Authors
Cheryl J. Wakslak, Pamela K. Smith, Albert Han
Publication date
2014
Journal
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Volume
107
Issue
1
Pages
41-55
Description
Power can be gained through appearances: People who exhibit behavioral signals of power are often treated in a way that allows them to actually achieve such power (Ridgeway, Berger, & Smith, 1985; Smith & Galinsky, 2010). In the current article, we examine power signals within interpersonal communication, exploring whether use of concrete versus abstract language is seen as a signal of power. Because power activates abstraction (eg, Smith & Trope, 2006), perceivers may expect higher power individuals to speak more abstractly and therefore will infer that speakers who use more abstract language have a higher degree of power. Across a variety of contexts and conversational subjects in 7 experiments, participants perceived respondents as more powerful when they used more abstract language (vs. more concrete language). Abstract language use appears to affect perceived power because it seems to …
Scholar articles
CJ Wakslak, PK Smith, A Han - Journal of personality and social psychology, 2014