'You' speaks to me: Effects of generic-you in creating resonance between people and ideas
| Autor: | Ariana Orvell, Susan A. Gelman, Ethan Kross |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Cognitive science
Structure (mathematical logic) Adult Male 050101 languages & linguistics Persuasion Multidisciplinary language persuasion media_common.quotation_subject 05 social sciences Social Sciences emotion Linguistics 050105 experimental psychology Psychological and Cognitive Sciences Multilevel Analysis Generic you Humans 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences Female Sociology Content (Freudian dream analysis) media_common |
| Zdroj: | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
| ISSN: | 1091-6490 0027-8424 |
| Popis: | Significance Feeling resonance in response to ideas is a pervasive human experience. Previous efforts to enhance resonance have focused on changing the content of a message. Here we identify a linguistic device—the generic use of the word “you” (e.g., “You live, you learn”)—that accomplishes the same goal. Using crowd-sourced data from the Amazon Kindle application, we found that generic-you was substantially more likely to appear in passages that people highlighted (vs. did not highlight) while reading. Moreover, we present the results of four experiments (n = 1,900), indicating that generic-you causally promoted resonance. These data reveal how a subtle linguistic shift can shape a pervasive human experience, promoting connection between people and ideas. Creating resonance between people and ideas is a central goal of communication. Historically, attempts to understand the factors that promote resonance have focused on altering the content of a message. Here we identify an additional route to evoking resonance that is embedded in the structure of language: the generic use of the word “you” (e.g., “You can’t understand someone until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes”). Using crowd-sourced data from the Amazon Kindle application, we demonstrate that passages that people highlighted—collectively, over a quarter of a million times—were substantially more likely to contain generic-you compared to yoked passages that they did not highlight. We also demonstrate in four experiments (n = 1,900) that ideas expressed with generic-you increased resonance. These findings illustrate how a subtle shift in language establishes a powerful sense of connection between people and ideas. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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