Barbara Ilg Zsolt Szabó Ben Slugoski János László 245

15 Narrative Constructions of Italian Identity: An Investigation through Literary Texts over Time Alessio Nencini 263

Part 4 The Political and Social Consequences of Communication and Cognition 281

16 Political Communication, Social Cognitive Processes, and Voters' Judgments Patrizia Catellani Mauro Bertolotti 283

17 Social Factors that Affect the Processing of Minority-Sourced Persuasive Communications William D. Crano Eusebio M. Alvaro 297

18 Mechanisms of Linguistic Bias: How Words Reflect and Maintain Stereotypic Expectancies Camiel J. Beukeboom 313

19 Does Political Correctness Make (Social) Sense? Anne Maass Caterina Suitner Elisa M. Merkel 331

Index 347