Camiel J. Beukeboom

Mood and representations of behaviour: The how and why

Based on the idea that mood helps to tune cognitive processes to current demands, we hypothesised that mood should influence the abstraction level in which people think about behaviour, and that such mood-induced differences in cognitive attention should be manifested in behaviour descriptions. In this study, participants re-described a number of daily behaviours in their own words after a mood manipulation. As predicted, people in a positive mood were more likely to redescribe behaviours in general why terms, whereas people in a negative mood were relatively more likely to re-describe behaviours in specific how terms. The findings are discussed with respect to the role of mood in processes of behaviour regulation. When thinking about, for example, writing a scientific paper, a person can think about many different features of this behaviour. One can think about the general goals that are pursued with this behaviour (e.g., ‘‘getting published’’, ‘‘being a scientist’’). Alternatively, one can think about the specific means to accomplish it (e.g., ‘‘typing words’’, ‘‘writing an introduction’’). These examples demonstrate that one can think about behaviour at different levels of abstraction. That is, the second set of examples entails more specific and feasible representations of behaviour than the first set, which entails more general and abstract representations. The question we address here is whether a person’s mood influences the level of specificity or generality to which one will cognitively tune when thinking about simple acts of behaviour. Based on the body of research that has demonstrated how mood influences cognitive processes (for an overview, see Martin & Clore, 2001), we predicted that mood should influence a person’s interpretation of a simple act. This, in our view, is an important issue as it may shed more light on the role of mood in processes of behaviour regulation, an issue that, to our knowledge, has not as yet been addressed empirically.Based on the idea that mood helps to tune cognitive processes to current demands, we hypothesised that mood should influence the abstraction level in which people think about behaviour, and that such mood-induced differences in cognitive attention should be manifested in behaviour descriptions. In this study, participants re-described a number of daily behaviours in their own words after a mood manipulation. As predicted, people in a positive mood were more likely to re-describe behaviours in general why terms, whereas people in a negative mood were relatively more likely to re-describe behaviours in specific how terms. The findings are discussed with respect to the role of mood in processes of behaviour regulation.

The negation bias: When negations signal stereotypic expectancies

Research on linguistic biases shows that stereotypic expectancies are implicitly reflected in language and are thereby subtly communicated to message recipients. We examined whether these findings extend to the use of negations (e.g., not smart instead of stupid). We hypothesized that people use more negations in descriptions of stereotype-inconsistent behavior than in descriptions of stereotype-consistent behavior. In 3 studies, participants either judged the applicability of experimentally controlled person descriptions or spontaneously produced person descriptions themselves. Results provided support for this hypothesis. Moreover, a 4th study demonstrated that negations have communicative consequences. When a target persons behavior was described with negations, message recipients inferred that this behavior was an exception to the rule and that it was more likely caused by situational circumstances than by dispositional factors. These findings indicate that by using negations people implicitly communicate stereotypic expectancies and that negations play a subtle but powerful role in stereotype maintenance.

The Language of Extraversion: Extraverted People Talk More Abstractly, Introverts Are More Concrete

To understand the impact of personality, one needs to know how personality differences manifest themselves in language use. The present study investigates the link between extraversion and language abstraction. Participants’ spontaneous verbal utterances in face-to-face interactions were analyzed for language abstraction by applying the linguistic category model, which distinguishes predicate types that convey information in concrete or interpretative manner. We also applied the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) program to relate several word categories to extraversion and language abstraction. Results show significant positive correlations between extraversion and both language abstraction and self-reported level of interpretation. Language abstraction was also linked to LIWC variables (e.g., articles, numbers) previously shown to be related to extraversion. The findings suggest that the verbal style of extraverts is characterized by a higher level of abstract interpretation, whereas introverts tend to stick to concrete facts.

Stereotype Transmission and Maintenance Through Interpersonal Communication The Irony Bias

In interpersonal communication, stereotypes are predominantly transmitted through language. Linguistic bias theory presupposes that speakers systematically vary their language when communicating stereotype-consistent and stereotype-inconsistent information. We investigate whether these findings can be extended to verbal irony use. The irony bias posits that irony is more appropriate to communicate stereotype-inconsistent than stereotype-consistent information. Three experiments support this hypothesis by showing that irony is found more appropriate (Experiments 1-2) and used more often (Experiment 3) in stereotype-inconsistent than in stereotype-consistent situations. Furthermore, linguistic biases have important communicative consequences, because they implicitly serve to maintain stereotypic expectancies. Experiment 4 shows that irony shares this characteristic with other linguistic biases, in that irony—compared to literal language—leads to more external attribution. Taken together, these results indicate that stereotypic expectancies are subtly revealed and confirmed by verbal irony, and that verbal irony plays an important role in stereotype communication and maintenance.

How (not) to inform patients about drug use: use and effects of negations in Dutch patient information leaflets

Under EU regulations, patient information leaflets (PILs) are required to be clear and understandable. Negations (e.g., not, no) are a linguistic aspect that may impact PIL comprehension, yet go unmentioned in these regulations. We conducted two studies to determine (1) how negations are used in Dutch PILs (study 1) and (2) the effects of negations on readers (study 2).

When feelings speak: How affective and proprioceptive cues change language abstraction

Cognitive tuning accounts argue that both affective feelings and bodily feelings induce changes in information processing (N. Schwarz & G. L. Clore, 1996). This article examines how these effects of feelings are reflected in language abstraction. On the basis of previous work showing that affective cues change language abstraction, we hypothesized that proprioceptive cues (i.e., bodily feelings) associated with global processing (arm flexion) should induce more abstract language use, compared with bodily feelings associated with analytic processing (arm extension). This prediction received support in a study in which participants performed a written self-description task either while pressing their nondominant hand under the table (arm flexion), or on top of the table (arm extension), or while keeping their arm relaxed (control). Implications for interpersonal communication are discussed.

Blinded by the Light: How a Focus on Statistical “Significance” May Cause p-Value Misreporting and an Excess of p-Values Just Below .05 in Communication Science

Publication bias promotes papers providing “significant” findings, thus incentivizing researchers to produce such findings. Prior studies suggested that researchers’ focus on “p < .05” yields—intentional or unintentional—p-value misreporting, and excess p-values just below .05. To assess whether similar distortions occur in communication science, we extracted 5,834 test statistics from 693 recent communication science ISI papers, and assessed prevalence of p-values (1) misreported, and (2) just below .05. Results show 8.8% of p-values were misreported (74.5% too low). 1.3% of p-values were critically misreported, stating p < .05 while in fact p > .05 (88.3%) or vice versa (11.7%). Analyzing p-value frequencies just below .05 using a novel method did not unequivocally demonstrate “p-hacking”—excess p-values could be alternatively explained by (severe) publication bias. Results for 19,830 p-values from social psychology were strikingly similar. We conclude that publication bias, publication pressure, and verification bias distort the communication science knowledge base, and suggest solutions to this problem.

Organizational identification and the communication of identity: Effects of message characteristics on cognitive and affective identification.

This paper reports an experimental study (N= 321) that tests how the cognitive and affective component of organizational identification (OI) can be affected by peripheral characteristics of organizational communication. Results show that adding cues in emails that signal organizational identity, such as the company logo, font, and colour of text, positively affect the cognitive component of OI, but not the affective component. In contrast, a personal focus in the message had a positive effect on the affective, but not on the cognitive component of OI. This study supports the idea that OI is a multi-faceted construct comprising a cognitive and affective component, and that these different components can be affected by different characteristics of organizational email messages.

Phantom phone signals

63% of our respondents experience some form of phantom phone signals at least once a month.Intensity of phone use, excessive use, and phone addiction are related to experiencing PPS.Need for popularity is positively related to experiencing PPS. This paper aims to elucidate the peculiar phenomenon of imagined cell phone signals, or Phantom Phone Signals (PPS), which is defined as an individuals perception of a phone signal, indicating an incoming call, message, or social media notification, when in fact no such signal was transmitted. A survey among 408 US citizens confirmed that PPS is a highly prevalent phenomenon: Almost 50% of all respondents indicated to experience some form of PPS at least once a week, and 63% at least once a month. Further results show that intensity of phone use, self-reported excessive use, and phone addiction are positively related to the frequency of experiencing PPS. The explanation for these findings might be that chronically accessible schemas resulting from intensive phone use may result in misinterpretations of other signals, or in benign hallucinations, and that the perceived importance of phone use makes people more vigilant to potential phone signals. Need for popularity (NFP) proved to be a stronger predictor of PPS than need to belong, supporting the assumption that NFP is a good predictor for socially induced behavior. Finally, the injunctive and descriptive norms about being accessible on the phone only approached significance in their positive relation to experiencing PPS.

Effects of Music in Advertising: Three Experiments Replicating Single-Exposure Musical Conditioning of Consumer Choice (Gorn 1982) in an Individual Setting

Can single pairing of background music with an advertised product condition choice behavior? Gorns (1982) demonstration of this effect remains controversial given his unconventional conditioning procedure, unusual data analyses, probably confounded stimuli, and possible demand artifacts. We review prior criticism and conduct three conceptual replications (N = 182, 224, 127) circumventing these problems. Study 1 finds (weak) significant musical conditioning effects for low-involvement products. Study 2 fails to find effects for higher-involvement products. Study 3 showed conditioning of general brand and product evaluations but not of specific brand-related evaluations. Demand artifacts play a minor role; contingency awareness (marginally) amplifies conditioning effects across studies.